Duct leakage and ductwork pressure testing in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

In Quebec, 54% of households heat mainly with electric baseboards, 16% with a heat pump, 11% with a forced-air furnace and 4% with a boiler and radiators; electricity is the main heating energy for 70% of households, natural gas for 5% and wood for 4% (Statistics Canada, 2023).

Electric baseboards outnumber furnaces here, and a baseboard-heated house has no ducts to test. The test matters if you have forced air, or before you add a ducted heat pump to existing ductwork.

Of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu's 26,960 houses (single-detached, semi-detached, row houses and duplexes), 19% were built before 1961 and 60% before 1991, according to the 2021 Census. Ducts in older houses often run through unheated spaces with taped or unsealed joints, and supply runs to the far rooms are the first to suffer.

The same leaks cost you in summer when the ducts carry cooling: air from a central air conditioner or heat pump that escapes into an attic, garage or crawlspace is cooling you paid for, and leaky return ducts can pull in humid air. Sealing and balancing the ducts helps in both seasons, and it's worth doing before a new heat pump goes onto old ductwork.

• Total duct leakage, as a share of the system's airflow, measured by pressure-testing the ductwork with a calibrated duct-pressurization fan.
• Airflow at each register, which explains why one bedroom is always cold.
• Whether sealing and balancing will fix comfort problems before you buy bigger equipment.

Duct leakage testing in detail.

About $200–$450 (a September 2026 planning range; quotes vary). It isn't part of a standard EnerGuide evaluation, so ask for it when you book if comfort is your main complaint.