Can Issues Within Your Ducts Contribute to Poor Indoor Air Quality?

Rattling and clamoring noises from air vents are telltale signs of duct problems. Not only is that noise costing you energy dollars and contributing to discomforts in the home, duct problems contribute in a significant way to poor indoor air quality (IAQ). Following are a few examples.

Humidity Control

Central Florida homeowners contend with high indoor and outdoor humidity practically every day. Indoor humidity is a component of IAQ that affects comfort, energy bills, health and home structure. Leaky ducts that introduce moisture from the crawl space, attic and/or an attached garage don’t help IAQ, nor your efforts to control indoor humidity.

Air Infiltration

An important factor that determines the quality of duct design is sizing. If ducts aren’t sized correctly, airflow from the vents is going to be unbalanced. This also means that air pressure is unbalanced, which allows air from outside the home to infiltrate through leaks in the home’s envelope, bringing contaminants with it.

Backdrafting Risks

Backdrafting occurs when a negative air pressure in the home pulls poisonous flue gasses created by combustion appliances inside the home. It’s a dangerous situation that can cause serious harm to occupants. If backdrafting occurs near a leaky duct, the fumes can be sucked inside and distributed to the living spaces.

Contaminant Infiltration

More homes are being designed with the air ducts in conditioned spaces. This helps reduce energy losses and it eliminates the risk of contaminants outside the living spaces entering the ducts.

However, the vast majority of duct systems are installed under the floor in crawl spaces, in the attic, inside walls and may run through an attached garage. The types of contaminants entering duct leaks from these spaces could be anything from vermin waste and decomposition to insulation dust, mold spores and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Make an appointment to have your air ducts inspected and IAQ tested. The quality of both systems impact the quality of life for you and loved ones.

To learn more about the relationship between ducts and indoor air quality in your Orlando home, please contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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