Helping Ducts Keep a Home Comfortable in Enfield, CT

Challenge

This homeowner in Enfield, CT was experiencing very high energy costs as well as drafts in the home. Through our free home energy evaluation, we found that the culprit was the attic and the ducts running through it. Attics are vented in order to ensure that moisture does not stay trapped in the space and create mold issues as well as make sure that the roof is able to stay cold in the winter to prevent ice damming. However, this means that the attic is subject to the harsh temperatures of outside, any heating and cooling ducts running through the space have to work harder to maintain the warm or cool air running through them.

The situation is made even worse if the conditioned space inside the home is not sealed off from the attic. Not only is the air that the homeowner is paying to heat leaking up into the attic and out of the vents into the outside, but for every cubic foot of air going out from the top of the home, cold air from outside gets pulled in from the bottom of the home.

Solution

We began by pulling out the old fiberglass insulation in the attic, which was now worn and no longer effective. With the attic cleared, we could now access and seal any air leaks that were present such as on top plates or over can lights. Part of this process included installing an insulated cover for the scuttle hole to keep the attic accessible while keeping the attic sealed off. We install baffels during this step to ensure that there will continue to be ventilation through the soffits.

With air leaks coming from the conditioned space now sealed, we could now focus on insulated the ducts themselves to isolate the air within them from the attic's extreme temperatures. We used our Tite 'n' True Foam Duct Encapsulation to seal and insulate the ducts with a 1 inch layer of closed cell spray foam. The bottoms of the of ducts cannot be sprayed, however, once the spray foam cured, we blew in our TruSoft cellulose into the attic, right up against the ducts, partially burying them and insulating around them. We made sure to build a dammed catwalk so that there is clear space for the HVAC system to be service with ease.

With the work that our team at Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions has done, this homeowner's energy costs will be far lower, and the home will be the comfortable space it should be.