Last winter, I observed that the boiler was starting up more often and running for much longer cycles.
It seemed as if it was operating non stop, and yet the house felt cold.
There were inconsistent rapidly changing temperatures from one room to another. When I observed a significant increase in my yearly heating bill, I called an HVAC company for repairs. The specialist took the boiler apart, checked all of the components and tightened a few wires. He didn’t find anything worrisome. He then worked on the HVAC duct and discovered that approximately twenty-five percent of our heated air was escaping. These same holes and cracks were allowing outside, unconditioned air to enter the house. Because the full amount of heated air produced by the boiler was failing to reach the several rooms, the system was forced to work a lot harder and use more energy. The duct system is largely concealed behind walls and ceilings and in the crawlspace. I upset that fixing the problem would require a immense, messy and invasive renovation project. Instead, the company explained a process called Aeroseal. This fairly recent innovation seals flaws in the HVAC duct from the inside. The company first blocked off all of the supply and return registers. He then pumped highly pressurized air into the duct system. This air included adhesive polymer particles that are actually non-toxic. As the air flowed out of the holes and cracks, those particles steadily built up along the edges and formed a narrow seal. The Aeroseal process is guided by a computer program and warrantied for ten years. It took a couple of hours to complete. The specialist then repeated the duct testing and proved the effectiveness of the results.