12/1/10

So what is this duct sealing thing, anyway?

Time to get serious.  This is truly something every homeowner should know and do.  So pull another shot of espresso, pop on your learning hats, and get out your notepad, because here comes a lesson.

Duct sealing is simply the process of reducing the amount of cooled or heated air that escapes from leaks in the duct system that is generated by your heater/AC system.  There are numerous connections in a duct system, and each connection has a potential for leakage.  Duct sealing makes these connections more air tight, thus reducing the amount of leakage from the system.  A trained technician goes up into your attic or crawlspace and applies duct mastic around each and every connection.  They will also seal the air handler itself to ensure minimal leakage.  If the air handler is sitting on a platform and the air return comes into this platform before going back into the air handler, the technician will also ensure this platform is air tight so as not to pull outside air back into the system.  This is often the most significant source of the duct leakage because the air handler creates tremendous pressure to pull the air back through it to be heated or cooled once again.  Duct sealing may be the single most effective measure a home owner can make for a return on investment in the home energy efficiency realm.

Understand?  If not, please feel free to shoot a post back to me so I may explain in different terms.  Very important.  Well, important if you enjoy saving energy and watching those pesky utility bills drop like Arizona home values in '06.

1 comment:

  1. Is it true that ALL APS customers are paying for the home energy assessment program? How much are we paying every month? It's a great program, but is it fair that APS is charging its customers for it?

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