Would You Like to Breath Easier in Your Home?
With rates of asthma and other breathing issues at record highs, the issue of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has become increasingly important to homeowners. Most people don’t think about it, but their home is where they spend 90% of their time when they’re not working. Insulwise has two key services that can sharply improve indoor air quality as well as reduce dust in their Pittsburgh area home.
The most important service we offer that can improve indoor air quality is duct cleaning and sealing (we do not clean ducts, but can recommend an excellent company that does!). According to Energy Star, the average home’s duct system has a leakage rate of between 20 – 30%…this is massive! Our process of sealing your supply duct system using our AeroSeal process offers homeowners a way to not only reduce interior air pollution and dust levels, but also sharply improve the comfort of their homes. How does this process work?
If your ducts have not been cleaned in the last five to ten years we recommend having that done first. When it’s time to seal your ducts we then seal your supply duct system with our AeroSeal process. The leakage rates in supply ducts are often astonishingly high in our Pittsburgh area homes. This causes huge comfort issues year round with some rooms or floors heating and cooling much differently than others. The other thing that leaks in supply ducts do is pull in dust from the interstitial spaces in your home (wall cavities, in between floors, etc) and then project that dust out into your home.
On the return duct side, things can be even worse. Leaky return ducts suck in air from dirty areas like your garage, basement, crawl spaces, and attic. This dirty air then gets pushed out into your home (some of the contaminants will get picked up by your furnace filter, but not all). Leaky return ducts in your basement also contribute to bigger problems, like encouraging air infiltration around your foundation and perimeter rim joists, and sometimes even causing hot waters to back-draft. See our video on the surprising issues and dangers that leaky return ducts can cause!
Because HVAC contractors often use stud cavities covered with sheet metal to create return ducts (called panned return ducts), the leaks in return ducts are often much larger than in supply ducts. Due to this, Insulwise seals return ducts manually with silicone. Often we find leaks in return ducts that are so large they require patches made of sheet metal! The goal is to get your return ducts to pull as much air as possible from the upper floors of your home, rather than the lower parts of your home like the garage and basement.
The result of having your duct system cleaned and sealed?
- Lower levels of dust and indoor air contaminants in your Pittsburgh area home.
- Your home will become much more comfortable. Why? When your duct system goes from leaky to sealed, you will get far more conditioned air delivered throughout your home. In particular rooms that previously had poor flow (usually upstairs rooms or rooms farthest from the furnace), will see far higher levels of conditioned air.
- Lower heating and cooling bills. Why? When your duct system is sealed and operating how it was designed to, your HVAC system has to run less to bring your home up to the temperature that your thermostat is calling for. Simply put, your rooms get warmer, or cooler — FASTER!
Click here to Download a Free Booklet Directly from AeroSeal
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Improvement Case Study from the Fox Chapel area of Pittsburgh.
This homeowner had issues with both poor interior air quality (lots of allergies) and comfort. The duct leakage in his home was so bad that his basement was a full 10 degrees warmer than his upstairs (due to the quantity of heated air that was dumping out into his basement through the leaks). After cleaning and sealing his duct system, the temperature differences between his basement and upper floor went from 10 degrees to 2 degrees! On top of that, his family’s allergy symptoms also diminished sharply.
At Insulwise that’s what we call a WIN! Read his own words below in the review he left us on our google page. Also look at the report from his sealing process.
Beginning with an enormous duct leakage level of over 422 CFM (over 1/3 of his system’s air flow!), the Insulwise team was able to eliminate 94% of the leakage! All homeowners are provided with a before and after print out showing exactly the level of sealing that was achieved with AeroSeal.
Actual Customer Review that You Can Read on Our Google Business Page
“The Crew: Awesome! Bob and Billy arrived early (a good thing), impressive given traffic, explained what they were going to do as we walked the house and we came up with plans of what needed covered/moved. The head tech was an experienced pro who knew what he was doing and what he was talking about, he answered all my questions well. His assistant was a hard worker, learning the sealing process, and they were both very attentive to detail and making sure everything was prepared and then cleaned and sealed correctly, the first time. They cleaned up beautifully. THE CREW WAS GREAT!
Cleaning and Aeroseal: Our house is a standard forced air ducted HVAC with a newer variable fan and multistage heat. The month before the service we set our temperature on the first floor at 71. The second floor was 66 and the basement was 78. After the service our basement is 69, first floor is 71 and 2nd floor is 70. My family all noted that our allergy symptoms are much better. HUGE IMPROVEMENT!”
What’s the Other Way that Insulwise Can Sharply Improve a Home’s Indoor Air Quality?
Air Sealing your attic and basement. Air leaks in these areas allow dirty air from your attic, garage, crawl spaces, and foundation area to infiltrate into your home. When air is pulled into your home from these places, it can carry insulation fibers, mold spores, pollen, fumes from cars and chemicals, etc. When Insulwise performs air sealing measures on your home, these dirty areas become isolated to the “outside” of your home. This means that the air from these places can no longer mix with or exchange with the air in your home.
What Will You Get from Having Insulwise Perform Targeted Air Sealing Measures on Your Pittsburgh Area Home?
- Better, cleaner, Indoor Air Quality. The levels of dust and other contaminants in your home will go down as these spaces become sealed to the outside.
- Improved comfort throughout your home. As Insulwise reduces air infiltration, cold drafts in winter and hot spots in summer will be sharply reduced. Air sealing also helps to balance and maintain humidity levels inside your home during the winter.
- Lower heating and cooling bills. It is estimate that about 30% of a homes energy loss is caused by air leakage. As Insulwise reduces the rate at which your homes conditioned air leaks to the outside, your HVAC system will have to work A LOT less to heat and cool your home.
Call Insulwise today if you’re interested in improving your home’s Indoor Air Quality!