The Role Ducts Play in Indoor Comfort
May 17, 2024
Just as your body’s circulatory system delivers oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, your home’s ducts deliver heated or cooled air to every room in your home. Thus, your ducts play an essential role in the overall comfort inside your home and the efficiency of your HVAC system. Maintaining your ducts and learning how to spot signs of trouble will help you get the most from your home’s heating and cooling systems so you can enjoy greater comfort and lower utility bills throughout the year.
Air Transport
Your ducts’ main role is to ensure that heated and cooled air moves from your HVAC system into the rest of your home. To maintain peak efficiency, your air ducts must be in good shape and properly sealed, without any leaks or holes. Leaks in your air ducts allow air to escape into the unoccupied areas of your home before it reaches its final destination. This means you’ll be more likely to turn your thermostat up or down more than necessary to achieve the temperature you want because some of the conditioned air from your furnace or air conditioner is wasted. This can result in higher utility bills and additional stress on your heating and air conditioning systems. Signs that your ducts could be leaking air include: persistent hot or cool spots in your home even if other rooms are comfortable, excessive amounts of dust and dirt in some areas of your home, and higher-than-usual utility bills. An HVAC professional can perform an assessment of your ductwork to determine whether there are leaks and how to best seal them to recover heating and cooling efficiency.
Air Quality
Ductwork also plays a key role in the air quality inside your home. Dirty and poorly-maintained ducts can harbor dirt, dust, pollen, and other allergens, which are carried along as air is pushed through the ducts and into the living spaces of your home. Airborne contaminants can result in a dustier home, meaning your cleaning efforts don’t go as far as they should and you must clean more often. If you or any family members have allergies or asthma, you may also notice an increased incidence of discomfort and a worsening of symptoms. Even if your ducts are clean, leaky ducts are more likely to “suck up” particles from surrounding areas due to pressure differences, carrying them to other areas of your home with heated and cooled air. Dirty ducts can be cleaned by a professional to eliminate buildup, leaving nothing behind to be carried along when your HVAC system activates. Sealing any leaks will also improve your indoor air quality by eliminating the possibility of a pressure differential that promotes the scattering of dirt and dust throughout your home.
Maintaining your ductwork is a job best left to professionals—you can find out more about duct repairs and heating and cooling services in Detroit when you click through our comprehensive website. Contact us using our online service request form, or check out our blog for additional tips and industry information you can use all year long.