The ductwork in your Fort Wayne area home acts as your HVAC system's circulatory system. If these air ducts are leaking, blocked or otherwise defective, it can cause a host of system issues, including poor heating and cooling efficiency, heightened energy costs, compromised indoor air quality, and uneven heating and cooling throughout your household. Because much of your home's ductwork was constructed to be kept out of sight, air duct defects may go unnoticed for some time. Here's how to tell if the duct system in your system needs attention:
- First, evaluate how old your air ducts are. Too often, ducts are originally designed and constructed by building contractors without expertise in HVAC design and installation, or who are in a hurry to complete the job. This means that your ducts may be made of cheap materials and installed haphazardly. In short, they were never intended to last for more than a decade.
- Regardless of your ductwork's' age, it's important to routinely inspect your air ducts where the metalwork is exposed. This includes ares such as in your attic or basement. Check the joints between segments for any radiating dust, signs of rust and corrosion, and the durability of any applied sealing compounds. The condition of the air ducts that are visible will give you a rough estimate of system's overall condition.
- Evaluate your home's air flow. Any rooms that have a reduced or uneven volume of air flow could be served by duct segments that are deteriorating or have become disconnected from the main segment or air handler.
- For a more thorough examination, an HVAC technician can use high-tech tools and testing instruments to assess your ductwork for leaks and air-flow efficiency. Once the tech knows what the problem is, he can proceed to make repairs.
To learn more about upgrading or installing new ductwork, or for more information on other quality HVAC products and solutions, contact your local experts at Hartman Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning, serving Fort Wayne homeowners for over 50 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in New Haven, Indiana and surrounding Fort Wayne area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ductwork and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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