Why should you have duct sealing?

Leaks in ductwork can account up to 40 percent of every lost btu in your heating and air conditioning system. Lost btu’s mean that your heating cost goes up, your air conditioning costs go up, and your comfort level goes down. Stop wasting hundreds of dollars each year by having The Empire Family of Services seal your ducting. Empire Plumbing, Empire Heating and Air Conditioning and Empire Electrical are all Trademarks of The Empire Family of Services.

The picture is broken metal ducting with an outer fiberglass liner under a home. The broken duct was allowing the smells and contaminates under the home into the house. This not only causes the heating and cooling system to cause a fortune to operate, but it adds mold and mildew spores into the airstream in the home.

You can protect yourself by using a properly licensed adn skilled contractor like The Empire Family of Services. All work is guaranteed.

Is air duct leakage very common?

Most connections are not sealed properly or sealed at all. Over the years duct tape dries out and blows off leaving ducting open to the attic. Yes, you are heating and cooling your attic. Duct tape is no longer the primarily adhesive to hold ducting together. Panduit straps and special tape, UL181B, are now used in conjunction. Mastic, latex lagging adhesive, can also be used to hold ducting together.

Damaged ducting can occur from storing boxes in your attic, the electrician crawling across the ducts, the cable guy drilling though them for a chase from the upstairs to the downstairs and pest control people all being a less careful than they should.

Improperly installed ducting like in the picture allows the buildup of moisture in the ducting and soon mold and mildew destroy the ducting and can cause the home’s occupants to become sick and suffer asthma like symptoms.

How can I tell if my ducts are leaking?

If you have asbestos ducting, they are leaking air. They are never pristine and every instance of them should be removed from your home. If you have metal ducting, they are leaking air. The metal over the years has been expanding and contracting and breaking the seams apart. All older metal ducts are leaking. You could have us come out to perform a free evaluation and we will let you know if the repair to your ducting, if any, if minor, most of them, or requires more attention to bring them up to current energy code requirements.

We can also perform a duct test, HERS testing, to determine how much air air you are leaking. Most older homes with metal or asbestos ducting are leaking so much that the cost of repairs can usually be paid back in energy savings in just a short while.

This is a picture off a website from a well meaning contractor that doesn’t have clue as to what they are doing. Condensation pumps can never be installed in the return air chamber. Molds and mildew can buildup in the pump and cause breathing difficulties as well as posing a fire hazard to the home. The cord is not plenum rated and the cord goes through the floor. The trap installed is not needed as the pump itself acts as a trap.The depth of the trap is deeper than 4" which will cause a stoppage. The hose leaving the pump is not rated for condensation pressure. It is only suppose to be a small (6") bridge between the pump and copper and the safety wires (yellow on the left) that turn the air conditioning off if the pump fails are not hooked up.

Where does most of the air leakage come from?

Disconnected sections. Ducts that are not attached or attached well. Nearly 20% of all homes.

Connections between the air handling unit (furnace or heater) and the plenums (or evaporator coil). Nearly 100% of all homes 10 years of age or older.

Leaky joints where flexible ducting meets metal ducting in the attic and crawl areas of the home. Nearly 50% have some sort of easily fixable duct problem. What Does All This Mean?

In short, you are heating and cooling your attic areas and you are paying the electric company and utility company overpayments each and every month of the year in order to do so. Isn’t it about time that you got to keep your hard earned money. Isn’t it about time that you save money month after month rather than pay it to the utility companies?

Rat dropping are very common and yes, we do remove them. We usually abate the entire attic, seal off the entrances where the rats are coming in, and then replace the ducting. After replacing the ducting the furnace and evaporator are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized or replaced. We then blow in new, clean fiberglass insulation. to ensure that the homewoners have the lowest possible utility bills month after month.