If you discover that you have hot and cold spots throughout your Bloomfield home, you’re not alone. This is a pretty common occurrence. While it might seem like a big problem, the good news is that the typical causes of hot and cold spots are typically easy to fix with a straightforward air conditioning service. The most routine causes for hot and cold spots are:
- Lack of zoning or improper zoning
- Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
- Leaky or inadequately insulated air ducts
- The wrong size of HVAC equipment
Lack of Zoning or Improper Zoning
A zoning system splits your home into separate areas, known as “zones,” and allows you to set the air temperature in each zone. The system is composed of multiple thermostats that operate dampers within the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats are always reading the temperature of their assigned zone, then open or close the dampers to meet the thermostat's settings. This may be the key to keeping that one cold bedroom warm in the winter, or that heat chamber sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when you use it with a programmable thermostat, zoning could mean home energy savings of up to 35 percent.*
Poorly Designed or Ineffectively Sized Duct Systems
Some homeowners experience hot and cold spots simply because their home’s duct system isn’t sized correctly for the room that needs heated and cooled, or it’s poorly designed. We find this is fairly normal in homes that were built before a lot of today’s tools and training were available. Unfortunately, even the most energy-efficient HVAC equipment can’t meet homeowners’ expectations if the duct system isn’t allowing it to do its job. In fact, a poor duct system could actually cause new equipment to work harder than needed and decrease its life. The experts at Stanford Heating & Cooling can help you determine if your duct work is working for your home.
Leaky or Inadequately Insulated Air Ducts
Even if your duct system is designed and sized appropriately for your home, it might still be the source of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s normal for the ducts in a home to leak a bit over time. Pros like Stanford Heating & Cooling can look at your ducts and let you know if they should be sealed. They could also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not properly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a generally routine fix.
Improperly Sized HVAC Equipment
So maybe your air duct system is just fine and you have a good zoning system, but you’re still feeling hot and cold spots throughout your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment could be the issue. A system that is too small has to operate harder to heat or cool your home, which leaves hot and cold spots because it can’t keep up with the amount of space it needs to condition. Even a system that’s too big can cause problems because it’ll cycle on and off too often to do its job well.
No matter what’s the cause of the hot and cold spots in your home, Stanford Heating & Cooling can help. Just give us a call at 812-825-8695 and we’ll help you pinpoint the problem and figure out if you need air conditioning service, or any other types of HVAC service that could help you keep your home comfortable.
*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics