Does Your Home Have Hot or Cold Spots?
Do you have areas of your home that are hot in the summer or cold in the winter? Or possibly cold in summer and hot in the winter? These are known as hot and cold spots.
What causes hot or cold spots?
Hot and cold spots in your home are usually caused by a lack of air flow to a particular area… assuming that your Air Conditioning and Heating system is working properly and your home is properly insulated. The good news is that all of these issues are easily solved.
Air Movement
Air is moved throughout your home from your HVAC System (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning System) in Supply Ducts that feed air to a designated 
area, and Return Ducts (sometimes called the cold air return) that move air from those rooms back into your HVAC system. Proper and balanced air circulation will keep all areas of your home at a consistent temperature; likewise, hot or cold spots result from an imbalance in air movement.
Oversized or Undersized HVAC System
There are rare situations in which an improperly sized heating and cooling system is installed in a home, leading to serious comfort issues. An oversized system will turn on and then shut down quickly, leaving some areas still too hot or cold. An undersized system will just run and run and may never make you comfortable. Although this is rare, when it is, a properly sized HVAC system will correct the problem.
How do I correct hot and cold spots in my home?
As was stated earlier, hot and cold spots are an airflow issue, with the key being to identify which side is the culprit…the supply side or the return side.
If a room is hot in the summer with the AC running or cold in the winter when the Furnace is running, chances are this is a supply issue, which is easily solved by increasing airflow to that area.
If a room is too cold in summer with the Air Conditioning running, or too hot in winter with the Furnace running, chances are this is a return duct issue. This means the room is being supplied with plenty of air, but that air is not circulating out of the room, hence the unbalanced temperature. In this case, controlling airflow by adjusting the balance between the supply and return ducts should correct this issue.
How do I control Air Flow?
Sometimes, adding additional supply or return ducts is necessary to regulate air flow to a particular room. However, if it is determined that there is sufficient airflow, controlling it with Balancing Dampers is the likely solution.
What are Balancing Dampers?
Balancing dampers are simply mechanisms encased in sleeves within the HVAC system ductwork that control airflow through the ducts. By adjusting the damper position, it is possible to regulate airflow and, therefore, control temperature.
Controlling the damper
Balancing dampers come in two basic options: manual or electric. Manual dampers have a lever that, when opened or closed, controls airflow.
Electric Dampers have a small electric motor connected to your thermostat, which controls the damper blade based on the current room temperature settings. Each of these options has benefits depending on your particular situation.
If you have a room that is periodically closed off, Zone Balancing with Electric Dampers can make this adjustment simple and quick. If there are rooms that are consistently too hot or too cold, manual dampers will probably solve your issues.
The key is to determine the issue and how to solve it based on room usage. The advisers at Extreme Comfort are experts in all things related to your HVAC system, including balancing dampers. If you would like an in-home temperature evaluation, contact an Extreme Comfort Adviser today.
