Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Ductwork

If you have central heat and air in your home, then there’s ductwork running throughout your home in the ceilings and walls. The ductwork is the part of your HVAC system that channels warm or cool air to each room of the house, bringing the temperature to comfortable levels year-round. The thing about ductwork is that it needs periodic maintenance, just like the unit and its other components. Unfortunately, it’s a maintenance task that’s often overlooked by many homeowners. As the saying goes, the ductwork is generally out of sight, out of mind.

Over time, aging ducts will crack and even pull away from air vent openings, which leads to air leaks. But how do you know when ducts are done for? Here are some of the signs it may be time to invest in new HVAC duct installation in Central Kansas.

Your home seems extra dusty

You know that feeling you get when you haven’t dusted or vacuumed in a while? If the air is stuffy and tastes dusty, your allergies are going crazy and there’s more dust buildup than normal, you could have damaged ducts. A dusty home can mean your ducts have holes, cracks, gaps or poor sealing. These types of issues let dust get into the ductwork, which then sends it into your home. Too much dust in your home is unhealthy and lowers your indoor air quality.

Inside smells like mildew

Turning your heater or air conditioner on after having it turned off for months may yield a musky odor at the start of a new season—this is usually the smell of a system that’s just woken up, and it should only last a short time. However, if you all of a sudden notice a foreign odor or a sour smell coming from your ducts, there’s a chance the inside of the ducts have mold and/or mildew growth. Condensation can happen when warm, moist air meets cold ductwork, often due to poor insulation or living in a humid climate.

This condensation can encourage mold growth inside ducts, meaning smelly and unhealthy air gets blown into your home. Also, ducts can leak condensation into the inside of your ceilings and walls, which can cause mold to grow in unseen places.

The temperature inside your home is inconsistent

A big sign that you might need new ductwork or duct repairs is experiencing inconsistent interior temperatures. Take note of areas that seem to be much warmer or cooler that other rooms in your house. You could have leaky ducts. Leaks cause ducts to lose air and fail to sufficiently heat or cool parts of the house. However, it is possible that inconsistent indoor temperatures are actually the result of unbalanced ductwork.

Your HVAC unit is loud

A quality HVAC system should be fairly quiet when it’s running. If it’s overly noisy inside, there’s a possibility that the ducts are too small for your system, or that they are unbalanced. The unit will struggle to move air through small openings, stressing the system.

Call the experts at K V K Inc. today to discuss new or replacement HVAC duct installation in Central Kansas.

Categorised in: Duct Repair

This post was written by Writer