Having hot and cold spots in your home can be a very frustrating experience. You may find yourself having to move to different areas of your home, at different times of the day just to feel comfortable. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way and the problem can be corrected. Here are four reasons why this may be happening.
- The Ductwork in Your Home is Poorly Insulated
Ductwork is usually made from sheets of thin metal, and it needs to be insulated to work correctly. By its very nature, ductwork is usually located in places that are more exposed, such as basements, crawl spaces and attics. The Department of Energy has stated that 10% – 30% of the energy used to heat and cool your home, could be lost via uninsulated ductwork. Conversely, ductwork that is insulated will have a minimal energy loss to cooled and heated air. Insulated ductwork will also reduce the amount of condensation in the home, which makes delivering the correct temperature to each room in your home much easier.
- The Air Ducts in Your Home are Leaking
Leaking ductwork will make balancing the temperature in your house virtually impossible. When your ductwork is cracked or broken, the resulting leaks will ensure, that the heated or cooled air cannot make its way through the system. Instead, the treated air will be lost at any cracks along the length of the ductwork. This will cause temperature variance and reduce the efficiency of your system by up to 20%. So, not only will your system not work correctly, but it will also cost more money to run. Leaking ducts may also cause a reduction in air quality and an elevated level of humidity in your home.
- The HVAC System in the Wrong Size for Your Home
When it comes to HVAC systems, bigger is not always better for your home. If your cooling or heating unit is too large or small, there are a number of issues that could arise. Firstly, you may find that the temperatures are not consistent, as the unit may have an excess of treated air or not enough. Secondly, the humidity levels will be much harder to control, which will compromise the comfort levels in your home. Finally, you could be spending more money than necessary to run the system, if it is working inefficiently. Always strive, to have a system that is tailored to the square footage of your home for maximum efficiency.
- Your Home is Not Zoned Correctly
Many people have problems with temperature variances in their homes, because they are not zoned, or they are zoned incorrectly. It may be the case that your HVAC system is working correctly and that your home needs to have a zoning system installed. Having a zoning system will allow you to independently adjust the comfort levels of different zones inside your home. As an example: there would be little need to cool or heat bedrooms during the day when they are not in use. Without zoning, you are heating or cooling your entire home which is a very wasteful way to use the system, and it’s also expensive to run.