I was hearing the air hiss every time the furnace turned on, there was less heat coming through the air vents, and I knew our furnace was running for longer periods of time, then i told the Heating and A/C supplier receptionist that I wanted someone to inspect our furnace and do a superb inspection of the air duct.
I was hoping I needed repairs to the furnace, however I was sure I was going to need to update the air duct; When the Heating and A/C contractor was done with his inspection, he told me I had holes in that air duct that were so big, a small rodent could get through.
I cringed, thinking I had rats in the house. I asked if our air duct was easily that ratty, then he said there were no rats yet, however that was how big some holes were, however most of our heat was escaping into the basement, and anywhere else where the holes were. He told me I had to update the entire air duct system, which was going to be quite costly. I didn’t even want to guess about the cost. He explained how they now made a flex pipe air duct. It was adjustable and took up less room that the metal air duct. The cost was almost half of what it would be to make the metal air duct and it didn’t rust through. I liked the thought of flex pipe air duct, and asked when he could have it installed. He measured up the amount of flex pipe I would need and gave me a quote for the air duct and the upgrade, and although it was still wildly costly, it was a lot cheaper than traditional metal air duct.