Did you know there could be hundreds of dollars of savings hidden behind the walls of your home?
Air ducts are typically installed behind drywall and in attics and crawl spaces, which means we usually don't pay much attention to them. But leaky ducts can make our HVAC systems up to 20% less efficient, which translates to a lot of needless money spent on energy bills.
Enter: Aeroseal, a Bill Gates-backed startup that sprays a mist of its proprietary sealant — made with a material similar to chewing gum — into a home's air ducts to seal gaps and other cracks. This helps HVAC systems run more efficiently at a lower cost, all without having to rip out drywall or make massive repairs.
But Amit Gupta, Aeroseal's CEO, told us that this technology isn't just great for customers' wallets. There's actually a "trifecta effect for the homeowner: [a] more comfortable home, [a] healthier home, and it pays for itself within four to five years."
In an exclusive interview with The Cool Down, Gupta walked us through how making this hidden part of our homes more efficient can be a huge unlock for saving money, improving our health with better air quality, and helping the planet all at once.
🧰 How does the "chewing gum" sealant work?
For many of us, there's always that one room that's too cold or hot — or perhaps it's a humidity issue or just an overall stuffy feeling in the house. Aeroseal aims to fix all those problems by helping regulate airflow (and air quality) with its sealant solution.
Using a qualified contractor through Aeroseal's website, you can have this sealant blown directly into your air vents, sealing up any problem areas in the process. In most homes, Gupta told us, you'll begin to see the difference just 30 to 40 minutes later. Contractors can see the change in real time right on their computer screen, "and slowly, minute by minute, they'll see how much the leakage is being reduced."
It's pretty mesmerizing to watch.
Gupta told us it should take about half a day to get the job done. "Homeowners will see immediate benefit in their homes," he said, including increased airflow. Plugging up gaps also helps prevent recirculating allergens, dust, or pollutants in the air. Later, homeowners will be able to see their energy savings as well.
💸 How much money does this shave off my energy bill?
Aeroseal typically costs between $2,500 and $3,200 for a full-house ductwork resealing, and the company said that its service pays for itself in just four or five years. It also comes with a 10-year warranty for homes, so homeowners won't have to worry about constantly paying to fix more leaks.
In terms of savings, that depends a lot on the size of the home and your location in the U.S., "but most people should be able to save, on an annual basis, $500 to $600 per home," Gupta told us.
On top of that, there are currently incentives available for resealing your home. Just as homeowners can get cash back for switching to a heat pump, they can also get a 30% tax incentive for duct sealing. In fact, Gupta told us heat pumps become much more efficient when a house is properly sealed.
"With lots of incentives out there, [duct sealing] becomes a very, very compelling proposition for the homeowners," Gupta said. "Now you are in a really sweet zone — that four- or five-year payback … without any incentives, can [now] literally be a three-year payback."
FYI: If you're not looking for a full-home resealing, you can try using mastic duct sealant — basically, a paintable sealant that will close leaks and holes — for a quick DIY way to plug one or two easily accessible gaps in your air ducts.
🔎 How safe is the sealant?
Aeroseal's award-winning and nontoxic sealant has been used in over 300,000 buildings worldwide — including homes, hospitals, and schools, as well as government facilities, hotels, and offices. It's made out of water and a chemical called vinyl acetate, which is also used in chewing gum and even the adhesive on envelopes.
The sealant starts out as a milky liquid and then is superheated to turn into a fog-like substance that's distributed throughout the air ducts in a home. The rubbery sealant can then cover up holes as big as five-eighths of an inch to as small as a human hair.
"We are Greenguard-certified from the EPA, and we have all the UL [Underwriters Laboratories] approvals," Gupta added.
💚 What was your inspiration for launching Aeroseal?
In the early 2000s, Gupta was working at HVAC manufacturer Carrier when he realized no matter how efficient they could make the actual heating and cooling technology, if the ducts transporting that air weren't sealed properly, none of it would really matter.
"There is a limit to how much you can raise the efficiency of the equipment," he said. "It's almost like driving a car with a more and more efficient engine, but you have a gas tank which is leaking." In Gupta's view, there's no point in making the HVAC equipment slightly more efficient if you're not going to fix the leak first.
"That was the spark," he told us. "We are literally leaving a big opportunity for efficiency on the table." In 2010, Aeroseal was launched to fix that problem.
🌎 What's the positive environmental impact of resealing your ductwork?
Rather than making daily decisions that are good for the planet (e.g., choosing plant-based foods over red meat, taking public transportation over driving alone), resealing your ductwork is a one-and-done decision that is hugely important over many years. Even though there's limited "behavior change from the personal behavior point of view," Gupta said, "it has a huge planetary benefit as well. The benefits actually are quite dramatic."
That's because the energy used by buildings accounts for nearly 30% of global pollution that is overheating our planet. And the average building in the U.S. wastes almost one-third of the energy it consumes because of inefficiencies. Aeroseal reports that its technology can reduce 95% of air leaks in a building, which is hugely impactful for reducing the amount of fossil-fuel energy emissions in the U.S.
"I would say, anytime anybody is getting a new HVAC system [or] every time they're getting their ducts cleaned, they should definitely call and ask their HVAC or duct cleaners to say … 'how leaky is my home?' Just that question will increase the awareness and the importance of building better," said Gupta.
"This is really a good conversation for us to raise the importance of something which is out of sight," he told us. "People don't realize what kind of impact it's having."
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