Solving Air Flow Problems in Your Home
Basic things that the homeowner can check to help air flow:
First and foremost, check your furnace filter to see if it is dirty and if so, remove the dirty filter and install a new furnace filter. Plugged furnace filters restrict air flow by creating a pressure drop. Next, walk around your house to see if any cold air returns have anything such as couches, rugs or cabinets obstructing the vent. If anything is obstructing the vent, then remove these obstructions so that the cold air return, which is an air intake, can draw in enough air. Last, but not least, walk around your home to check to see if all supply registers (heat vents that blows out air) are open. All supply registers should be open.
A popular homeowner misnomer, is that by shutting off certain vents throughout the house will cause other vents to blow harder. This simply is not true, because CFM (a measurement of air flow, cubic feet per minute) is determined by the pipes diameter and only so much CFM can ever blow out due to the size of the round, regardless if other registers are shut off or not. Shutting down too many supply registers usually causes more harm than good by creating pressurization problems with the overall duct system, that in an extreme case can actually cause your furnace to short cycle on a high limit and hence increases the cost on your utility bill, while working key HVAC components and parts to reduce their life expectancy. Never buy and install heat vent filters either, because these filters really cause pressurization problems too. If there is too much dust blowing out of the vents, then the best thing that you may consider is to have the HVAC system cleaned out thoroughly with the power vacuum/air sweep method in air duct cleaning by an ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America) member company. An average price for a 1 furnace home would cost between $400.00-$700.00 to do the job correctly, depending on where you live in the country and depending on the service providers cost to operate. Dirt causes 1/3 of our repair calls in reducing the lifespan of parts and an HVAC system is a circulatory system. So keeping the HVAC system clean will increase the life expectancy of parts, can improve air flow if all of the beer cans and construction debris that obstructs rounds are remove, reduce unpleasant odors that develops in the ducts if present and can improve energy efficiency of the the HVAC system in whole.
Some solutions that an HVAC company or contractor may suggest:
Very often in older homes, air ducts are sized incorrectly due to building departments in the past not emphasizing the importance of properly sized air duct construction and also by the fact that some builders wanted to save a buck to construct his own ductwork, rather than paying a heating and cooling professional to install the ductwork properly. In recent years, many building departments throughout the United States really have zeroed in on enforcing proper duct design, so in most newer homes indoor thermal comfort has improved drastically. Some of the things that your licensed HVAC company or contractor may suggest to you should you live in an older home that has air flow problems to drastically help improve air flow in your home maybe as follows:
– Let me tear out all of your ducts and start over! (That would be sweet, however in many instances that is just not practical due to cost, time and a big mess!)
– I can band aide your homes HVAC system by replacing your old inefficient furnace with an 80% AFUE 2 stage variable speed furnace equipped with the GE ECM motor. The GE ECM motor operates 30-40% more efficiently than a standard conventional multi-speed motor and sustains constant CFM even if your ductwork is undersized and restrictive. What this means is that vents that seem to never blow air with your inefficient old furnace will all of a sudden blow air after the new Rheem furnace equipped with the GE ECM motor is installed. The ECM motor also allows homeowners to qualify for a $50.00 EPACT tax credit that you can receive when you do your taxes, so even the Federal government wants you to go for it! Hvac parts near me