Long ignored as a source of Energy Savings, duct sealing is on the agenda for many regulatory bodies. The ductwork in a building can be a black hole for energy - especially an older home. Losses through leaks can be substantial, sometimes running to more than 40 percent of the heating and cooling bill. READ MORE

A record number of HVAC and duct cleaning professionals have signed up to become official Aeroseal service providers since the launch of the new Aeroseal company this past January. The larger-than-expected response is believed to stem from both the new company's sole focus on supporting the Aeroseal duct sealing technology and to the growing demand by home owners for cost-effective energy saving solutions. READ MORE

Developed at LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY with funding from the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy among others, the new technology, called Aeroseal, provides an easy and effective way to seal leaky air ducts. According to recent reports, leaky ducts are a primary source of energy loss in as many as 85 percent of existing residential homes. READ MORE

Aeroseal LLC, the company whose duct-sealing system seals leaks from the inside out, was purchased by JMD Corp. The new owners recently announced the launch of the “new Aeroseal,” with a program focused on helping HVAC contractors increase their business revenues. READ MORE

Aerosol sealing is more effective and convenient than conventional methods for sealing ducts, because it requires less time and effort, and seals a larger portion of a leakage area more quickly. READ MORE

The duct system in your home or building circulates warm and cool air supplied by your space conditioning unit (air conditioning and/or heating). Space conditioning accounts for as much as 40% of your energy bill, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). READ MORE

If every home in the United States sealed its leaky HVAC ducts, the nation would save $5 billion annually in energy costs. Typical ductwork systems, both residential and commercial, lose 25-40 percent of heating and cooling energy; even newly installed systems experience 10-30 percent leakage. READ MORE

Retrofits tend to be more complicated than sealing in new homes, but the Aeroseal techniques has the advantage of sealing ducts in inaccessible areas. READ MORE

Properly sealing ductwork results in several benefits. It improves comfort by increasing the rate at which air is delivered to a space; it can prevent safety problems caused by carbon monoxide gas leaking...: and it improves indoor air quality...It also saves energy. READ MORE

The following online calculator can be used as a screening tool to perform a rough calculation of the payback period for using aeroseal-based duct sealing. READ MORE

"Innovation No. 1 ... Lawrence Berkeley researchers, led by Mark Modera, devised a new aerosol sealant technique using a vinyl polymer, which reduces the leaks by 90 percent. Modera and his colleagues brought the invention to market through a company called Aeroseal." READ MORE

"When [Aeroseal is] completed your home will be more evenly tempered and your energy bills will be less. But it also improves your indoor air quality. By sealing the leaks, dust and dirt that can be sucked through the return line is also reduced." READ MORE

"Aeroseal has licensed the system for exclusive use in sealing ducts in commercial buildings. Modera and colleagues developed the aerosol-based technology for sealing the ducts of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in residential and small commercial buildings in the 1990s. READ MORE

For those who want a perfect seal in hard-to-reach places, EPA's Rashkin recommends a brand-new product called Aeroseal, which seals ducts from the inside out, just as the sprays used for flat tires do. READ MORE

The [DOE] field test was performed in five states: Iowa, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The study found that, compared with the best-practice approach, the aerosol-spray technology is 50% more effective at sealing duct leaks and can potentially reduce labor time and costs for duct sealing by 70%, or almost 4 crew-hours. READ MORE

Air ducts move conditioned air to warm and cool your family. They can be a great source of comfort…but more likely they are wasting energy and costing you money. Typical duct systems lose 25 to 40 percent of the heating or cooling energy put out by the central furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner. READ MORE

Happily for Californians, the technology to seal ducts within the attic, walls, and basements of their homes already exists. No, not duct tape, which has been proven to be ineffective at sealing ducts, but rather an aerosol sealant mechanism that seals ducts from the inside, like the stuff you put in your carís radiator to seal leaks. READ MORE

One of the problems with ducts is too often you run into spaces you can't get at. This is a great application for those places you can't reach manually. READ MORE

We tried as many different kinds of duct sealants as we could get our hands on. Of all the things we tested, only duct tape failed. It failed reliably and often quite catastrophically. READ MORE

Berkeley Lab has devised a rapid, economical technology to seal duicts in "forced air" heating and cooling systems by means of an internally injected Aeroseal. The new Aeroseal compund remotely seals holes in ducts and leaks between duct joints and is effective even after bends and junctions in the ductwork. READ MORE

According to Mark Ternes of ORNL's Energy Division, 'Ducts that pass through unconditioned spaces—attics, garages, or crawl spaces—have a good chance of losing energy. Losses can be very high if the ducts are uninsulated. Even when the ducts are wrapped with insulation, leaks at joints and corners can be big energy losers. READ MORE