Duct efficiency plays a key part in determining how comfortable you are in your home and with your utility bill. Ducts that are properly insulated and sealed offer a variety of benefits, including that they:

• Keep your home’s indoor environment more comfortable
• Save you hundreds of dollars annually in utility costs
• Provide increased indoor air quality
• Increase your home’s safety from potential back-drafting
• Contribute to a healthier environment by decreasing your energy usage

You can save as much as 20 percent on your annual heating and cooling costs by ensuring that your ducts are sealed and insulated correctly. So either you, or an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) expert that you select should evaluate your duct insulation to determine if it’s installed properly and at the right amounts. Additionally, you should ensure that your ducts are sealed correctly.

Areas in which ducts should be insulated include your attic, crawlspaces, garage, and your basement. You also should inspect ducts in conditioned areas of your home. They may not experience as much air loss as unconditioned areas, but they require may more insulation to prevent condensation, and to help ensure that conditioned air maintains its desired temperature.

There are various types of insulation available, including fiberglass, which is the most common. Fiberglass insulation comes in flexible and rigid forms. Flexible fiberglass insulation is easy to install in irregularly shaped areas and around round or rectangular ducts. You’ll need to determine what R-value (measures the insulation’s resistance to heat) you need, depending on your heating system and the climate in which you live. To do that, use the Department of Energy’s ZIP Code Insulation Calculator.

Install insulation with the vinyl or foil backing facing outward, and without compressing the insulation. Then, seal all of the seams with duct mastic or foil tape. This duct efficiency improvement will be reflected in your home’s comfort level and utility savings. Avoid using duct tape to seal ducts, because it dries and cracks, which then enables the leak to reappear.

For more information, consult the professionals at Modern Mechanical. We serve residential customers in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland areas, and have NATE-certified professional HVAC technicians. Our highly trained team provides quality service with a focus on safety and customer satisfaction. Contact us today for your heating, cooling and indoor air-quality needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about insulation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Modern Mechanical services the Northern Virginia and Maryland areas. Visit our websiteto see our special offers and get started today!   

Installing Insulation image via Shutterstock