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Case Study: Air Sealing Opportunities

A homeowner owner called Pure Energy because she was not comfortable in her 1980’s era home. During our energy audit, we found several air leaks related to the ductwork. We also found insulation bypasses and air leaks, especially from the kitchen to the attic as shown below. Air leakage in this home was causing high heating and cooling bills and drafts in the kitchen.

	Cobwebs between the air supply line (on the left) and the air return line (on the right) in the basement. When the air handler fan is on, the cobwebs get sucked up into what looks like a section of the panned return that is not panned. Not pictured is a new return that was cut into the dining room floor and does connect to the return line. Cobwebs can indicate air leakage.

The supply line and a portion of the panning that goes from the wall and perhaps a few inches over the supply line. But, the panning does not continue past the supply line (see the photo above). When a light is shone between the supply and the return, one can see up into the joists, which appear to be filled with fiberglass insulation. It is possible that, because the panning is incomplete and the joists have insulation in them, the system was only drawing return air through the small space between the supply and return lines pictured above. If this is true, then adding a new return will be beneficial. This indicates that the ducts are not properly sealed. It may also explain why the house has been so difficult to heat and why the heat pump burned out so quickly.

	A section of the floor and wall system that are connected to a kitchen bulkhead and are supposed to provide the return for the heat pump. This may be the connection into the panned return (shown above). This is one reason why this home is drafty.

Pure Energy called in a Home Performance contractor to fix these and other problems.