Every HVAC system in a home in and around Rockwall, TX will have some issues with uneven heating and cooling, but Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric can use air balancing to improve performance. A building has an air balancing issue when any part is hotter or cooler than desired, especially when compared to the rest of the building. If there’s a room in the upper story of your house that’s always colder in the winter than the others, then that’s an example of a balancing problem. Here is what you need to know about air balancing and its importance to your home’s overall HVAC performance.
Signs of Air Balancing Issues
Optimal air balance is when a house has effectively the same temperature in every room. Likewise, the distribution of the temperature within each room is also even. As a practical matter, no house ever achieves perfection. However, the imbalance can be bad enough that it affects your comfort and your home’s energy bills.
As noted, the temperature is one of the most common signs of an imbalance. That imbalance may be a room-by-room issue if the pressure in the ducting is insufficient. For example, there might be a room that’s on the opposite side of the house compared to the HVAC unit. Similarly, the balance in a room could be off if there’s only one vent opening at a suboptimal location.
Drafty air is another sign. A slightly cooler or hotter room will want to equalize with the neighboring rooms. Consequently, the air can flow from one room to another, creating a draft.
Bear in mind that the reverse can also be true. A room could be especially stagnant because it’s sealed well. With an air imbalance, the room’s temperature might never equalize without some HVAC changes.
Humidity can also be a sign of an imbalance. Particularly, one room might have more condensation because its temperature and moisture levels are different from the rest of the house. Unsurprisingly, this also means that these rooms can develop musty smells because of mold growth.
Also, noise can be a sign that there’s a problem. An imbalanced airflow can cause the ducts to get noisy. This sometimes shows up as a whistle in the HVAC system because pressure is trying to equalize but failing.
Finally, you may notice higher energy bills. Many systems, especially ones with zonal thermostats, may overcompensate to solve the imbalance in performance. Consequently, the heating and cooling systems may run longer and harder to achieve the same results that a balanced house would get.
Notably, you should also do an air balance assessment upon completing the construction of a house. While an HVAC company can make very good guesses about the balance of the air, it doesn’t hurt to assess things again once all of the work is done.
Why Air Balancing Is Important
HVAC systems work their best when they are operating in stable environments. Asking your HVAC system to handle an imbalanced arrangement is asking it to do more work. This isn’t great for your energy budget, and it’s also going to wear the system down sooner. When it comes to the long-term cost of owning an HVAC unit, you are going to pay more in energy, maintenance, repairs and eventual replacement.
Comfort is also an issue. You pay to have an HVAC setup in your house so you can comfortably enjoy living there. Even if there’s a minor chill in the winter or a room that’s a little steamy in the summer, that diminishes your enjoyment of your house. People tend to limit their use of rooms with air imbalances, often abandoning them as storage. You just aren’t likely to maximize your use of your house if an air imbalance makes even one room noticeably less comfortable.
Indoor air quality can also be a problem. When a house has imbalanced airflow, some rooms are going to be damper than others. Consequently, those rooms are more likely to develop mold. Similarly, a room without sufficient air balance can get stagnant air. Even if the conditions are livable, the imbalance can lead to worse filtration through the HVAC. Mites, dust and pollen can all accumulate in the room and make the air less breathable.
Potential Solutions
Fortunately, our technicians at Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric have plenty of options for balancing the air in a house. We will start by assessing the situation. Foremost, we want to rule out potential competing sources of trouble such as poor insulation and duct leakage. We will take airflow measurements and compare them to the system design for your specific HVAC unit. Once we have a complete sense of where the imbalances are in your house, we can begin making corrections.
The possible remedies can vary quite a bit. In extreme cases, a full replacement of an undersized HVAC system may be necessary because the unit is just too small for the job or getting too old. Most homes will need simpler solutions. For example, a technician may install dampers to regulate airflow if one area is getting too much air. Similarly, we often can install fans in the system to encourage the air to move more toward a target room that has insufficient airflow. Changing and adjusting the registers is a solution that also directs the airflow better toward specific rooms.
Many times, minor repairs are necessary. One room could be running hot while another is running cold because there’s a duct leak. Simply identifying and sealing the duct could resolve the problem. You might also find a register or damper that’s stuck and no longer doing its job correctly. Even a bad thermostat can cause problems, and replacement is oftentimes an easy fix.
Some houses need simple adjustments. If the main fan speed setting is too low, the answer might be to bring it up a bit.
We will also document the adjustments. Not only does this help future HVAC professionals understand the adjustments, but they can be useful if we need to return and make further adjustments. For example, it isn’t uncommon to have to redo the balance between seasons. This is especially common in large buildings with complex systems. Likewise, a technician might need to do a few iterations with a building to zone in on what the ideal settings are.
Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric handles work for customers in Rockwall, TX and the surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth area. We take on repair, maintenance, upgrade and installation projects for both heating and cooling systems. You also can ask us for help with indoor air quality issues, and we even handle plumbing and electric jobs. You can contact us 24/7 for help with emergencies. We often have specials available, and our company also has financing available for qualified customers. If you want award-winning and licensed professionals to address a problem in your home, give Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric a call today, tell us the problem and ask us to visit your place.
