Ductwork Case Studies: Duct sealing and attic air sealing in Snow Hill, MD home

Challenge

The owner of this beautiful modern home in Snow Hill, MD wanted to improve the HVAC airflow in the upstairs rooms where it has been necessary at times to use space heaters to improve comfort. 
Typically energy audits reveal the culprits of such issues to be due to one of the following:

1. Poorly insulated attics
2. Air leaks in attic floors that allows conditioned air from the living space to escape into the attic
3. Air leaks in the HVAC duct work

All three issues were found in this home:

1. The attic was insulated with just 9" of blown fiberglass insulation resulting in an insulation value of approximately R22, which is on the light side compared with houses being built in 2023 which are typically insulated with blown cellulose to an insulation value of anywhere between R40-R60. In particular, the attic access hatch was found to be very poorly insulated. 
2. There were two main sources of air leakage: Around the attic access hatch, and around the ceiling mounted lighting fixtureson the second floor.
3. HVAC duct work was very leaky in this home, as it typically is in most homes.

Solution

The energy audit report shows many changes recommended for this home. However, the home owner elected to go with the measures that result in the biggest impact on the comfort of the upstairs rooms. Three things were done by Lawson Home Services:

1. A new scuttle attic hatch was constructed from SilverGlo™ rigid foam insulation.
2. Air sealing of the attic floor was accomplished by sealing the second story light fixtures, seventeen of them all together, with TiteShell™ light covers, which not only stops the air flow through the ceiling into the attic, but provides protection of the insulation from the heat of the light. 
   
3. The biggest improvement came from air sealing the leaky HVAC ductwork with Aeroseal™, an amazing process where the ductwork is sealed from the inside out with a aerated material chemically very similar to chewing gum. The ductwork, of course, must be thoroughly cleaned before starting the Aeroseal Process, for which Lawson Home Services employs its Platinum Duct Cleaning service.