There’s nothing more frustrating, whether it’s in the winter or summer months, when there is a temperature imbalance in your home. You walk into your living room, and it’s hot, and then enter your kitchen, and it’s much cooler. You feel like your energy bills are just going to waste when your home is not being adequately treated in all your living spaces.
Temperature imbalances are both annoying and uncomfortable. Additionally, these temperature imbalances could also be signs of bigger issues, as well.
Instead of turning the thermostat up or down, consider what might be causing these uneven temperatures in your home.
There are a variety of factors that can cause the HVAC system to produce imbalanced air. During the energy systems installation, larger ducts and additional supply vents are used to push more air into the rooms that require it. Dampers are also installed, as they assist in controlling the airflow and evening out the temperatures throughout your home. These are valves that make it possible for you to change the amount of air distributed to each room or area of your house.
Factors that Can Cause Temperature Imbalances
Long Duct Runs or Uninsulated Ducts
Typically, ductwork will run through unconditioned areas in your home like the attic. When air is distributed through these warm areas it accumulates heat, causing rooms furthest away from the air conditioner to become much warmer. Rooms adjacent to the AC unit will be much cooler. This can also happen as a result of uninsulated ducts.
Rising Heat in Multi-Level Homes
In most two-story houses, there is an eight to 10-degree temperature difference between the upstairs and the downstairs. The reason for this is heat naturally circulates from lower to higher levels, resulting in warmer air upstairs. What’s more, most energy systems only monitor the temperature around a single thermostat, which can leave rooms farther away or above it under-conditioned.
Leaky Ductwork
Believe it or not, ducts can lose as much as 30 percent airflow from leaks. Even minor leaks from poorly insulated ducts can impact airflow throughout your home. Bigger leaks, like those involving loose joints, can totally eliminate airflow to distant rooms.
Poor Insulation
This is most common in older homes. Poor insulation and thin walls can have a huge negative impact on the overall temperature of your home. You will waste energy and spend more to treat the air in your home if it doesn’t adequately retain heat or cool air. This lack of retaining treated air will mean you will pay more for your utility bills as you run your system longer.
Inadequate Return Vents
Return vents are responsible for drawing warm air from a room in your home. They recycle the warm air into the air conditioning system where it is cooled and redistributed. If you have a large home that has only one return vent, it is not capable of sufficiently capturing the warm air from rooms that are farther away. As a result, there is a large amount of cool air blending with warmer air, which increases the temperature in your home.
Room Usage
What can also lead to an unbalanced system is how you use the rooms in your home. For example, a home office will likely be warmer because of the equipment running in it, which produces heat – computers, servers, and other electronic items.
Under or Over-sized Systems
If you have an improperly sized AC system for your home, this can result in a temperature imbalance. If your AC system is too big, it will shut off quickly, leaving some rooms too cold or warm. In contrast, if your energy system is too small for your living space, it will likely not be able to cool your entire home properly during the summer.
Rooms are Far Away from Your Energy Unit
As you might have already guessed, the rooms closest to your furnace or cooling unit will naturally receive the majority of the treated air. The rooms located further away or at the ends of the ductwork get much less airflow, leaving these rooms with uneven heated or cooled air.
Location of Rooms & Windows
The location of rooms and the size and number of windows in these rooms can also have an impact on air temperature. For example, a room that faces the sun much of the day will naturally be warmer than a room facing away from it. Additionally, the number and size of windows in a certain room, as well as windows that are sealed, can affect the overall temperature in your home.
Home Renovations and/or Additions
When you add rooms or remodel your home, it can lead to uneven air temperatures throughout your home. This is especially true when you add or remove walls.
Look to Apollo Heating and Air Conditioning for Expert Maintenance of Your HVAC
Look to the HVAC experts at Apollo to ensure your energy system is in excellent condition and operating at optimal efficiency during all seasons of the year. Our experienced team of highly trained technicians will work with you and exceed your expectations during HVAC installs and repairs.
Apollo field technicians will work closely with you in deciding what HVAC system is the best, and tailor it to fit your unique needs and preferences! We are committed to delivering premium quality HVAC service, maintenance, products, and documentation in Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, and beyond!
Learn more by contacting Apollo Heating and Air Conditioning! Call us at (509) 396-COLD (2653).
