Central Air Conditioning Closing Vents

The ideal system also has low duct leakage.

Central air conditioning closing vents.

Homeowners typically close vents in an attempt to redirect air away from unused spaces. Closing ac vents increases energy bills if you close your ac vents you actually increase the amount of conditioned air that gets wasted via duct leaks. Leaking or burst ductwork. Through mechanical ventilation devices such as bathroom or kitchen fans that vent to the outdoors or heating ventilation and air conditioning hvac systems with a fresh air intake.

Ensure that your ducts are properly sealed and connected. You see your ac pushes out cool conditioned air through your ductwork and into your home. Environmental protection agency estimates that most homeowners lose 20 percent of the cool air they re paying for right through their home s ducts. In fact it could even cause your energy costs to increase.

When you close vents pressure builds up in your ducts. In a well designed system the blower moves the air against a pressure that s no greater than the maximum specified by the manufacturer typically 0 5 iwc. So when you shut some vents you are messing up the balance of your ac system. That means you re paying 20 to 30 more than you should on your utility bills.

Closing air vents is a popular strategy for adjusting air flow in the home but it s not necessarily a good one. The belief is that closing a vent will simply push the air onward to other parts of the home improving energy efficiency. Before closing any vents in your home. Many homes lose even more.

But when you close a vent yes even just a few it increases the pressure inside the ducts. Closed vents increase pressure. This causes a couple of problems. Your furnace or a c runs longer.

Particularly if the registers are not sealed to the drywall opening. Closing vents worsens that leakage problem because the extra pressure forces moreair out of those leaks. The only real difference with closing vent registers vs balancing dampers is the increased potential for losing conditioned air to an unconditioned space by closing vent registers. Through small openings joints cracks and around closed windows and doors through a process called infiltration.

In a 2003 study the lawrence berkeley national laboratory discovered that register closing led to increased energy use. But this is an average. As it turns out closing air vents in a home with a modern central heating and air conditioning system does little to save energy. The typical system however is far from ideal.