A person checking an air duct with the words, "how to fix clogged air ducts."

Table of contents

  • What Causes Blocked HVAC Ducts?
  • How To Check For Blockages In Your Air Ducts
  • What Causes a Blocked Air Duct?
  • How Do You Unclog Air Ducts?
  • What Do I Do If I Suspect I Have An Air Duct Leak?

When your HVAC ducts are clogged, it can crusade a lot of bug not only for you lot every bit a homeowner, simply also for your HVAC system. If you are nether the impression that you do have a duct blockage, it will exist vital for you to telephone call your local HVAC experts. In the meantime, please review the post-obit troubleshooting options so that you can keep yourself informed.

What Causes Blocked HVAC Ducts?

HVAC ductwork is disquisitional for the functionality of your home'southward HVAC unit of measurement. If you have blocked HVAC ductwork then at that place will be a difference in temperature throughout your dwelling. Some rooms may exist cooler than others, and if the problem is significant plenty, it's essential for y'all to contact your local HVAC professionals and so that you tin get to the lesser of the problem.

How To Check For Blockages In Your Air Ducts

A Technician gets deep into the air ducts to clean years of dust and debris

Air duct blockages share symptoms with other issues that can occur with your HVAC unit of measurement, which is why it is important to distinguish them with proper troubleshooting. Here are some questions that yous can ask yourself:

  •  Are there hot and cold pockets in your household?
  • Are you experiencing little to no airflow coming out of your domicile's vents?
  • Are your energy bills gradually rise without whatever explicable reason?

If the answer to each of those questions is in the affirmative, and so you can run into whether or not the reason is due to clogged air ducts. To troubleshoot the consequence, turn on your air conditioner or heater. At this point, you can become through your home and cheque each vent for airflow. Yous tin can make note of the rooms in the domicile where the airflow is weak.

Next, inspect the furnace or air conditioner filter. This is because you want to ensure that your filter isn't dirty or clogged. A clogged air filter will disrupt not but your airflow but could seriously impair your air conditioner'due south ability to function. Clogged filters can be a culprit for hot and cold patches in your home. Air filters should be changed out every thirty to ninety days in club to make sure that your airflow is optimal. Updating your air filter will also aid if you have pets in the house and you desire to reduce pet dander.

If your air filter is not the trouble, then you lot can inspect the ductwork from outside the dwelling. Your cranium and your basement may also have open ductwork, and these areas will need to be inspected for holes or for loose fittings.

The dampers tin as well exist inspected at this point. Dampers are common in multi-zone HVAC systems.

The dampers in your household open and close to command airflow to specific parts of the home. If for some reason the damper isn't working correctly and so it can create a blockage in airflow. This will foreclose air from reaching its destination. As always, if you cannot troubleshoot the air duct situation yourself, then your best bet is to call our HVAC professionals at Cotes Mechanical.

What Causes a Blocked Air Duct?

Air Ducts channel air around a house

Let's briefly discuss what causes a blocked air duct. The following problems will cause air duct blockages:

  • Dirt and grime build up in the air duct.
  • Dead animals.
  • Damaged ductwork.
  • Leaking ducts.
  • Physical obstructions in the ductwork.
  • Closed zone dampers.

Each of these different sources of air ducts bug will require a slightly different solution. To review your available options, please be certain to contact your local certified HVAC professional person team.

How Practice You lot Unclog Air Ducts?

Your local HVAC professional person may have slightly different methods, but the accepted methodology is to remove the screws from air duct covers and return air grill plates. Next, cover up the supply vents with newspaper towels. After that, the thermostat volition be prepare to the "fan on" position.And then, the duct can exist loosened in the ducts and removed. The supply registers should exist cleaned also every bit the render registers. Once the entire arrangement is properly cleaned, airflow should resume back to normal.

What Do I Do If I Suspect I Have An Air Duct Leak?

If you take troubleshot all of your bachelor air duct options, then now is the time to outset contacting your local air conditioning and heating potency. Our company provides cleaning, maintenance, and repair piece of work for air ducts. Cote's Mechanical is a company of HVAC professionals led by a married man and wife team. Cote and Kristi Wyatt are passionate about HVAC solutions for their community. They founded the company in 2001 and information technology quickly grew into a well-established company withover 40 employees. You can ever attain a friendly member of our staff with a well-placed call to our squad. We provide costless estimates on new installs and free service calls with all repairs.