What’s the Point of Duct Testing

If you’ve heard of duct testing, which is a service we offer, you may have wondered exactly what it means or had questions like:

• What is it testing for?
• What use is it?
• Do I need it done?

We’re going to answer those questions in this post, because duct testing is an important service that we recommend our customers schedule every few years. If you have any other questions about duct testing and sealing in Colorado Springs, CO, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help you.

What Does Duct Testing Look For?

The purpose of duct testing is to determine the airtightness and integrity of the ducts in the HVAC system of a home. Ductwork must have an airtight seal from the point where it exits the HVAC cabinet until it reaches the vents into the rooms. The same is true for the return air ducts that pull air from the house into the blower of the HVAC cabinet to start the cycle all over again.

Ductwork can lose airtightness over time to various factors: sagging that stretches open connections, corrosion of metal ducts creating holes, deterioration of duct board, damage from construction, and damage from animals and vermin. Using duct testing equipment, we can find out if the ducts are losing air at some point. We pressurize the ventilation system and use manometers to register how fast the pressure drops. The faster the drop, the more the ducts have lost integrity.

What Good Does Duct Testing Do?

If your ducts have air leaks, they will negatively affect the performance of the HVAC system and the quality of comfort and air quality in your home. Duct testing lets us know what work we need to do to seal the ducts and prevent these problems:

• Because the ductwork can lose up to 30% of the air moving through it to leaks, this will cause a large amount of cooled and heated air to go to waste. You’ll pay more for comfort that you aren’t even getting.
• A drop in air pressure causes worse heating and cooling, with rooms getting less conditioned air and hot and cold spots appearing in rooms.
• The extra work placed on the HVAC system due to bad ductwork will cause equipment to wear down faster.
• Gaps and leaks in the ducts will affect indoor humidity levels and can also drag dust and other contaminants into the air moving through the ducts.

Do I Need to Schedule Duct Testing?

If you’ve never had duct testing done before and you’ve lived in your house for more than 3 years, it’s definitely time to schedule it. We also recommend it if you start to notice the problems associated with air leaks in the ducts: higher energy bills, poor heating and cooling in the house, low airflow from the ducts, and dusty and moldy odors circulating around your home.

If you’re in doubt, please give our team a call. We’ll help you get your ducts into the best shape possible.

Just contact the team at Peak Home Performance today to get started!