It seems like overnight everyone has started offering ductwork testing, saying that leaks in your ductwork can make your energy bills dramatically higher. Companies are springing up all over the place wanting to test your ductwork. Does it seem fishy to you?

Well there's a reason nobody ever talked about this before. Until recently the tools and equipment needed to diagnose problems in your ductwork simply didn't exist or were so outrageously expensive that they were rendered impractical.

Leaky ductwork is a serious problem. Not only can it sky rocket your energy bill but it can also effect your health, safety, comfort and the life of your system. Advanced Energy has done studies in North Carolina showing that on average 15%-25% of the money spent to heat and cool your home is wasted by leaking ductwork. That means that if your gas bill is $100, you probably spent $15-$25 of that heating or cooling your crawl space or attic. I'm sure the silverfish and camel crickets appreciate everything you do for them, but that's no reason to waste money like this.

But no matter how distressing it is to throw away money there are even more serious issues caused by leaky ductwork. If your ductwork is located in your crawl space with the camel crickets, that means every time it comes on it is sucking air from that crawl space into your house. Anything that might be in your crawl space - moisture, mildew, bug spray, etc. - is now being circulated throughout your house. The same thing goes for the attic where leaky ductwork sucks in insulation particles, dust, and anything else that might be lurking up there.

Another risk leaky ductwork exposes you to is "negative pressure". Negative pressure cannot be seen or felt, what it can do though is create pressure pockets in your house which will cause appliances like gas logs, water heaters and furnaces to back draft and dump carbon monoxide into your home. Just like the situation with leaky ducts, it was known for years that carbon monoxide was a danger before there was a good way to test for it. This is not a problem people are only now becoming aware of. It is a problem that technology has just now finally caught up with.

If you are building a new home, insist that you get a sealed duct system. A system sealed with mastic, not tape, and that it is pressure tested. If your home is like most others and the duct system has already been around a while, have a professional evaluate it for you. Given the paybacks, the investment is well worth it.