HVAC:
Don’t shut your air vents to give you better heating or cooling in certain rooms/floors. You’re adding pressure to your system and reducing its life. If it’s AC then you’re turning it into a freezer. That’s why doing so freezes the coil, not enough air flow to move the cold air out and keep it from freezing. For heat it literally can overheat the control board frying it since the blower also helps cool the electronics. If you have hot and/or cold rooms (this is normal per floors) ask about adding dampers. Most of the time it’s not possible without major drywall rework and it isn’t cheap. Your builder sucks (basically). A lot of companies won’t quote the work because it can’t be guaranteed. You’re essentially stuck with the crappy design the builder got approved. One potential is minisplits. Again, not cheap per room and not pretty but they will fix your issue.
I looked up dampers, and I’m confused about how they are functionally different than closing/opening the vent? I’m sure I’m not understanding though. Is it just about the location?
They don’t operate differently. Also he is assuming your ducts are designed and balanced properly to begin with. Most in residential homes aren’t.
While shutting off a lot of vents can cause problems. Shutting off an unused room isn’t going to hurt anything. Or partially closing a vent because a room gets too warm/cold. Because like I said they do fuck to balance systems in residential homes.
Thanks. I was thinking of shutting the vents of one room in the house that is empty and unused, but I figured just keeping the door closed would probably be better, right?
Shut it off, it won’t hurt anything. It’s only an issue if you’re shutting off a lot of vents. Now how much good it’ll do energy saving wise, depends on where the room is in the house and how old your house is. Newer houses with better insulation will see much less improvement.
Won’t it potentially cause humidity issues? The room does not get direct sunlight (faces south). It’s a new house with pretty good insulation (as far as I’ve experienced so far).
Without being there, I couldn’t say for sure., but I doubt it Personally, I would just use common sense. Shut it off and and just check the room a couple times over the next week or two.
I agree that shutting 1 vent isn’t going to kill your system. However, that one room isn’t insulated on interior walls. Best to leave it alone for overall comfort. You aren’t saving $ closing the vent. The system is going to run until the thermostat is satisfied no matter what.
Also, best thing for the entire building is to run the fan constantly (I forgot to mention this in the original). Balances the building much better than just the entire system kicking on and off every 15 min or so.
black mold forms and causes breathing problems. Clean aircons (air conditioner) every 6 months - 1 year.
If water is dripping from the outside unit, your aircon is lacking gas. Making it into a giant fan.
A mini-split is chosen to meet the needs for one room. Some folks, and can’t be convinced otherwise, think an aircon can cover the entire universe. And to prove it, they leave all the doors open.
This is proof we live in the matrix. It’s completely unsolvable issue without self closing doors
HVAC: Don’t shut your air vents to give you better heating or cooling in certain rooms/floors. You’re adding pressure to your system and reducing its life. If it’s AC then you’re turning it into a freezer. That’s why doing so freezes the coil, not enough air flow to move the cold air out and keep it from freezing. For heat it literally can overheat the control board frying it since the blower also helps cool the electronics. If you have hot and/or cold rooms (this is normal per floors) ask about adding dampers. Most of the time it’s not possible without major drywall rework and it isn’t cheap. Your builder sucks (basically). A lot of companies won’t quote the work because it can’t be guaranteed. You’re essentially stuck with the crappy design the builder got approved. One potential is minisplits. Again, not cheap per room and not pretty but they will fix your issue.
I looked up dampers, and I’m confused about how they are functionally different than closing/opening the vent? I’m sure I’m not understanding though. Is it just about the location?
They don’t operate differently. Also he is assuming your ducts are designed and balanced properly to begin with. Most in residential homes aren’t.
While shutting off a lot of vents can cause problems. Shutting off an unused room isn’t going to hurt anything. Or partially closing a vent because a room gets too warm/cold. Because like I said they do fuck to balance systems in residential homes.
Proper dampers redirect airflow, not eliminate it. Again, see, your house builder sucks.
Rethinking so many life choices.
Thanks. I was thinking of shutting the vents of one room in the house that is empty and unused, but I figured just keeping the door closed would probably be better, right?
Shut it off, it won’t hurt anything. It’s only an issue if you’re shutting off a lot of vents. Now how much good it’ll do energy saving wise, depends on where the room is in the house and how old your house is. Newer houses with better insulation will see much less improvement.
Won’t it potentially cause humidity issues? The room does not get direct sunlight (faces south). It’s a new house with pretty good insulation (as far as I’ve experienced so far).
Without being there, I couldn’t say for sure., but I doubt it Personally, I would just use common sense. Shut it off and and just check the room a couple times over the next week or two.
I agree that shutting 1 vent isn’t going to kill your system. However, that one room isn’t insulated on interior walls. Best to leave it alone for overall comfort. You aren’t saving $ closing the vent. The system is going to run until the thermostat is satisfied no matter what.
Also, best thing for the entire building is to run the fan constantly (I forgot to mention this in the original). Balances the building much better than just the entire system kicking on and off every 15 min or so.
HVAC: mini splits
black mold forms and causes breathing problems. Clean aircons (air conditioner) every 6 months - 1 year.
If water is dripping from the outside unit, your aircon is lacking gas. Making it into a giant fan.
A mini-split is chosen to meet the needs for one room. Some folks, and can’t be convinced otherwise, think an aircon can cover the entire universe. And to prove it, they leave all the doors open.
This is proof we live in the matrix. It’s completely unsolvable issue without self closing doors