If you realize that you have hot and cold spots in your Des Moines home, you’re not alone. This is a fairly regular issue. While it might seem like a major concern, 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 common causes for hot and cold spots are:
- Lack of zoning or improper zoning
- Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
- Leaky or poorly 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 allows you to set the air temperature in each zone. The system involves 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 match up with the thermostat's settings. This could be the missing link to keeping that one frozen bedroom warm in the winter, or that heat chamber sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when it’s used with a programmable thermostat, zoning may 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 isn’t sized correctly for the space that needs heated and cooled, or it’s improperly designed. We find this is pretty normal in homes that were built before much of today’s tools and training were around. Unfortunately, even the most energy-efficient HVAC equipment can’t live up to homeowners’ expectations if the duct system isn’t permitting it to do its job. In fact, a bad duct system could actually cause new equipment to work more often than it should and shorten its lifespan. The experts at Heartland Heating & 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 properly designed and sized for your home, it may still be the cause of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s common for the ducts in a home to leak some over time. Pros like Heartland Heating & Cooling can inspect your ducts and let you know if they should be sealed. They may also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not properly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a pretty simple 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 noticing hot and cold spots throughout your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment may be the cause. A system that is too small has to run harder to heat or cool your home, meaning you have hot and cold spots because it can’t keep up with the amount of space it needs to condition. Even a system that’s too big can leave you with problems because it’ll cycle on and off too often to do its job correctly.
No matter what’s causing the hot and cold spots in your home, Heartland Heating & Cooling can help. Just give us a call at 515-344-3579 and we’ll help you figure it out and determine if you need air conditioning service, or any other types of HVAC service that can help you keep your home comfortable.
*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics