Ductwork design and installation is an important but often overlooked factor in a home’s cooling and heating efficiency. Poorly designed, improperly installed, aging or damaged ductwork often results in inconsistent heating or cooling and causes your furnace or air conditioner to work extra hard. That wastes both energy and money.

Ductwork refers to the network of tubes designed to distribute conditioned air from a forced-air furnace or A/C unit to registers throughout the house. Your ductwork system should contain no leaks and should distribute warmed or cooled air evenly throughout the house in accordance with thermostat settings. As advances are made in energy-efficient home appliances and building design, awareness of the importance of ductwork efficiency is growing.

Poor ductwork design and installation or damaged, leaky ductwork can lead to a number of problems:

• Higher energy use as furnaces or A/C units struggle to compensate for leaks.
• Poor airflow if the ductwork contains extraneous branches or bends or kinks.
• Uneven heating or cooling in different parts of the home.
• Inadequate heating or cooling regardless of thermostat settings.
• Presence of moisture, dust or other impurities — even insects or other pests in the ductwork.
• Little or no change in energy consumption despite installation of energy-efficient A/C or furnace units.

These issues can all be addressed by testing, cleaning, sealing and repairing your duct system. You may be able to inspect ductwork in your attic, basement or crawl space and around registers for kinks, leaks, holes or other damage. But ductwork is often located in difficult-to-access areas, such as behind walls and between floors along with electrical wires and water pipes. So it may be easier to have your duct system examined by a professional.

Having your ductwork in tip-top shape will help keep your Sacramento-area home comfortable year-round. The home comfort specialists at All Year are always happy to provide answers, expert advice and solutions for your heating, cooling and energy-efficiency needs. Please contact us.

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

All Year services the Greater Sacramento area.  To get started, check out our website.