Climate control is the concept of using heating and air conditioning utilities to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air inside a house or public building. Today’s homeowners may call local HVAC repair services if their heating and air conditioning systems are damaged, dirty, or worn out. When repair experts are on the scene, they may recommend removing very old or damaged air ducts in the house with newer, more innovative models such as spiral ducts, oval duct fittings, and more. The benefits of oval ducts and spiral ducts may be considerable, and these spiral ducts may prove easy to install and maintain in a house. What should someone know about the engineering of spiral ducts or oval ducts, and why is a damaged or dirty HVAC system so expensive to have in the house? Getting it all repaired or cleaned can save a lot of money in the long run, as newer homeowners may soon find out.
The Mechanics of Ducts
An air duct is a hollow pipe or shaft that allows cooled or warm air to flow through the house and enter the general air through wall-mounted vents. Sheet metal can be cut into thin, flat pieces and different gauges, then used to build spiral ducts, oval ducts, and more. Spiral ducts are circular ducts with distinctive spiral shapes in them, and they may prove beneficial to install and use. For one, these spiral ducts are only about half the cost to install than rectangular ones, due to convenience of their labor of installation, warehouse storage, packaging, and production. A homeowner may greatly appreciate these savings when they need new air ducts installed in the home. What is more, spiral ducts can be fitted into narrower spaces than rectangular ones, since they do not need the extra space that rectangular ducts need for their connections and reinforcements at each joint.
Meanwhile, oval ducts are used where spiral ducts don’t easily fit, but like spiral ducts, they take up less room than rectangular ducts do. Various clamp models can be used to attach segments of oval ducts with ease, and these ducts may be somewhat easier and more cost-effective to install than traditional rectangular ones.
When and Why to Have Ducts Fixed
A homeowner may find their electric bills greatly inflated if their heating and cooling system is compromised somehow. Why is this? After all, the heating and cooling system in a typical American house uses up nearly 50% of the house’s energy supply, meaning that an overworked or strained HVAC system is using up a lot of expensive power. A homeowner can and probably should call upon duct repair experts or other HVAC service professionals right away to prevent those long-term expenses. Besides that, a compromised HVAC system may struggle to cool down or warm up the house correctly, and a homeowner won’t like strange and erratic patterns in the house’s temperature.
What can go wrong? Damage or trauma may be the issue, as very old air ducts may have rips or holes in them or entire sections may come loose. This allows a lot of air to escape, and that lowers the system’s efficiency. Thus, the HVAC system has to work overtime to make up for that weakened output and meet its cooling or heating quotas. And that will cost a lot of extra electricity the entire time. In other cases, the furnace may have some busted components that limit its capacity heat air, or the blower fans deep in the system may be worn out and unable to produce enough cooled or warm air.
Sheer filth may also be the issue. Squirrels and rats are known to break into homes and then build their nests in the air ducts, which block air flow considerably. Dust, pollen, or other debris may coat the blower fans and weaken their output, or the outdoor AC unit may be clogged with pollen or dust. Repair experts can reach and clean off these devices with ease, and they can remove animal nests or other debris from the ducts. And of course, old or damaged ducts can be repaired or even replaced with newer models for improved air flow. This can save on money in the long run with efficient air flow in place.