By: Donna Boyle Schwartz | Updated 10:06 AM, March 25, 2021

An essential "spring ceremony" in our home is to check our two central air conditioning systems to make sure they are working properly. This includes removing any dirt or debris that may accumulate in winter, and checking hoses and piping systems.

This year, the main air conditioner does not seem to have the cooling capacity it should, so we decided to ask a professional to check it. It turns out that this is a brilliant idea.

The insulation performance of the conduit is reduced. Photo: DBSchwartz

The technician checked our coolant level and thoroughly checked the system, and soon discovered the source of the problem: the insulation layer on the cooling duct between the internal and external devices was disintegrating. Technicians say that lack of insulation can compromise the integrity of the entire system. We have lost 10 degrees of cooling capacity!

Always eager to maximize energy efficiency and save money, we put this project first and went to home improvement stores to do some research on pipe insulation.

There are a variety of materials to choose from, all of which have different diameters to suit different pipe widths:

We believe that foam pipe insulation has several advantages. First of all, it is easy to measure and cut. In addition, the foam length looks easy to install because they are characterized by being separated along the length, with self-sealing adhesive edges, and once the protective backing is removed, a tight bond will be formed. Finally, bubbles are cheap, so we can buy more in case we need more than we estimated.

Install foam instead of insulating material before sealing. Photo: DBSchwartz

It only takes a few minutes to replace the pipe insulation material that has been aging for many years. This is how we do it:

Result: Not only does it look better, but the operating frequency of both air-conditioning units seems to be reduced, and the cooling speed is also faster! In the future, you can be sure that we will add "inspection of pipe insulation" to the annual to-do list for air conditioning maintenance.

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