Each year, U.S. residential duct leakage costs consumers some $5 billion - a loss equal to the annual energy consumption of 13 million cars. A typical house with ducts located in the attic or crawl space wastes about 20% of heating and cooling energy through duct leaks and draws approximately 0.5 kW more electricity during peak cooling periods.  Studies indicate that sealing leaks could save close to one quadrillion Btu per year.

Duct repairs could be the most important energy improvement measure you can do if your ducts are in the attic.  If only one half the typical loss of uninsulated and unsealed ducts that are in attics or crawl spaces were saved, it would amount to $160 off the total heating and cooling bill in a typical home.  This savings is based on the national average use of natural gas and electricity for central heating and cooling at national average energy costs of 70 cents per therm, and 8 cents per kWh. With these savings, the cost to seal and insulate the ducts would most likely be paid for after three years.  These estimates apply to retrofitting an existing home. For new construction more of the duct-work would be accessible to the installer and the potential savings would be greater; and with lower cost to install sealant and insulate, the payback would be less than one year.

Duct systems lose energy in two ways:  by conduction of heat from the warm
surface, and air leakage through small cracks and seams.

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