Ducts Are Ruining My Air Quality, What Are My Options?

woman-using-ductless-air-handlerHave you noticed that your home has poor indoor air quality? Maybe you’re dusting off furniture way more often than you used to. Or perhaps members of your household are experiencing allergy and asthma symptoms no matter what they do.

Maybe you’ve noticed it feels muggy inside when it didn’t use to, and even that you have hot spots (or cold spots) throughout your home when your HVAC systems are running. If these problems seem to be impacting you whether you’re using your heater or your air conditioner, there may very well be a shared component to blame–your air ducts.

Damaged air ducts can not only allow up to 30% of your conditioned air out, leading to expensive inefficiencies, but can also allow things in like dust, dirt, mold spores, bacteria, and even small pests. It’s just not a good situation to be in! Fortunately, there are solutions to this. Read on to learn about them!

Invest in Duct Sealing

When your air ducts have tears or pinhole leaks in them, they need to be sealed up. Before you ask, no, you can’t use duct tape to solve this problem. First off, duct tape is not adequately named. Due to the temperature fluctuations that occur inside your ductwork, the tape eventually gets brittle and can start chipping off.

Also, your ducts are not easily accessible, and you could end up unintentionally doing more harm than good to your air duct system. This could lead you to calling an HVAC professional anyway, and you might void your HVAC systems’ manufacturer warranty by attempting repairs on your own.

Our team uses a special mastic sealant to patch up holes and tears for good. 

Have Duct Cleaning Done

Duct cleaning might be one of those services you’ve never seen a need for. But even sealed ducts can allow some dust and other debris inside, and once enough of it accumulates, it can definitely impact the quality of life inside your home.

You should have professional duct cleaning done every 2-3 years.

Upgrade to a Ductless HVAC System

There’s always the option of eliminating your ductwork altogether! This sounds dramatic, but there are actually many benefits to upgrading to a ductless HVAC system, in addition to improving your indoor air quality.

Ductless systems are set up differently than standard central air conditioners and allow for individualized cooling in each room of your home if you’d prefer. This makes them highly efficient.

Additionally, they operate on heat pump technology, which means they can not only cool your home but heat it too. And ductless systems work even more efficiently as heaters! This is because instead of generating heat, they transfer heat.

Last but not least, a ductless system will help you save space. The individual air handlers can be installed up on walls, out of the way. And without ductwork in your attic, you can use this space for storage or anything else that you would like to.

Contact HB Energy Solutions for all your energy needs. HB Energy Solutions delivers peace of mind. We’re your Southern Vermont resource for reliable HVAC services!

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