Duct Work FAQ: Everything you need to know

Duct work can be considered an unsung hero in your home. It does its work in the background, but it is still a vital component helping things stay comfortable throughout the year. Most homeowners forget about the duct work that serves their home, since it is out of sight and often requires no attention, but it’s good to know at least a little about how it works and what kind of maintenance it may need. 

 

To work with an HVAC team that will never take the health of your duct work or any other component of the system for granted, get in touch  with Walker Air • Plumbing • Electric at your convenience. We’ve been serving the DFW metroplex for decades and our track record in the area speaks for itself. 

What Does Duct Work Do?

The role of duct work in your HVAC system is pretty simple – it carries air to vents where it is dumped into rooms throughout the structure. Wherever you see an air vent in your house that comes from the HVAC system, a duct is just out of sight. Without that duct work, the cool or warm air that is produced by your HVAC system would not make its way around the house properly or efficiently. 

 

Do Ducts Need to be Maintained?

In general, the ducts in your home require very little attention. Most ducting systems don’t have moving parts, so there isn’t much that can go wrong. Of course, that doesn’t mean nothing can go wrong – it’s just not as likely that you’ll run into issues as it is with other parts of the HVAC system. 

 

With that said, periodic maintenance in the form of having the ducts cleaned can be a useful step to take. As the months and years go by, small particles can accumulate in the duct work, and that will take away from both the efficiency of the system and the air quality inside our house. Having the ducts cleaned by a qualified contractor like Walker Air • Plumbing • Electric will remove this dirt and other small particles so you can breathe fresh air all year long. 

 

Is There Any Risk of Damage in My Ducts? 

For a house that has ducts concealed in places like the attic, there is minimal risk of damage to the duct work directly. After all, no one is moving around in those spaces, so there isn’t much chance that something will happen to the ducts. However, some homes have exposed ducts, so in that case, the chance of damage will be greater and you’ll want to respond quickly if something happens that may have harmed the condition of a duct. 

 

Another factor to think about is the possibility that little critters will do harm to the system. If you know that your home occasionally has trouble with mice or other little animals, be sure to pay attention to the health of the system as a whole and have an inspection performed from time to time just to check for issues. It’s better to get ahead of problems like this and have them checked out before they go too long and get worse and worse along the way. 

 

How Do I Know If My Home Has Duct Problems?

Assuming you don’t have exposed ducts in your home, you can’t easily look at the duct work to see if it has developed problems to address. Yet there are still other ways you can get an idea if something might be wrong. First, pay attention to your energy bills. Are you using more energy than normal each month for no obvious reason? That could be a sign air is escaping your ducts and causing your system to work harder than it would otherwise for the same results. 

 

Hearing whistling noises coming from behind your walls is another way to spot signs of duct issues. If small cracks have opened up in the ducts, air will rush out when the HVAC system is running, and you might hear that sound inside the house. You should be pretty familiar with how your HVAC system normally sounds, so anything that sounds different should alert you that something has changed and needs to be inspected. 

You shouldn’t have to think much about the ducts in your home. Most of the time, they’ll just get the job done without you paying any attention at all. When something comes up, like the need for cleaning or even a repair, turn to the pros at Walker Air • Plumbing • Electric and you’ll be in expert hands.