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Old 02-23-10, 09:03 PM   #1
Daox
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Default Taping furnace air ducts

The other day I came home to a 60 degree house. The thermostat is programmed to start warming up the house to 69 a while before we get home, so I knew something was wrong. Tonight, I finally got around to checking it out. Oddly, the furnace was keeping the house around 60 which is what we keep it at night and during the day when we are at work. Anyway, I found a totally clogged air filter. I was surprised because I hadn't changed it all that long ago, or so I thought. Replacing the filter fixed the problem (likely overheating the burner tripping a sensor to shut the furnace down.

While I was down there, I took some time to inspect the air ducts. This was long overdue as I've read quite a bit on how leaky duct work can cause huge increases in energy usage. I always figured I had so little exposed ducting that it wouldn't make much of a difference. After inspecting the duct work, I'd say I was pretty wrong. Here is what I found:













So, I figured now is as good a time as any, so I ran out to the garage and grabbed my aluminum tape that I had gotten to do this earlier. Remember, you can't use normal duct tape for taping heating ducts.





Here is an overview shot of what I have downstairs. The duct on the left is a return line, so slightly less important than the ducting going straight up, but still important.

You can also see my horribly dirty air filter in the garbage.





The one roll of tape went an okay distance, but I definitely need another roll or two to finish up. I was able to get all around the base of the duct to the furnace which had some fairly decent gaps and as you can see a lot of corners had huge gaps. I really don't understand why this stuff isn't required at install.




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