If you discover that you have hot and cold spots through your Columbus home, you’re not alone. This is a relatively common occurrence. While it may seem like a larger problem, the good news is that the normal causes of hot and cold spots are usually easy to fix with a simple air conditioning service. The most likely causes for hot and cold spots are:
- Lack of zoning or improper zoning
- Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
- Leaky or inefficiently insulated air ducts
- HVAC equipment that is too big or too small
Lack of Zoning or Improper Zoning
A zoning system breaks up your home into separate areas, known as “zones,” and allows you to determine the air temperature in each zone. The system uses multiple thermostats that operate dampers in the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats are always reading the temperature of their specific zone, then open or close the dampers to meet the thermostat's settings. This could be the key to keeping that one cold bedroom warm in the winter, or that heat chamber sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when you utilize 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 end up with hot and cold spots simply because their home’s duct system is the wrong size for the space that needs heated and cooled, or it’s poorly designed. We find this is fairly commonplace 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 live up to homeowners’ expectations if the duct system isn’t letting it do its job. In fact, a shoddy duct system could actually cause new equipment to work more often than it should and decrease its lifespan. The experts at Wolfe & Sons Heating and Cooling 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 designed and sized appropriately 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. Pros like Wolfe & Sons Heating and Cooling can inspect your ducts and let you know if they need sealed. They could also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not correctly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a fairly easy 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 experiencing hot and cold spots throughout your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment may be the issue. A system that is too small has to work harder to heat or cool your home, meaning you have 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 properly.
No matter what’s the cause of the hot and cold spots in your home, Wolfe & Sons Heating and Cooling can help. Just give us a call at 614-451-0846 and we’ll help you figure it out and determine if you need air conditioning service, or any other types of HVAC service that could help you keep your home comfy.
*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics