25-40% of the Air Your Home Comfort System Produces May Be Wasted!
The Department of Energy released a report that many people will find interesting. It found that while older heating and cooling systems can lead to bloated energy bills, it may not be the only reason why you’re paying more than necessary. Instead, there’s a part of your home that you may have never considered when talking about energy efficiency.
This report found that as much as 25-40% of the heating or cooling energy produced by furnaces, air conditioners, or heat pumps in this country is wasted! The reason improperly sealed air ducts! Whether you have flexible ductwork or metal ductwork, both can have issues which waste perfectly good conditioned air.
That’s not the only problem with leaky ducts…Faulty ducts also deposit dirty unconditioned air from garages and crawlspaces into your living areas, like bedrooms and family rooms. Ever wonder why you’re constantly dusting? That may be the culprit!
Also, when cool, air conditioned air escapes your ducts, it will often pass through warm walls. The end result is moisture trapped behind those walls. It’s not unusual for that moisture to turn into mold. As you well know, mold hidden in a home is a health issue, especially for allergy and asthma sufferers.
Last, leaky air ducts make your HVAC unit work much harder. The additional work places considerably more stress on your equipment; it must constantly run to get your home to your desired temperature. An overworked heating/cooling system is far more likely to breakdown prematurely and need repair.
To discover if your home has leaky duct issues…give One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning a call at 913.829.1505. One of our highly trained technicians will perform a complimentary air analysis of your home.
