How to Find and Fix Hot and Cold Spots
If you discover that you have hot and cold spots through your Asheville home, you’re not alone. This is a pretty normal problem. While it might seem like a larger problem, the good news is that the typical causes of hot and cold spots are typically easy to fix with a normal air conditioning service. The most likely causes for hot and cold spots are:
- No 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 breaks up your home into separate areas, known as “zones,” and means you can determine the air temperature in each zone. The system uses multiple thermostats that run dampers within the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats constantly read the temperature of their designated zone, then open or close the dampers to match up with the thermostat’s settings. This could be the missing link to keeping that one freezing bedroom warm in the winter, or that smoldering sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when it’s used with a programmable thermostat, zoning can mean home energy savings of up to 35 percent.*
Poorly Designed or Ineffectively Sized Duct Systems
Some homeowners have hot and cold spots simply because their home’s duct system is the wrong size for the room that needs heated and cooled, or it’s improperly 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 more often than necessary and decrease its life. The pros at 1st Choice Service Group Inc can help you figure out if your duct work is working for your home.
Leaky or Inadequately Insulated Air Ducts
Even if your duct system is properly designed and sized for your home, it might still be at the root of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s commonplace for the ducts in a home to leak some over time. Experts like 1st Choice Service Group Inc can look at your ducts and let you know if they ought to be sealed. They may also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not correctly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a pretty easy fix.
Improperly Sized HVAC Equipment
So possibly your air duct system is just fine and you have a good zoning system, but you’re still noticing hot and cold spots around your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment might be the culprit. A system that is too small has to work harder to heat or cool your home, which leaves hot and cold spots because it can’t handle 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, 1st Choice Service Group Inc can help. Just give us a call at 828-551-2913 and we’ll help you pinpoint the problem and decide if you need air conditioning service, or any other types of HVAC service that can help you keep your home comfortable. You can even schedule an appointment with us online if it’s more convenient for you.
*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics