Should you Keep Your Vents Open All The Time?

Heating and cooling accounts for half or even more than half of your home energy use. Most homeowners are acutely aware of this, and thus the quest for finding better efficiency and reduced comfort costs has become one that plagues nearly every Allentown home. Quick fixes and pseudo air conditioning troubleshooting have become all the rage on blogs and HVAC company sites. But are the solutions they’re offering you sound? Maybe, and maybe not

Today the experts at Jack Lehr Heating, Cooling & Electric want to get to the bottom of one of the most common “tips” we see floating around.

Need an expert that can provide air conditioning troubleshooting for your home in the Greater Lehigh Valley? Call on the experts at Jack Lehr today!

Should I Close My Vents to Improve HVAC Efficiency?

At first glance the reasoning seems sound. Closing the vents to your unused bedrooms, bathrooms, and utility spaces would make your system work less, since it can essentially ignore those rooms. Right? Well, turns out that while your heart is in the right place, the facts disagree with this idea.

Pressure and Air Flow

If you’ve kept an eye on our blog in the past, you’ve likely read about the importance of adequate air flow, and how lacking it can lead to some serious air conditioner repair. Closing off any number of vents in your home alters how air flow operates with your system, reducing the air flow your system was built to anticipate. This can cause some huge detriments in regards to efficiency.

And as far as pressure is concerned, your system was designed to handle a very specific amount. This means your system is supposed to handle specific amounts of pressure that takes your number of rooms and square footage into account in order to properly provide adequate heating and cooling. This is why sizing your HVAC system to fit your home is critical!

Common Problems Caused by Closed Vents

Playing with the air flow and pressure of your system can drastically increase your heating and cooling costs. In fact, it can also lead to some other fairly large problems:

• Increased air leaks in your duct work, especially ducts that aren’t properly sealed
• Drastically increased energy consumption
• Poor heating and cooling quality, resulting in bad comfort control
• Frozen HVAC systems, or “icing”
• Compressor and major component failure

Answers in a Nutshell

Short answer. No, you should never close the vents in your home in the hopes of improving energy efficiency. It will in fact have the reverse effect, and could potentially land you with some unanticipated repairs! Your system was designed and sized to suit a specific purpose, and closing vents damages its ability to provide the comfort you need!

Looking for better energy-efficiency solutions, or need air conditioning troubleshooting services that guarantee solid solutions? Reach out to the certified HVAC experts at Jack Lehr Heating, Cooling & Electric!