Something isn’t right with your heating or AC. In the winter one room is boiling while another is an icebox. In the summer you have one room or whole side of your house that just won’t cool down. If you are sure that your furnace and/or AC is working properly, then it might be time to check your ducts.

Leaky ducts are a very common problem here in Austin and they’re often the culprit when everything else in your HVAC system seems to be functioning correctly. Let’s take a look at some of the telltale signs that you have ducts that are leaking and what you can do about it.

Signs of Leaking Ducts

High utility bills – Have you noticed an abnormal increase in your energy bills? A spike could be a sign that your HVAC system is working overtime. With leaky ducts your system is releasing hot or cool air in undesired locations causing your system to use more energy.

Dust – Dust happens. It’s a fact of life and a fact of living in Texas. But if you start to notice a lot of dust piling up abnormally, it could be another sign of leaking ducts. Those openings in your duct work will pick up dust and fine particles then distribute them throughout your house. The risk of allergies raises and you’ll be on double dusting duty!

Irregular heating or cooling throughout the home – If you notice certain rooms never warming up or cooling down (depending on the season), you might just have – oh, you know what we’re going to say. Unless there are obvious issues like window leaks or one room receiving far more direct sunlight, you’ve probably got a duct issue.

So, what can you do?

Well, for starters, you can call in the experts. If you’re in Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Hutto, Georgetown, Leander, Jarrell, Florence or Taylor you’ve got a dependable team of trusted HVAC authorities at your service. We’ll do some detective work and find out just how extensive your duct work leaks go. Then we’ll fix them lickety split and you’ll notice a huge improvement in efficiency.

If you’re more of the DIY type or you just want to check to see if your ducts are leaking before you call in the big guns, you can do some of your own investigation.

Follow these steps:

Start by turning your HVAC system on full blast. This will help you see or feel for obvious leaks. Next, look for obvious holes or tears. Check the duct joints. This is a common place to find leaks where two ducts connect.

Be on the lookout for duct tape. Believe it or not, duct tape is not a permanent fix for ducts. And for those harder to spot leaks you could use a smoke pencil or incense. With this method you might notice irregular airflow patterns which can signal you to leaks.

Finally, you can seal up the leaks with foil-faced tape or mastic. Careful if you’re trying to do all this yourself. Duct leaks can be slippery to pinpoint and so often DIY fixes can lead to mistakes and accidents that cause more issues.

If you’re ducts are leaking you’re likely to keep seeing those energy bills rise, dust pile up in your home and experience inefficient cooling or heating. Call us today to get those ducts patched up!