If your home has a central HVAC system, you expect it to provide uniform comfort in every room. Unfortunately, a variety of things can keep that from happening. Hot and cold spots are quite a common problem in homes with ducted HVACs. If your home suffers from uneven heating and cooling, here’s what you can do to fix it.
Check Your Thermostat Calibration
If your home suffers from uneven temperatures, your HVAC may not be the cause. Instead, your thermostat may be the source of the problem. To find out, it’s a good idea to test your thermostat to see if it’s detecting room temperatures correctly. You can do that by placing a thermometer right next to your thermostat. If the thermostat’s reading differs from the thermometer, your thermostat needs calibration. You should consult your thermostat’s owner’s manual to find its calibration process. Older thermostats may have a small adjustment screw used for calibration. Newer ones may have an on-screen, menu-driven process. If you can’t figure out how to make the proper adjustments, schedule a visit from an HVAC technician.
Check Your Thermostat’s Location
Believe it or not, your thermostat’s location within your home can cause uneven heating and cooling. The ideal location for your thermostat is as close to the center of your home as possible. It should be approximately 55 inches from the floor and away from direct sunlight or drafts. That helps your thermostat to detect a representative temperature to better control your HVAC. If your thermostat is somewhere abnormally hot or cold, it may cause uneven heating and cooling.
If you believe you need to relocate your thermostat, you’ll need an HVAC technician’s help. Your thermostat has wiring that runs to your HVAC, and you can’t move it yourself. Your only other option is to install a smart thermostat that supports remote temperature sensors. Then, you can leave your thermostat where it is and place a sensor in a more desirable location.
Check Your HVAC Filter
Many uneven heating and cooling issues stem from airflow problems in your HVAC system and ductwork. The most common cause of airflow issues is a dirty HVAC air filter. Most systems have disposable air filters that require replacement roughly every three months. If you forget to change yours, it will get dirty enough to restrict airflow through your HVAC. Generally, the filter will become visibly dirty before it restricts airflow in any noticeable way. So, a visual inspection should be enough to let you know if your filter is the root of your airflow issues. If your filter appears dirty, replace it with a new one with identical dimensions and MERV rating.
Check Your HVAC Registers and Grilles
Your home’s ductwork design assumes you’ll leave all its registers and grilles open and unobstructed. It should allow for the proper airflow to every part of your home that way. So, if you’ve closed or blocked any of them, it could be the cause of your uneven heating and cooling. You can test that by ensuring all your registers and grilles are fully open. While you’re at it, open your home’s interior doors to allow unobstructed airflow through your home. After a few hours, check to see if your hot and cold spots have disappeared.
If you’re still dealing with uneven temperatures with open vents, you can try a few adjustments. You can partially close a few of your vents to restrict the flow of conditioned air to specific rooms. However, it’s best to avoid entirely closing any of your vents. Also, you should keep the number of closed vents to a minimum. Past a certain point, you will only be harming your HVAC. Closed vents increase the static pressure inside your ductwork. That makes your HVAC work harder and harms efficiency. It may even damage your ductwork, complicating your efforts to balance your home’s temperatures.
Inspect Your Ductwork
If your home’s hot and cold spots are a new problem, your ductwork might be the cause. Over time, ductwork can deteriorate, allowing conditioned air to escape into walls. That deprives parts of your home of proper airflow. Unfortunately, most of your home’s ductwork is inside finished walls where you can’t see it. However, at least some of it should be visible around your HVAC’s indoor air handler. Check there for any obvious air leaks or signs of deterioration. If you think your ductwork has problems you can’t see, call an HVAC company for help. They can use remote cameras to peer inside your ductwork and look for damage and leaks.
Check Your Dampers
Most ductwork networks have multiple branches that carry air around your home. Each branch should have sufficient capacity to serve the comfort needs of the rooms it serves. However, most ductwork branches feature a device called a damper that controls how much air flows into them. You can typically find damper controls at the junctions where your ductwork branches off your HVAC. They should look like small levers along the wall of each duct. The levers control hinged panels that can close the inside of the ducts. If a single part of your home suffers from uneven temperatures, its branch damper may require adjustment.
Have Your Ducts Professionally Air Balanced
The problem with making damper adjustments yourself is that you do it blindly. You can only judge the results of your efforts subjectively, using your comfort as a measuring stick. At best, you can use a thermometer to assess how your changes impacted your HVAC’s performance. Consider a professional air balancing service if you’re still struggling to eliminate hot and cold spots afterward.
Our expert technicians have the equipment to measure airflow volume from each vent in your home. That allows them to be more precise with their changes to your dampers. With their training and experience, they’ll know how much airflow each part of your home needs. They can also adjust your HVAC fan speed, if necessary, to help equalize temperatures throughout your home. During the process, our technicians can also let you know if other issues are harming your home’s comfort, for example, if you have improperly sized ductwork or an inadequate HVAC system.
Trusted Local Comfort Experts
For over four decades, Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical has been the HVAC company Glendale homeowners trust most. We offer complete HVAC installation, repair, and maintenance services. We also provide electrical, plumbing, insulation, ductwork, indoor air quality, and more! Our team of HVAC technicians is NATE-certified. We’ve also won the Glendale Star’s Best Of award for multiple years. We’re also HomeAdvisor-screened and -approved and Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating. We even have countless five-star customer reviews to back that up! And if you need financing to afford a new heating installation, we’ll provide it on approved credit.
If you’re sick of dealing with uneven heating and cooling in your Glendale home, call Christian Brothers Air Conditioning Plumbing Electrical today!
