The ductwork in your Lubbock, Texas, home delivers conditioned air to all your rooms, so it’s essential to ensure your comfort. You should have your HVAC system and your ducts checked by a professional at least once per year. An annual maintenance visit often catches small repairs that can turn into large repairs if left untreated. Regular maintenance will also extend the life of your ductwork and your heater and air conditioner. Common signs of a problem with your ducts include poor indoor air quality, high utility bills, strange noises, and drafts.
Poor Indoor Air Quality
Pollutants like dust, dirt, pollen, pet dander, and biological growth can get into your ductwork through leaks or gaps and can then easily travel to the rest of your home. You could also have a dirty air filter that’s isn’t catching contaminants but allows them to flow into your ductwork and then be distributed throughout your home. To prevent this, change your filter at least every three months.
Poor indoor air quality can cause additional dust on your floors and furniture. You could also detect a burning smell when you start using your heater in the fall or a stale or musty smell at other times of the year. This smell comes from dust and other materials on your furnace or heat pump’s burner or coils as they are being heated.
Contaminants could also lead to sore throats, eye irritation, asthma or allergy symptoms, rashes, and other health problems. You should have your ducts checked by an expert like Sinclair Heating, Cooling, Plumbing, Inc. to find any leaks, separations or other issues. Before you have repairs completed, you may need to have your ductwork cleaned to remove any pollutants that are already there. You can check your ducts by removing one of your air registers. If you can see dirt, dust, pest droppings, or other debris, duct cleaning could improve your home’s indoor air quality.
High Utility Bills
If you notice an increase in your utility bills, it could be from a leak or another problem with your ductwork. Even skillfully constructed ducts can eventually become disconnected or even collapse, reducing airflow and forcing your HVAC system to work harder. If your ducts go through unconditioned areas of your home like the attic or the basement, you could need more insulation.
Repairing your ductwork could be expensive, but it will pay for itself through energy savings. If you have an older duct system, replacing it may be even more beneficial. A programmable thermostat can help you save additional power.
Strange Noises
Some ductwork makes popping, banging, or booming sounds when the temperature within changes. If your ducts shake or rattle, they’re not connected to each other well enough and they could be wasting energy. Have your ductwork checked and repaired by an expert to find all the leaks. Scratching or buzzing sounds often indicate the presence of mice, cockroaches, bees, or wasps in your ducts. Pests often seek shelter inside warm ductwork during the cooler and cold months of the year.
Drafts
If some rooms in your home always seem drafty or colder than others, warm air could be escaping from your ductwork before it can heat other parts of your home. Check to make sure you don’t have furniture or carpeting blocking some of your HVAC system’s air registers. Additional insulation in the walls or attic can also eliminate cold spots or drafts and save on heating costs.
If you’re increasing the temperature more and more, but your house isn’t getting more comfortable, it’s either time for some ductwork repair or your heating system needs repair or replacement. It’s also possible that your ductwork system was poorly designed. In that case, you may need to replace at least some sections of ductwork to re-balance the distribution.
Sinclair Heating, Cooling, Plumbing, Inc. is a Bryant Factory Authorized Dealer with more than 40 years of heating and air conditioning experience. We’ve received many awards, including Bryant Dealer of the Year in 2014. We can help you keep your ductwork and the rest of your HVAC system in excellent condition. We can also help you with choosing and installing new ductwork if your home is in need. Call us anytime at 844-749-2665 for outstanding, honest service from our experts.