Properly Insulating and Sealing Air Ducts can Save you Lots of Money

While air ducts may not seem like it, they are actually one of the top energy wasters inside your home. Whether you realize it or not, your air ducts could be costing you to spend lots of unnecessary money on heating and cooling bills every month. Are you wondering if your ducts are wasting your money? We put together a few different ways to know if your ducts should be re-sealed.

Signs You Need to Re-Seal your Air Ducts

• You have rooms difficult to keep cold or warm
• Your bills in the summer or winter are extremely high
• You are uncomfortable in rooms because they are stuffy
• You find kinked flexible or tangled ducts in your system
• Your ducts are located in the garage, crawlspace, or attic

Sealing Ducts Correctly

Sealing your air ducts should only be done with the correct materials. Even though the name is misleading, duct tape should not be used on air ducts. It simply doesn’t get the job done. We recommend using either mastic sealant or metal tape. When sealing your ducts, start with the ones that are accessible immediately, like the attics, unfinished basements or garages. Then you can move onto registers or vents that could have disconnected or experienced a leak. 

Insulate Ducts Where Necessary

We have found that attics, crawlspaces and unfinished basements usually need re-insulated. This is because the temperature differences it regularly experiences. Make sure to insulate with foil-faced fiberglass insulation (R-6 or higher value). Once the insulation is in place, it’s time to use the metallic foil. Before using the metallic foil, clean the surface. The product will stick much stronger if the surface is dust-free.

If sealing and insulating your own air ducts hasn’t turned out to be successful or brought the results you were looking for, then give us a call. We’ll get our experts out to take a look and get you on your way to save money!