If some rooms in your house aren’t receiving adequate airflow or are difficult to keep cool, you might be tempted to blame your HVAC system. The problem also could be your air ducts. Poorly designed and inefficient ducts can imbalance pressure levels throughout the house, cause circulation problems, strain the HVAC system, and waste energy.

A few signs that could signal airflow problems caused by duct problems:

• Some rooms that are hard to keep cool.
• Some rooms that are always stuffy or humid.
• Skyrocketing utility bills.
• You have ductwork in uninsulated areas, such as the garage or attic.
• You have a new or improved HVAC system that’s coupled with old ductwork.

Over time, air ducts may naturally develop tears or disjointed connections that waste conditioned air, while pulling unfiltered air into the house from contaminated areas such as the attic. Dust and dirt also accumulate in equipment and can reduce the efficiency of the ducts.

The design of your ductwork contributes to efficiency, too. Properly designed and installed ductwork saves energy and increases airflow in the following ways:

• It includes return air supply vents in every room or in central areas of the home.
• It’s sized to handle the precise amount of airflow produced by the HVAC system.
• Its ducts get smaller as they branch away from the main core, just as streams branching off a river become smaller, to maintain static pressure.
• Its angles are curved instead of sharply cornered, which can “wrinkle” airflow.

Air ducts can be likened to the house’s circulatory system. Your home is healthier when they function efficiently. However, because ducts are out of sight, behind walls and in ceilings, it can be hard to diagnose problems yourself. If you suspect your airflow issues could be related to your ductwork, please contact San Antonio’s experts anytime at Jon Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning.

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

Jon Wayne Heating and Air Conditioning services  San Antonio and the surrounding communities of Seguin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, Boerne, and Comal County. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions.