For some people, it’s a constant struggle to achieve the ideal temperature in their homes.
- It’s tempting to start closing air conditioning vents to increase the heating or cooling effect in other rooms.
This may not be the best or smartest approach. Homeowners commonly misunderstand how the air moves throughout their home. It’s incorrect to assume that by closing air vents in one room, you can redirect more air to another. Your HVAC system comes designed to have the vents open. By closing vents, you do redirect air, but it backs up into the ductwork. This increases the total pressure in the system. This encourages leaks to develop from increased pressure. Now the air you are trying to redirect gets sent into your home’s unconditioned areas. Now your system runs longer and harder to compensate for the lost air. It’s easy to assume that you can save energy by closing vents to reduce the overall square footage required for heating and cooling. However, this isn’t the case. Your system functions with the total square footage of your home. Closing vents create leaks, which causes your system to work harder and increases overall energy consumption. Your energy bill will increase as well. Closing off air vents can hurt your system and require you to hire a repair technician. Closed vents can also reduce the return airflow. When heating, this reduces the amount of a cool air returning to the heat exchanger, causing it to overheat and crack. When cooling your system, there’s a lack of returning warm air. This can lead to frozen coils. This can damage your compressor. Instead of trying to create zones on your own with your current system, consider replacing your system with one that is designed to be zoned. You may be able to retrofit your system. These systems have dampers located in the ductwork and they open and close to direct air without negatively impacting the overall system. If you find that your home isn’t cooling properly, consider having your system serviced.