How to Fix Leaky Air Conditioning Ducts

If you have an HVAC system in your home (and most houses do), one of the things that it is going to have are air conditioning ducts. They are basically the pathways for the warm or cool air to easily travel throughout the rooms in your house. Sometimes due to wear and tear, improper maintenance, dirt and debris or a leak inside of the one of the ducts, your HVAC unit will not work at its optimal level and you will need to do have it replaced, get it cleaned or repair it.

What this article is going to do is provide you with some tips on how to fix a leaky air conditioning duct so that you can save money when it comes to calling a professional technician to come and do the work for you.

Make sure that it’s actually leaking. The first thing that you need to do is inspect the unit itself to make sure that you actually do have a leak. You can do this by putting your thermostat on the “On” option rather than the “Auto” one.
Then look over the ducts to see if you notice any leaks or loosening up in the areas.

Take care of the loose connections. Being that loose flex connections are the main cause of an air duct leak, if you notice that a connection has totally detached itself from the unit, first remove the Panduit strip (the plastic zip tie that holds the flex tube together). Then make sure to pull back the outer layer and insulation which will then reveal an inner layer. Put the inner layer back onto the boot connection and secure it with duct tape. Then attach a new Panduit strip with some pliers. Do this same thing with the outer layer and with a paintbrush, apply a sealant to the connection to secure it in place.

Address any ripped flexible ducts. If during your inspection, you notice that you have some ripped flexible ducts, there are things that you can do to fix those as well. First, make a point to clean them because a clean surface will make it easier to seal them. Bring each side of the rip together and then attach them with some duct tape. Put some fab mesh over the seam and then paint over it with some mastic sealant. Make sure to allow the sealant about 10 minutes to dry.

Run a test. In order to be sure that you’ve fixed the leaks, you need to run a test of your unit. After about 30 minutes, turn it back on. If you don’t feel any air coming through the patched up areas, then you know that you’ve fixed the leaky air conditioning duct.

Inspect it every season. Being that a leaky duct is the reason why many of us lose energy in our homes, in order to save money energy audits, make a point to inspect your ducts about once every season; that way you can stay on top of the issue before it becomes a major problem. For more information on how to fix leaky air conditioning ducts, go to YouTube for videos that will walk you through the process.