Ear muffs are a great piece of winter apparel. The ear tissue is thin and loses heat very rapidly in cold temperatures. Wearing ear muffs creates a barrier between your ears and the cold air. Something else that’s thin and loses heat quickly are ducts exposed to cold temperatures. Duct efficiency drops dramatically when warm air comes through exposed, cold metal ducts.

Improving duct efficiency

Ideally, ducts should be shielded or insulated from temperature extremes. Ducts in interior wall chases are protected and maintain a temperature near to the same temperatures as exists inside the home. As warm air comes through, traveling to the home’s interior, it loses little if any of its warmth.

Ducts in other areas such as the basement, crawlspace or attic must be protected from cooler temperatures. If the air temperature in your attic is 45 degrees, that means the thin metal in your ducts is the same. As 80 degree air comes through, the cold metal reduces the heat and the air may be only 60 when it first enters the room. After a few minutes, the ducts warm and your heat loss is reduced, but you ‘re still losing heat to the attic air.

An important energy saver

By keeping your ducts insulated, your system runs less often for shorter periods, which leads to savings on your energy costs. The best part about insulation is that it’s a one time expense and does its job season after season. Insulation acts like ear muffs for your ducts. It keeps the heat in and the cold out.

Proper insulation

A layer of fiberglass insulation wrapped all the way around the ducts will increase you duct efficiency. Get the insulation with a paper facing and keep the paper exposed to the outside. This will prevent moisture from collecting and condensing on the metal ducts. Make sure all exposed areas are covered.

If you have questions about your ducting, contact us at Bailey’s Appliance & Air. We’re always happy to help you with advice, and with options to help you save on energy costs without sacrificing comfort.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about duct efficiency and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Bailey’s Appliance & Air services Augusta, Georgia and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our current promotions and get started today!