Photo by Belinda Hankins Miller.
This month’s topic on the Green Mom’s carnival is global warming being hosted over at Not Quite Crunchy Chicken. How many of you are freezing as much as I am? How many of you are tempted to crank that thermostat up until your toes are all warm and snuggly?
Stop right there. If you don’t show some love to your heating and cooling ducts, then your toes might be snuggly, but your wallet will be empty. According to Energy Star, a typical house loses 20% of the air movement through its duct system due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. So our systems run longer to meet the demand of our heating and cooling systems and our energy bills sore. Worse yet, the increase energy use causes more fossil fuel consumption at power plants which contributes to smog, acid rain, and global warming.
What I realized this fall as a volunteer in the energy exhibit area at Twin Maples, a renovated green historic Show House that most people had no ideas that their lack of attention to their ducts could be causing their increased energy bills each month.
The energy exhibit was created to enlighten the Show House guests how Twin Maples was renovated to make it more energy efficient and green. On display was a multitude of green products used in the house.
As guests would come in, I would go through my routine and explain why insulating your house and changing your old drafty window was important, have them “ooh and ahh” over the bamboo flooring, and show them all the different eco-flooring choices that could make their hearts sing. My last part of the routine was to point to the ceiling at those ugly silver exposed metal ducts in the basement.
I left this part of my routine for last because I believed that if they remembered anything I said during my routine, hopefully it was the last part about their ducts. In addition, wrapping and sealing the ducts is an inexpensive, but a crucible fix.
Mastic, Mastic, and Mastic
As they were looking at the most unappealing metal duct, I would start with the old money trick. “Do you realize that you could be losing a lot of money every month simply because your ducts are leaking?” (Now, I had their attention.) They would look at me with puzzled faces.
Then I would say, “ever wonder why you can feel cold air coming out of your ducts in the summer and heat in the winter in your basement, but you don’t have vents in your ducts?”
They would reply, “you are right,” and nod their heads in unison.
Then I would point to the rubbery, rough coating between the duct joints (where the ducts would meet) and tell them that this where most of your leakage comes from in your ducts. That ugly coating is duct mastic, which seals seams, joints and cracks in new and old heating and air conditioning ducts. Oikos has a wonderful article on how to apply mastic. Make sure you use a low or non-toxic brand. All of my ducts are sealed with AMF Safecoat’s DynoFlex . (To purchase any AMF Safecoat product, check here for the closet vendor.)
I would also warned them that ordinary duct tape is not sufficient to seal the seams. Again, I would see a round of heads shaking.
Why be Goldilocks in your house?
Next stop on the duct tour was the zone damper. Most people I spoke to had one zone systems and complained that one side of their house was too hot and the other side was too cold.
Basically, a zone damper shuts off one’s rooms heating and cooling needs when it reaches temperature. The other rooms continue to heat or cool until they reach the satisfied temperature. No more need to crank up the thermostat because one side of the house is hot or cold depending on the season. So, less energy is used, and you save money. In my last two houses, I had zone dampers and it has really helped.
Check with your HVAC contractor if your house could benefit from this retro-fit.
Wrap it like a Shiny Present
The last and final segment of my duct tour was to ask my guests if the knew if their ducts that are in unheated (unconditioned) spaces were wrapped with insulation. These ducts are usually found in a basement or crawl space. Mostly, I would hear, “uh…no,” or “I have no idea.”
For every foot of unwrapped or inadequately wrapped ducts, you are literally throwing you money out the window. Check here and here for the R-value guidelines for insulating your flexible and metal ducts.
Make sure all ducts in unconditioned spaces are wrapped including crawl spaces. This includes flexible ducts as well. In addition, use a formaldehyde free duct wrap such as Microlite XC from Johns Manville. (This product is in my home.) I am not a fan of anything with fiberglass since it makes me cough and itch if I am around it. If anyone knows an R-6-8 non-fiberglass duct insulation, please let me know.
At the end of my tour, I made them all promise that they would go home and look at their ducts in the attics and basements including the crawlspaces.
If you suspect you have vermiculite insulation in your house, do not disturb it, and call a licensed contractor. (See the pictures in the hyperlink.) Vermiculite insulation might contain asbestos.
Are you disconnected?
In my previous house, one of my flexible ducts was not connected properly. As I put my hand around the bottom of the tube, I could feel cold air just pouring out of the duct. I was cooling my attic. Make sure all of your ducts are securely connected to their truck lines (to the rigid sheet metal) and the boot (which is the opening into the floor or ceiling.) Also check to see that there is adequate insulation around the boot and that the flexible duct is not torn.
It is a good idea to have your air conditioning and heating system checked for leaks by a HVAC contractor since it will save you money in the long run. Now, that we have the ducts under wrap, tomorrow’s discussion is tuning up your heating system.
Go check your ducts, and report back to me!
Lynn from Organicmania.com says
Anna, this is great information. I have read so many energy savings tips about things like insulation and programmable thermostats, but this is the very first article I can recall reading about ductwork. Great research, you LEED-accredited practioner, you!
Thanks for participating in the Green Moms Carnival!
Lynn
Lynn from Organicmania.coms last blog post..Global Warming: “Our Kids are Going to be So Angry with Us”
Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fish says
Thanks for the info. Last year, I discovered my own ducts up in the attic. It was fun:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com.....about.html
Not trying to draw people away from your post, of course. Just thought it was relevant!
Beth
Beth Terry, aka Fake Plastic Fishs last blog post..Plastic, Glass, Egg Salad, & Global Warming
Jenn (The Green Parent) says
What great info Anna! Thanks for these tips. I’m going to give my ducts the once over this weekend!
Jenn
Jenn (The Green Parent)s last blog post..Talking to Your Kids About Global Warming
JessTrev says
Oooh, fabulous post – practical how-to tips with non toxic product recs! Totally want to look into a zone damper. Great idea. Thanks so much!
JessTrevs last blog post..Feeling Von Trapped
Mindful Momma says
Thanks for the ductwork 101 lesson, Anna! Now to find the time to actually follow your advice…
Mindful Mommas last blog post..Bag Lady
Lisa Jerry says
Although I live in a Taylor Morrison community in Southern California, I have a vacation home in Maine. You can learn more about Taylor Morrison from their website (http://dreambig.taylormorrison.com/?utm_source=bc) and don’t forget to enter to win a dream vacation while you’re there. Although we use it mostly in the summer as a beach house, we enjoy spending the weeks of Hanukah and New Years bundled up around the fire with coco and this means winterizing the house before we leave in September. This means stapling heavy plastic to the inside and outside of all the windows and cleaning the heating vents. We also use this time to call the chimney sweep and make sure all the fireplaces are clean – a chimney fire in the middle of winter is the worst! I also recommend using thick area rugs to keep your feet warm.
Mother Earth says
as a renter i feel rather helpless in this area, i keep my thermostat quite low during the day, very low at night and invested in a down comforter. i’d be curious your take on how a renter could influence a landlord …maybe a dear landlord post??
Mother Earths last blog post..Detox with Acidophilus Bifidus
Green Talk says
I don’t know if you can convince a landlord unless he is paying for the electricity. Perhaps if it is explained that his or her system is working alot harder and will need to be replaced sooner might spur them to consider simply insulating and sealing the ducts. Readers, thoughts? Anna
Green Talk says
Sonia, have you looked Lee’s bed or Viesso’s collection? Both are posts on my website. I am not sure what Lee’s tufted part might be made of. It is possible that it will be reycled bottles. They will be alot cheaper than Cisco. They don’t use natural latex like Cisco.
Pure Furniture may be more expensive too. Anna
Green Bean says
Ah man! Every year, I mean to do this and somehow summer and fall slip away. I did at least coax my husband to do some weather stripping this year. Next year, heating ducts! I promise.
Green Beans last blog post..Controlling My Impulses
Alline says
Wow! Great post, and what a fabulous job you’ve done making something as potentially banal (yet important) as DUCTS interesting! Brava! I’m emailing a link to my friends right now!
Allines last blog post..My Life in a Feminist Ecovillage
High Efficiency Air Conditioning says
those are really good tips, you may think your house is efficient, but if you haven’t done anything to make it that way then it is probably not.
Robert James says
Dust collectors are needed for regular maintenance of your air conditioning and or heating units. Those ducts are natural conduits for the building up of dust. The maintenance should also include an annual check of the units working order. If you have an air conditioner this should be re gassed and or at least checked by a qualified tradesmen.
Green Talk says
Robert, explain what you mean by dust collectors. Anna
Designer Radiators says
We used to live in an old house that the previous owner had installed central heating into. We could never figure out why despite the meters and meters of insulated ducts the temperature was never perfect. Turns out that though the ducts were sealed tight the junction boxes hadn’t been insulated at all. So through out the house hiding in our ceilings were metal boxes just weeping with our precious heat!
John Anderson says
I never thought about how the air ducts in my house were doing. If they are in top shape, or need repairs and cleaning. Imagine saving 20% on my heating bill, by making sure my air ducts are in working order.
Hazel Owens says
I’m surprised that having unwrapped ducts could be a cause of wasted energy. I honestly haven’t thought much of my ducts, to be honest; they haven’t really been a problem. However, I think I’ll be considering having them cleaned out and checked over for leaks so that I don’t waste energy unnecessarily. Thanks for the article!
Donna says
Air ducts hold a lot of dust in them. Your health can also be affected by this. Cleaning them 1 a year of 2 years is a must. The filter doesn’t trap everything so the dust settles and everytime you kick on your system, you breathe it in.
Anna says
Donna, good point. People don’t realize what can be trapped in your ducts. Anna