If your home is uncomfortable or your heating and cooling bills are extremely high, the first thing you blame is probably your air conditioner or furnace.

But your home comfort system is just that – a system. So your heating and cooling problems could be a result of any of the parts within that system, not just your heater or air conditioner.

In fact, air ducts are the cause of many home heating and cooling problems in the East Valley. In this blog, we’ll cover three of the most common.

High air conditioning and heating bills

Do your air conditioning and heating bills seem to be sky-high no matter what you do? If you’ve recently upgraded to a more efficient furnace or air conditioner, but are not seeing the energy savings you expected, your air ducts are likely to blame.

Possible causes:

• Leaky air ducts – Here in Arizona, APS did a study that found that many East Valley homes’ air ducts are losing as much as one-third of the air that passes through them. That translates to about $270 each year!
• Poor duct design – Your ductwork is the road on which your heated and cooled air is delivered. If it takes too many turns or forks or is longer than needed, your efficiency will suffer.

Uneven heating and cooling

Another common heating and cooling problem in the East Valley is uneven heating and cooling throughout your home. (Some rooms are always hotter or colder than others.)

While there are a number of things that could be causing this problem, one of them is your ductwork.

Possible causes:

• Poor duct design – If your ducts are not correctly sized, they may not be able to evenly distribute the correct amount of air throughout your home.
• Leaky air ducts – Ducts with significant leaks lower the amount of air that can be supplied to your home.
• Kinked ductwork – If you have flexible ductwork in your home, it may have become kinked, cutting off or slowing the air supply to rooms in your home.

Poor indoor air quality

Have you noticed that your home is always dusty, even after you just cleaned it? Even in Arizona, that can be a sign that you have a problem with your air ducts.

Possible causes:

• Leaky air ducts – Ducts with holes, cracks and bad seals let in dirt and other contaminants from your attic, hurting your home’s indoor air quality.
• Dirty ducts – Dust can accumulate inside your air ducts. So each time your heating and cooling system turns on, the dust is spread throughout your home.

How to fix these heating and cooling problems

Depending on the cause of the duct problems in your home, the fix can range from extremely simple to very complex. For example, kinked ductwork may just need to be unkinked, while improperly designed ductwork may need to be completely replaced.

Need help fixing your heating and cooling problems? Fountain Hills Air serves Fountain Hills as well as the entire East Valley. Contact us online for more help.