Penguin Air technicians have the experience and training to undertake Commercial or Residential Ductwork to ensure that all duct systems are properly fabricated and installed..
Air leakage from supply or return duct work contributes to the condensation of humid air in building cavities and/or on the neighboring surfaces. Air leakage can be especially problematic for ducts or AHUs that are located outside the conditioned spaces. The primary goals for the Technicians are to keep all air ducts within the conditioned space, and to ensure that all the joints and seams of all ducts, including return ducts, are sealed using an appropriate material.
Duct Leakage from the Return lines will cause a significant drop in energy efficiency as it is taking in the attic or crawl space unconditioned area, in many cases it vacuums in the attic insulation into the system clogging the air handler coil, at times so severe that the evaporator coil commences to ice.
Figure 1. This Picture shows an illustration of improperly installed duct work found in one of our customer’s home. The duct has a separation gap that exceeds over an inch in some areas, then they proceeded to tape everything nicely so it looks like a clean job. However, over time this is the result. These types of gaps in the duct work should not exist we pay special attention into preventing moisture from entering duct work. This is very important because preventing moisture from entering duct work is critical to preventing mold problems, energy efficiency, duct sweat etc.
Figure 2. This Next Picture is a similar sample to figure 1. only in this picture the technician did not remove the tape yet! but if carefully observed it is a clear demonstration of a poorly installed and patched duct work moisture is showing through the tape over time. Mold will grow on any duct surface that remains wet. some people find the odor objectionable.
Figure 3. This picture illustrates another poor duct work. The white area in the bottom center of the pictures is what we in the industry call mastic. However, this was improperly applied, again there are gaps in the box that was built so they had to tape it, and mastic it to try to seal the gaps to prevent air from leaking of the ducts, is clearly showing moisture stains on the surface. Tape may seal the air from flowing out but cannot insulate therefore it may start to sweat.
Second problem figure 3. another demonstration of poorly planned layout of the ducts. They are crossing over each other binding and crashing the ducts, this is preventing good air flow in the home.
Figure 4. Ducts shown are not properly sealed, prior contractors have cut into the insulation for repairs or diagnostic and no proper taping to restore the insulation was done.
Open insulation creates condensation. see figure 5.
Figure 5. Improper Insulation. In this picture it is clearly visible the damge condensation is creating.
All Ductwork must have an air tight seal. Sealing all air ducts to prevent HVAC system air leakage. In addition to significant energy losses, air leakage from HVAC ducts and air handling units cause significant IAQ problems due to unexpected airflow.
Ducts – Keep air supply registers and vents clear to allow air to flow freely throughout the room. Do not block the return air registers. Each home has its very own air register distribution, locate these registers in your home and keep furniture away from blocking the vents air flow.
When you close vents of your air conditioning system you could also throw off the balance of the system, change the way air is distributed, a properly installed air ducts systems are designed to a specific volume of air flow by blocking an air vent will cause a back presure resulting in additional air flow to other rooms, may cause sweating of the duct work or cause the thermostat to detect temperatures which make the rest of the house uncomfortable.
Note: If Air flow is very weak and is not cooling your room consider contacting Penguin Air, to have one of our technicians inspect your ducts and system distribution.
