How to Find and Fix Hot and Cold Spots

If you find that you have hot and cold spots throughout your Abilene home, you’re not alone. This is a fairly common occurrence. While it can seem like a big problem, the good news is that the normal causes of hot and cold spots are typically easy to fix with a simple air conditioning service. The most likely causes for hot and cold spots are:

Lack of zoning or improper zoning
Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
Leaky or inefficiently insulated air ducts
Improperly sized HVAC equipment

Lack of Zoning or Improper Zoning

A zoning system splits your home into separate areas, known as “zones,” and allows you to determine the air temperature in each zone. The system is composed of multiple thermostats that run dampers in the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats constantly read the temperature of their specific zone, then open or close the dampers to meet the thermostat’s settings. This may be the missing link to keeping that one freezing bedroom warm in the winter, or that hot box sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when you utilize it with a programmable thermostat, zoning may mean home energy savings of up to 35 percent.*

Poorly Designed or Ineffectively Sized Duct Systems

Some homeowners experience hot and cold spots simply because their home’s duct system is the wrong size for the room that needs heated and cooled, or it’s designed the wrong way. We find this is fairly 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 letting it do its job. In fact, a bad duct system could actually cause new equipment to work more frequently than necessary and shorten its life cycle. The experts at Abilene Air-Tech Inc 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 designed and sized appropriately for your home, it could still be the cause of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s commonplace for the ducts in a home to leak a bit over time. Pros like Abilene Air-Tech Inc can look at your ducts and let you know if they should be sealed. They might also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not correctly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a fairly easy 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 through your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment could be the culprit. A system that is too small has to work harder to heat or cool your home, meaning you have hot and cold spots because it can’t take care of the amount of space it needs to condition. Even a system that’s too big can mean problems because it’ll cycle on and off too often to do its job properly.

No matter what’s the culprit of the hot and cold spots in your home, Abilene Air-Tech Inc can help. Just give us a call at (325) 692-5850 and we’ll help you decide what the issue is and figure out if you need air conditioning service, or any other types of HVAC service that will help you keep your home comfy.

*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics