Signs Your Aging Ductwork Is Ready to Scrap
Signs Your Aging Ductwork Is Ready to Scrap
Every person's home operates like a living, breathing entity. The ductwork acts as your home's circulatory system, and when it begins to deteriorate, the entire system is negatively affected. Keeping up with the health of ducts, however, isn’t always easy since this feature is often hidden from view in hard-to-reach places of a home.
4 Steps to Consider
You can follow these four steps to determine if your ductwork needs replacement:- Evaluate the age. This may involve either some research, guesswork, or a combination of both. If the ducts have never been replaced, you can only expect them to last around 10-15 years before they begin to deteriorate. The truth is that during construction, it's possible, even likely, that the best quality materials were not used. Shortcuts in installation may have been taken, as well.
- Inspect exposed areas. Areas such as attics and crawl spaces will allow you access to exposed ducts. Look for any tears or holes that would be costing you precious energy and money. Also check the joints for any eroding duct tape or areas where they've become disconnected.
- Check air flow. Take a little time to visit each room of your home while your heating or cooling equipment is running. Open the vents all the way and check to see if you're getting a good flow of air. If the air flow doesn't seem right, or there are temperature variations, you may have leaks in the ductwork or even disconnected portions. Something might be blocking the airflow, as well.
- Schedule a duct blower test. A duct blower test is conducted by an HVAC technician and will conclusively tell you how your ductwork is operating. This procedure utilizes a blower fan that pressurizes the ducts, plus used pressure sensors within the ducts and blower. This will determine the amount of air leakage that your home is experiencing from its ducts, which will allow for repairs or in extreme cases, replacement.
