How to Tell if Your Ducts Are Leaking This Winter

Because we run our air conditioners pretty much 24/7 during the cooling season, it can be relatively easy to tell when something is wrong with the AC or its ductwork. The same is not really true for our heating systems, though. We don’t rely on our heaters nearly as much as we do our air conditioners, so noticing problems can be a bit trickier. That is why it’s best to go into the brief and mild heating season with an idea of what to look for.

The symptoms of leaky ductwork in the winter are much the same as they are in the summer. It’s just spotting them that is a bit trickier. Keep the following warning signs in mind, and contact our technicians for quality duct sealing in Phoenix, AZ.

• Cool spots. The winter weather in our area is obviously quite mild. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t expect a great performance from your heater when you do need it, though. In fact, that means that you should have no problem in heating your home effectively and evenly. If there is an area in your home that feels cooler than the rest, or which takes longer to warm up when temperatures drop, the ductwork in that area may be compromised.
• Hissing sounds. No, your ducts are not full of snakes. At least, we hope they aren’t (and feel free to contact somebody else if they are!). The hissing sound that you are hearing when you run your heating system may be heated air leaking out of the ducts. You may notice the same issue in the summer, as the same ducts are used, but it’s possible that new damage has developed only recently.
• Air quality. More specifically, a drop in air quality. Leaky ductwork, be it in summer or winter, can let pollutants into the system just as easily as they let conditioned air out of the system. Once that happens, the system will distribute those pollutants throughout the house, and your indoor air quality will suffer for it.

Give Goettl Air Conditioning a call if you’re having any trouble with your HVAC systems or your ductwork specifically.