Closing Air Conditioning Vents

Magnetically actuated auto closing air vent u s.

Closing air conditioning vents.

By using a variety of methods with their air duct vent covers many people are experiencing temperatures in their homes that are better than ever. When you close vents pressure builds up in your ducts. Homeowners typically close vents in an attempt to redirect air away from unused spaces. Closed vents increase pressure.

Ensure that your ducts are properly sealed and connected. Leaking or burst ductwork. Closing air vents is a popular strategy for adjusting air flow in the home but it s not necessarily a good one. 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. But this is an average. Supply and return vents are strategically placed so that the amount of air that comes out of your supply vents is equal to the amount of air that is sucked in by your return vents. The belief is that closing a vent will simply push the air onward to other parts of the home improving energy efficiency.

A self closing vent intended for use in attics crawl spaces joist cavities exterior walls interior walls or other structural element which allows for the free flow of air from outside a building to interior spaces during normal use. Patent 8 062 108 issued november 22 2011. Comfort issues remember a psc blower delivers less air the more vents you close. The ideal system also has low duct leakage.

But there are a few other important problems closing vents can cause including. The typical system however is far from ideal. Before closing any vents in 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.

Many homes lose even more. If you close off the vents in a room you throw off the intended pressure balance that your system is designed to operate under which can lead to the effects below. By closing air vents that are not being used many homeowners experience rather substantial savings on their monthly energy bills enabling them to use these savings elsewhere. So we ve covered the most important problem with closing vents.

This causes a couple of problems.