While hidden below floors and in ceilings, the duct system is the highway all heated and cooled air uses to travel throughout your home. Duct leaks allow for costly heating and cooling loss while welcoming indoor air quality issues, both of which create discomfort inside your Indianapolis home – not to mention the added costs to your energy bills! Don’t fall victim to comfort troubles created by leaking air ducts. Look for these signs that your home needs ductwork repair.
Signs Ductwork Repair Is Needed
Most ductwork is hidden and inaccessible, so you cannot easily look at it to find the gaps, disconnections, and damage that cause energy loss to the tune of 20 to 30 percent! Duct problems do however produce some noticeable symptoms that can be felt, heard, and otherwise noticed in your home. Watch for these signs that tell you it’s time to schedule HVAC ductwork repair.
1. Temperature Variations Across the Home
As duct leaks allow heating and air conditioning to escape before reaching its destination within your living areas, spaces supplied by leaky ducts receive less heating or cooling than other areas of the home. If you notice one room or area of the home isn’t as warm or cool as the rest of the house, this is a sign of duct leaks. If this is the case, contact an HVAC company to inspect the ducts.
2. Noisy Air Ducts
It’s normal to hear the pinging and popping of metal as ductwork expands and contracts at the start and end of a heating cycle, but other noises should cause concern. Whistling or a low humming sound when the furnace or air conditioning system start to cycle can indicate air escaping from leaks in ducts or uneven pressure within the ductwork. Ductwork repair can correct these issues and eliminate disruptive noise in the home while your HVAC system runs.
3. Excessive Dust
As duct leaks allow air to escape the system, these openings also create a pathway for unwanted contaminants to enter, such as dust and dirt. Ducts typically run through parts of the home that aren’t conditioned or used, where the air has a higher concentration of contaminants. As conditioned air escapes into an attic or basement, pollutants make their way into the air ducts from these areas and they cycle into your living areas along with the air that remains inside the ducts, causing indoor air quality to decline. This can lead to an excess of dust on surfaces, despite your cleaning efforts, so be mindful of this as your ducts may be the cause.
4. Signs of a Pest Problem
Unwanted pests can also enter a duct system through holes and disconnections, causing more damage to your ducts and creating health hazards. If you experience a foul smell coming from a supply duct or find mouse droppings or dead insects around or just inside vents, you need an exterminator as well as ductwork repair to correct any pest damage and to prevent them from gaining access to your air ducts again.
5. Seasonal Abnormalities
Heat rises, and if you live in a multi-story home, this creates a constant comfort battle. The upper levels of a home are often several degrees warmer than lower levels, unless a zoning system is used to control heating and cooling distribution. One sure sign of duct leaks is an upper level that stays cold during the winter months – heat is likely escaping through damaged air ducts before it can reach your living areas.
Contact Star for Indianapolis Ductwork Repair and Replacement
When you notice the signs that say your Indianapolis home needs ductwork repair, don’t wait to call for service. Duct leaks allow your energy dollars to be wasted as long as they persist. Star Heating & Cooling corrects duct leaks, repairs disconnected ducting, and replaces damaged air ducts to ensure your heating and cooling travels to its intended destination. Contact us today to schedule service to have your ductwork inspected or repaired. Our professional heating and air conditioner technicians are expertly trained to repair or replace damaged ductwork in homes.