Energy costs are headed upward and in the not too distant future, paying your heating and cooling bills may appear like carrying another mortgage. Installing additional insulation and energy efficient windows may help the situation or you might want to consider upgrading your HVAC system to help keep your power costs in order, but when you take those drastic measures - are you currently getting probably the most from the current HVAC system?
Tweaking your HVAC System for Better Efficiency
When your home was built, an HVAC contractor did load calculations centered on room dimensions and window locations to ascertain how big is your HVAC system. The calculations were also used to size the home's supply and return vents and a floor plan determined their utmost locations. Those calculations provided a great starting point for ensuring the house's first owner received an HVAC system that conditioned the interior of the house efficiently, however, everything might have changed when a family group moved into the residence.
Furniture placement, window treatments, and how your loved ones goes about living their daily life make a difference the performance of your HVAC system and before long you may notice that some rooms are too warm while other parts of the house seem impossible to heat. Don't panic - generally you don't need any large scale repairs, all that's needed is a system tweak.
A Balanced HVAC System
If you're having issues with your HVAC system heating or cooling your property properly, ask a company to come out to accomplish something balance. New homes sometimes have one trip by the HVAC contractor to balance the heating and cooling system included in their warranty.
The HVAC contractor will make use of a meter to ascertain ventilation at each supply register and use trunk line dampers to improve or decrease ventilation as needed. If your ductwork doesn't have dampers, they could recommend they be added - which can be typically a fairly easy and inexpensive task. In some cases the contractor may suggest adding supply or return vents to rooms that don't respond adequately to ventilation adjustments.
The One Zone Dilemma
One of the very most common HVAC problems many homeowners encounter is uneven heating and cooling distribution in a multi-level home with a one zone system. A one zone system means this one HVAC unit with an individual thermostat is working to keep up the temperature on different quantities of the home. If you have a scenario similar to this and the thermostat on your primary level is set at the temperature you wish, there's a great chance your upper floor or finished basement will always be too cold or too warm with respect to the season.
It could be problematic for an HVAC contractor to alleviate this disorder with manual ductwork dampers because you can wish to regulate the temperature on the particular level you are actually using. In this example, the contractor may suggest adding a digital damper to your system -- this permits another thermostat to be added on the top of or finished basement level of your home. The electronic damper permits one to direct ventilation away from the particular level not currently used and keep Consitently the temperature perfect where you are website.
In extreme cases your contractor may recommend adding another HVAC system to your home. Asking an HVAC contractor to balance your system is a superb way to make sure you're getting efficient performance from your system and don't forget to help keep your filters clean.
Elevation Mechanical owner Chris Baker and Miguel Quijas works hands on in the heating and air conditioning industry daily, keeping him update with current trends in the heating and air conditioning business.
