Attic Ductwork Sealing & Insulation in Gloucester City, NJ

This homeowner had lived in this house for 8-years when we first met her. For 8-years she had experienced an uncomfortable 2nd floor in the summer time. The back of the house was ok but the front of the house where her children slept was always much hotter than her bedroom in the back. Her air conditioning company would come every year and tell her her system was running fine and they couldn't help her. But she was lucky enough to get referred to Alber Service Company by friend.

Our inspection revealed the air conditioning equipment was properly sized and was in fact working correctly. But her duct system was a nightmare! The sheet metal ducts had no insulation around them and only 1-in of fiberglass insulation inside the duct. Attic temperatures can easily exceed 130-degrees in the heat of summer. That heat teals the "coolness" from the ductwork before it ever gets into the rooms below. The air coming out of the ceiling registers in the room at the end of the long duct run was 12-degrees warmer than the air coming out the closest ceiling register! And the poorly sealed return air ducts were drawing in hot attic air that then needed to cooled before it leaked back out into the attic thru the supply duct leaks. That will never work.

The solution was to first install balancing dampers so air flow can be adjusted between rooms. And most importantly, the ductwork was encapsulated with high density closed cell spray foam. This raised the insulation value from R-4 to R-19 while at the same time it sealed the ducts air tight. The losses thru this ductwork were reduced by over 70%!

The second floor is now cool everywhere regardless of how hot it gets outside. And the utility bills will be much lower during the cooling season. A Big Winner!