The average American apartment loses up to 30% of heated plus cooled air because of flaws in the air duct.
The duct system is a network of pipes that are largely concealed behind walls plus ceilings plus inside crawl spaces, garages, basements plus attics, and due to awful design plus wear plus tear, separations can develop at the seams.
Small holes can form. Conditioned air travels through the duct system multiple times per afternoon. The air that is heated by the heating system or cooled by the cooling system is distributed to the rooms of the apartment by way of the supply air duct. The stale air is circulated back to the heating system plus cooling system through return ducts. Any imperfection results in air loss. Holes in supply ducts mean that the maximum amount of heated or cooled air fails to reach the intended endpoint. That means the heating system plus cooling system are required to run longer to meet the demands of the control component setting.The added wear plus tear negatively impacts the reliability plus longevity of the equipment! Leaky ducts lead to inferior comfort, greater energy consumption plus higher running costs. Imperfections in the return ducts often draw in unconditioned air plus pollutants. This can cause problems with indoor air quality as well as health plus safety risks. Contaminants get introduced into breathing air. If the ducts are located near combustion-based appliances, there is the worry over carbon monoxide getting pulled into the air. The solution is regular, professional air duct testing, plus if necessary, duct sealing. The process is non-invasive but worthwhile.