Before winter strikes the Twin Cities metro area, don’t forget to add an inspection of your HVAC system’s ducts and vents to your fall to-do list. You need your heating system in good working order to keep your home comfortable during the long, cold winter, and checking for common problems can help prevent costly and untimely repairs.
Here are several items that you can do to ensure that your ducts and vents are in tip-top shape:
- Inspect your ducts for air leaks that can prevent proper airflow in your furnace. Leaks can come from large, crushed ducts or small cracks that are hard to see. If leaks do occur, you should seal them immediately with duct mastic, which is a putty-like material that you spread over the leak. It then hardens to form a seal. Don’t use duct tape. It dries out quickly, which means that your leak will come back.
- Check that your ducts are properly capped and sealed. When your home was constructed, there may have been installation errors, and ducts may not have been capped or vented properly. This may result in your costly conditioned air leaking into places that you don’t want heated, such as the attic or basement. Air may even be venting into a wall by mistake.
- Clean your ducts periodically to improve your indoor air quality, and prevent particles from entering your furnace and hampering its efficiency. Mold can grow inside your ducts, and in your heating and cooling equipment, if your home’s moisture levels are high. This can exacerbate symptoms of allergies and asthma for you and your loved ones.
- Ensure that furniture, window treatments or other objects are not blocking your air intake vents. Air needs to flow freely through these vents so that your system runs efficiently, and isn’t working overtime trying to push air through a blocked airway.
- Check all delivery vents to ensure that they are clear of debris or blockages. Air needs to flow through to each room, and should not be blocked off manually using cardboard or wood. If you want to stop air flow into a room, shut its vent.
For more information, or to schedule an appointment to have your ducts and vents inspected, contact the professionals at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning. We have been proudly serving residential and commercial customers in the Twin Cities area since 1974, and look forward to meeting all of your heating and cooling needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ductwork and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Marsh Heating and Air Conditioning services Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!