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Steps on how to inspect Air ducts for leaks quickguestpost.com/steps-on-how-to-inspect-air-ducts-for-leaks
Your home’s HVAC system consists of many parts that, when working together, cools or warms your home. These parts consist of an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, vents, and a system of ductwork and vents. When you find your HVAC air conditioner unit not working well, it means something is wrong with it, and it needs repairs or maintenance. Well, either there may be some leakage, and your air conditioner needs inspection. You can check it for yourself or contact air duct repair and replacement Suwanee GA service for assistance. Anyway, the best place you can start is by looking into or around air ducts.
Signs that point to your Air Ducts Maybe Leaking. Many signs go undetected that will point to issues with your ductwork. Common problems that may result or cause by air duct leaks are:
Spike in Utility Bills You see a spike in your energy or utility bill usually means there may be some issue with your HVAC System. If there is an air leak somewhere in the house, your air conditioner system will have to work overtime, resulting in high utility bills. 1/3
A Dusty Dirty Home If you move into a new home with an HVAC system installed, or ask yourself when was the last time you dusted your home? If the answer is “never” or “it’s been a while,” it means you need proper cleaning. You see, when dust builds up inside your ducts, it will make your house feel dusty, and you will have a high chance of getting dust allergy reactions. If cleaning is not your thing, you can ask local air duct cleaning Suwanee GA for inspection and cleaning.
Uneven Heating and Cooling During the day, while moving around the house, if you feel there is one room cold while another one on the same floor is hot, it usually means a leak in the air duct. Unless that room has a constant flow of outside air or gets an unusually high amount of direct sunshine, an air duct leak is a culprit.
Steps on How to Inspect Air Ducts for Leaks While inspecting your rooms around the house, here are a few steps you can take to locate leaks in your ductwork.
1. Look for Obvious Tears and Damages The first step is obviously to look for visible tears or damages in your air ducts. Mark these spots with a grease pencil or something that leaves a mark so that you can come back and fix them after you have checked your whole system.
2. Turning your HVAC System to Full on Blast If your HVAC system isn’t blowing air when you’re checking your ductwork, finding duct leaks may be challenging, and it will take weeks to find it. Increasing the airflow of your air conditioner will help you find leaks in this case. So let the airflow blast on!
3. Checking Air Duct Joints There are spots where two air ducts connect are the most common place where leaks occur. If you place your hand near these joints, you may feel air coming out. It is another sign of air duct leakage. You can also run your hand under or near other duct parts to think for more significant leaks. Don’t forget to mark the spots, so you can get to fix them. If you feel the holes are too large to be restored, call air duct repair and replacement Suwanee GA service for inspection and have them change the part of the duct or the whole duct system altogether.
4. Look for Duct Tape
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Duct tape is used to seal and insulate ductwork. However, it does not mean there is leakage if duct tape is damaged from somewhere. Anyway, if you find someplace where there is no duct tape or duct tape is unsealed, seal that area with duct tape to fix the potential leak.
5. Light a Smoke Pencil or Incense Anything that gives off visible smoke is another way to detect leaks in air ducts. What you have to do is slowly run the incense or smoke pencil underneath the ductwork. The flame and smoke will be more sensitive to smaller leaks than your hand is, making smoke blown away or sucked into the air duct. If this happens, the duct leak is nearby and needs fixing.
6. Seal-up the Leaks You’ve Found This Far It is an important step. Till now, you were testing and marking duct leakage. Now it’s time to fix it. There are two methods you can try here. One is to wrap the leak using foil-faced tape. Another fix is to apply mastic to the leak that will fill and fix it and last for long periods. This work can be challenging if you are not experienced, so have air duct cleaning Suwanee GA service fix it for you.
7. Use a Fog Machine Since not everyone has a fog machine, you can rent them out from somewhere. After fixing the leaks, place a fog machine near your furnace or blower intake fan and start it. Fog will come out, which will be visible to you. This way, you can see if all leaks have been filled or not. If all leaks are fixed, no smoke will leak through the duct. And if there is some leak, you can pinpoint the leakage to fix it. You can seal leaks using mastic or foil-faced tape. However, if there is a leak by any chance, but you can’t find its location, or the damage is somewhere unreachable, or in any case the crack is large and unfixable, it’s better to call in the professionals. Let Air Duct Repair and Replacement Suwanee GA service have a look and try to fix your issue. They will inspect first and before fixing will write you a quote about the charges.
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