Home Energy Tips – Ventilation and Duct Sealing

I say it all the time, your home is the most complicated machine you own. One of the main reasons for this statement is your (HVAC) Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Systems. If you have a forced air Heat Pump that is controlling the temperature in your home, you are like most in our area. This is the least expensive option for a system and most often used solution for heating and cooling. Notice I left out the V (ventilation). This is one place where the problems start. If you build a tightly sealed efficient home you need to have a HVAC system that is bringing in fresh air for air quality, dehumidification, and for health. Another place where the wheels fall off of a traditional ducted HVAC system is the supply registers in your rooms. If they are installed properly, you will not see the edges of the metal duct when you take off the register cover as you see in this picture:

Ventilation

If done properly, a duct boot has mastic on it at the sub-floor creating a tight air seal so you will see directly into the duct and will not have air space around the edges:

Ventilation

This proper duct sealing also shows up on the ducts themselves – which you can see here:

Ventilation

These simple steps done during construction could cut your energy use for Heating, Ventilation, and Cooling by 30% monthly. Now that really could add up quick!

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Related Posts

Happy Small Business Saturday

Happy Small Business Saturday

Today is Small Business Saturday and we focus, once again, on buying local. We do this to support our neighbors, ...
2021 Virginia Building Code impacts on New Construction

2021 Virginia Building Code impacts on New Construction

The 2021 Virginia building code changes have had a significant impact on residential homes in Virginia starting in ...
Do you need an architect for your custom home project?

Do you need an architect for your custom home project?

Do you need an architect for your custom home project? I encourage you to call us if you are thinking about ...
Northern Lights from Afton Mountain

Northern Lights from Afton Mountain

We have had the honor to design three houses in Elk Rock Meadows at the top of Afton Mountain. The views are ...

Discover more from The Gaines Group Architects

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading