If you’re active about preparing your home for the summer, you’ve probably already schedule air conditioning maintenance. That’s great—there are few preventive home service jobs that are more effective than an annual inspection and tune-up for an AC. However, you might not have considered services for your ducts to prepare for the summer. Ducts are easy to forget about, since you can’t see most of them because their hidden in the walls at attics. But professional duct sealing may be the most important Chapel Hill, NC, HVAC service you can have done before the summer weather arrives.

Leaky Ducts Cause Many Problems

Most homes use a network of metal, plastic, and ductboard ducts to carry air from the AC to the different rooms. These ducts are designed to be airtight so the air pressure inside won’t drop. Unfortunately, if the seal on the ducts is broken by leaks and gaps—even small ones—it can have larger consequences for comfort, energy savings, and AC longevity.

Air Loss Through Leaks = Money Lost

When you turn on your AC, it draws on electrical power to run the compressor that allows for it to move heat out of your house and cool down the air. This is the air that’s then sent via blower into the ductwork. If this air escapes out duct leaks, it doesn’t end up reaching the rooms—which means that the electrical power you paid for has gone to waste.

How much of this cooled air can go to waste? A lot more than you may believe. Duct leaks can allow around 30% of the cooled air moving through the ducts to seep away, and that means paying 30% more to run the AC to make up the difference.

Air Leaks Reduce Comfort

Air pressure inside the ductwork plummets because of leaks, and this will have a large affect on how well your house is cooled. Weak airflow from the vents will result in rooms that won’t cool down no matter how much you run the AC. One of the first warning signs of leaky air ducts is hot spots around the house.

Damaged Ducts Shorten AC Lifespan

All the extra strain put on an air conditioning system as it tries to make up for the loss of cooled air and the decline in pressure means the AC’s components will wear down faster. This not only means additional repair needs, it also means the AC will age quicker and need to be replaced years ahead of time.

Duct Sealing Is a Service for Professionals

Think you need duct sealing? It’s a simple job—at least, it is if you call our ventilation experts! Amateurs cannot do the job properly, and DIY attempts using duct tape will fare just as badly. (Trust us, duct tape is good for everything except ducts.) We’ll come to your house, discover what’s wrong with your ducts, and have them repaired so your HVAC system is restored to peak condition once again, ready for many summers of efficient and effective work.

Bud Matthews Services is here for all your home service needs. Arrange for duct sealing or other ventilation work you need to prep for summer.