If you discover that you have hot and cold spots throughout your Siloam Springs home, you’re not alone. This is a pretty normal occurrence. While it can seem like a big problem, the good news is that the common causes of hot and cold spots are usually easy to fix with a simple air conditioning service. The most likely causes for hot and cold spots are:
- Zero zoning or improper zoning
- Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
- Leaky or inefficiently insulated air ducts
- The wrong size of 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 involves multiple thermostats that operate dampers inside the ductwork of your forced-air system. The thermostats are working nonstop, reading the temperature of their specific zone, then open or close the dampers to meet the thermostat's settings. This could be the missing link to keeping that one frozen bedroom warm in the winter, or that hot box sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when you utilize it with a programmable thermostat, zoning could 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 area that needs heated and cooled, or it’s poorly designed. We find this is fairly commonplace in homes that were built before a lot of today’s tools and training were around. Unfortunately, even the most energy-efficient HVAC equipment can’t match homeowners’ expectations if the duct system isn’t permitting it to do its job. In fact, a poor duct system could actually cause new equipment to work more frequently than it should and reduce its lifespan. The experts at Siloam Springs Heating & AC can help you decide 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 may still be the source of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s commonplace for the ducts in a home to leak a bit over time. Professionals like Siloam Springs Heating & AC can check your ducts and let you know if they should be sealed. They may also find that your ducts aren’t leaking, but they’re not properly insulated. Fortunately, this is also a pretty simple fix.
Improperly Sized HVAC Equipment
So there’s a chance your air duct system is just fine and you have a good zoning system, but you’re still experiencing hot and cold spots around your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment may be the culprit. A system that is too small has to operate harder to heat or cool your home, which leaves hot and cold spots because it can’t keep up with the amount of space it needs to condition. Even a system that’s too big can cause problems because it’ll cycle on and off too often to do its job well.
No matter what’s causing the hot and cold spots in your home, Siloam Springs Heating & AC can help. Just give us a call at 479-308-8176 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 can help you keep your home cozy.
*Source: U.S. Department of Energy statistics