There is, unfortunately, only one answer to the above question, and that is a resounding “Yes!”

While it may not seem too much of a problem if your ducting allows 20% of the ‘conditioned’ air to escape, it immediately creates three problems.

First, the air that flows through your HVAC ducting is pressurized in order for the heated or cooled air to reach all parts of your home. One of the first signs all is not well with your HVAC ducting is when some rooms become harder to heat or cool than others.

Second, if you are allowing 20% of your heated or cooled air to escape, then you are increasing the running costs of your HVC unit by 20%, and as that unit is likely to be the biggest draw on power in your home, that is going to have a massively negative effect on your fuel bills.

Third, if your HVAC unit isn’t delivering the heated or cooled air that you want, you’re going to turn the system up to compensate which, in addition to increasing your fuel costs, is going to put added strain on the HVAC unit itself, leading to it either breaking down more often, or requiring replacement sooner than you would want. So, leaking ducting not only increases your fuel bill, but may mean you need to replace your HVAC unit four years sooner than you might have expected – now that does make leaking ducting expensive!

Right, so we have established that you need to avoid leaks in your HVAC ducting, but how do you either stop or repair leaks? We, curiously, or ironically, the one thing you don’t want to use is ‘duct tape’ or ‘duck tape’, depending on what you call it. Why? Well, that super-adhesive and relatively indestructible grey tape may seem like the perfect solution for repairing any gaps in your HVAC ducting, but it can only ever be a temporary fix.

Unfortunately, duct tape will dry up relatively fast as the temperature of the ducting will keep changing, and once it dries out, it loses its stickiness.

Instead, there are mastic and silicone sealants that are ideally suited to fixing gaps in HVAC ducting which, once they have cured (dried), will still remain flexible and will remain attached to your ducting.

Of course, the other option is to give us a call here at A&E Air Conditioning and Heating and we will gladly come out, inspect your ducting, and if we find any leaks, we will repair them to ensure you have no leaks at all and that your system runs at its most economical throughout the year.