When the weather turns frigid in Albany, you depend on your furnace to keep your home livable. What happens, though, when your home is comfortable in one room but noticeably uncomfortable in another? Hot and cold spots are a significant issue affecting many homeowners. You shouldn’t have to feel like a prisoner limited to only using one or two rooms in your house. Fortunately, our team at Grasshopper Heating & Cooling has some basic recommendations that you can implement to help make your home’s temperature more uniform.
Check Your Vents
Sometimes, the simplest solution is the one that makes the most sense. Go through each room in your home and check the vents. Make sure that they’re all fully open by using the lever on the side of the vent. You’ll also need to make sure that there’s nothing blocking any of the vents, such as a piece of furniture or a rug. Finally, make sure that none of the vents are unusually dusty to the point that air can’t come through the openings in the vent. It’s important to note that you need to keep each vent open completely, even in unused rooms, to allow your HVAC system to operate properly.
Control Air Leaks
If the proper volume of heated air is reaching every room and you still have hot and cold spots, there may be a problem with the rooms themselves. Carefully check each cold room for air leaks around windows, exterior doors, and any other protrusions. For further study, you can have Grasshopper Heating & Cooling perform a blower door test to identify areas of concern. Once you seal these leaks, you’ll help your home stay more comfortable and potentially lower your monthly utility bill.
Clean Your Ducts
Another problem that could lead to cold spots is blocked ducts. Ducts that are choked by dust and debris can’t deliver conditioned air to the rooms where it’s needed. If it’s been a while since you’ve had your ducts inspected, you’ll want to make an appointment to do just that. A professional duct cleaner uses specialized vacuum equipment to remove dust from your ducts without releasing it into the rest of your home. Clean ducts can help your home stay more comfortable and reduce the number of allergens present in your home’s indoor air.
Consider Zoning
For a more heavy-duty solution, you may want to consider zoning your HVAC system. When you have Grasshopper Heating & Cooling split your system into zones, it allows you to control the comfort of those zones independently. In most cases, zoning is accomplished using dampers at strategic points in the ducts. This allows the system to divert heated air where it’s most needed to ensure maximum comfort. Another type of zoned system uses multiple separate HVAC units to independently heat different areas of your home. If you have a larger home that’s currently using just one HVAC system, upgrading to a multi-unit zoned system could make a big improvement in your home’s comfort.
Replace Your Air Filter
When seeking a solution to your home’s discomfort, don’t forget the basic fixes. Replacing your air filter is one of those. If your system’s air filter is dirty, the proper amount of air won’t be able to flow through the heating chamber. This could cause your furnace to dial back its heating capacity to prevent the heat exchanger from overheating. With less air to work with, rooms that are further away from the furnace may not receive enough warm air to stay warm, resulting in some rooms being too warm while other rooms stay too cold. Check your air filter at least once a month to ensure that it isn’t caked with excessive amounts of dust.
Keeping Your Entire Home Comfortable
If you’re tired of dealing with an uncomfortable home, the experts at Grasshopper Heating & Cooling are here to help. We can repair furnaces, maintain air conditioners, and install all types of heating and cooling equipment. We can also help you upgrade your thermostat or explain the benefits of moving to a heat pump to heat and cool your home. Our consistent commitment to customer satisfaction is one reason why we continually receive five-star reviews from our customers. Plus, our highly trained technicians will always seek to find the least-expensive repair with the maximum benefit so that you can stay comfortable for less money. If you’re suffering from an uncomfortable home, don’t hesitate to reach out to the experts at Grasshopper Heating & Cooling today.
