Is Your Ductwork in Need of Professional Replacement?

Duct Replacement in San Antonio, TX

When you think about your HVAC system, you likely picture your furnace or air conditioning units. However, one of the most important parts of your system is your ductwork. It’s necessary to provide adequate pathways to deliver hot and cold air throughout the various areas of your home.

It’s Over 15 Years Old

Ductwork is constructed to last for about 15 to 20 years with proper care. Over time, however, it will start to loosen at its joints and develop pinhole leaks. This will reduce indoor comfort and raise energy bills. If you live in a coastal environment, you may need to upgrade your ducting more often due to the excessive corrosion that salt can cause.

High Energy Bills

One particularly irritating sign that your ducting is likely needing replacement is that your energy bills are through the roof. As your ducting nears the end of its usable lifespan, it will develop leaks. These leaks will allow the treated air from your furnace or air conditioning system to escape into the wall and floor cavities where the ducting runs.

If adequate hot or cold air is not delivered to the rooms in your home, your HVAC system will have to run overtime to produce more treated air. Ductwork inefficiency will result in higher energy bills.

Poor Indoor Air Quality

Another indicator that you may need to upgrade your existing ductwork is that you’re experiencing poor indoor air quality. While it’s normal for air quality levels to fluctuate throughout the year, it shouldn’t drastically dip. If it does, it’s likely the result of dirt and debris inside wall and floor cavities. When your ducting has gaps, its internal pressure can pull in grime that’s stuck behind your walls and floors. It will circulate this grime throughout your home and reduce the overall air quality level in your home.

Visible Damage

Another obvious indicator that your ductwork needs an upgrade is visible damage. While most of your ducting is likely concealed behind walls and floors, some may be exposed in your attic or crawlspace. If you notice punctures and dents in the ducting, it’s likely that most of your ducting has similar issues that will require a replacement sooner rather than later.

Poor Airflow

Unfortunately, if you don’t have your ducting installed by a professional, you may find it improperly designed. Ducting must be designed with different pressures and layouts in mind. If it isn’t designed effectively, you could end up with poor airflow in some areas of your home, which could lead to having to get your ducting redone. Another cause of poor airflow is simply deteriorating ducting.

Insufficient Heating or Cooling

As your ducting develops leaks and corrodes over time, it can allow treated air to escape into wall and floor cavities. As a result, your HVAC system will experience insufficient heating or cooling. If you have a fairly newer heating or cooling system, the likely culprit is your old ducting.

Pungent Odors

If you notice a musty, pungent odor coming out of your ducting, it’s an indication that mold or mildew growth is happening. While you may be able to remove the growth if you catch it early enough, sometimes it’s best to simply do a complete replacement. Having mold and mildew spores blown throughout your home can aggravate symptoms of allergies, asthma, and respiratory conditions. Plus, these spores can lead to the development of respiratory conditions in high concentrations.

Pest Activity

Unfortunately, your ductwork creates the perfect environment for pests, and it can be challenging to know whether they’re there until after they’ve made a mess. Any gaps in your ducting can create the perfect entry point for mice and other household pests. They will build nests in the ducting and leave behind droppings. With air constantly flowing through your ducting, all of the smells and bacteria that come along with pest droppings will be circulated throughout your home. Instead of trying to clean all that nasty bacteria from your ductwork, you may want to replace it.

The Ductwork Replacement Process

There’s no doubt that the ducting replacement process is extensive and expensive. However, it becomes necessary when dealing with any of the problems we went over above. This process essentially involves ripping out all of your old ducting and replacing it with new air ducts.

To begin with, you’ll want to have one of our HVAC technicians evaluate your home. They’ll assess your home’s layout and HVAC system to determine the most efficient ducting design. In some cases, adjustments may need to be made to the design of your old ducting to fix potential issues, such as hot and cold spots.

Once the design is done, the air ducts are typically crafted off-site to save time. The only ducting that’s usually constructed at your home will be for the air handler due to its unique shape. This whole process will start with the removal of your old air ducts. While a lot of it can be removed non-invasively, some of it will inevitably require technicians to cut into your walls or floors to access. It’s important to schedule a contractor to come in and repair these problem areas after the ductwork replacement process is complete.

The Benefits of Ducting Replacement

Opting to upgrade your outdated ducting can provide you with many great benefits. The most obvious is that you get fresh ducting that doesn’t have any debris or bacteria inside of it that could otherwise contaminate your indoor air. Another benefit is that your ducting is completely clear and free of leaks, so your heating and cooling systems can operate more efficiently. This leads to lower heating and cooling bills for you.

Replacing the ducting in your home can increase your home’s resale value. If you have existing issues, like hot and cold spots, new ducting can address the previous poor design issue. You can have peace of mind that your new ducting will be able to supply adequate hot and cold air to all the rooms of your home evenly. This will allow you and your family to be more comfortable in your home.

Tips on Extending the Lifespan of Your New Ducting

There’s no doubt that ducting can be quite expensive to replace. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to extend the overall lifespan of your ducting. Opt for getting professional duct cleaning service every three to five years. Furthermore, getting duct sealing service every five years is a great way to ensure that your ducting is not reducing the efficiency of your HVAC system.

Reliable Ductwork Replacement Service

Rosenberg Plumbing & Air offers reliable ductwork replacement service to the San Antonio, TX community. We’ll be more than happy to assist with all your heating services as well as your air conditioning, plumbing, commercial, ductwork, indoor air quality, and emergency HVAC needs. Contact us today to schedule your next service consultation.

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