Last June, I started having all sorts of complaints with my home’s central cooling system. It seemed to run non stop and my energy bills nearly doubled in cost. Despite drawing a great deal of electricity, the air conditioning was unable to keep up with demand. The outside temperature and humidity were not all that severe, and yet the inside of my house felt overheated and clammy. Plus, the air smelled so musty that my whole family complained of headaches. There was an abundance of contaminants floating around in the air, and I was forced to continually dust and vacuum. When I called a local HVAC contractor for repair, he told me the duct system was entirely to blame. The ductwork was overrun with tiny holes and was also leaking at the seams. These flaws allowed the cooled air to escape, increasing the workload and putting a great deal of wear and tear on the air conditioner. The HVAC contractor estimated that the duct system was allowing approximately thirty percent of the conditioned air to leak out. These same imperfections were drawing outside air in. Pollutants, fumes and moisture were pulled into the ducts and then circulated throughout my home. I worried that the duct sealing process would be expensive, invasive and messy. I expected it to take several hours and possible require tearing into walls. Instead, the HVAC contractor sealed off the vents and pumped pressurized air into the duct system. The pressurized air was laced with adhesive particles, which adhered to the edges of holes as the air escaped. The particles built up and created a tight seal. The whole job was completed in under two hours.