Does Closing Off Air Vents In Unused Rooms Help

You want those vents wide open to allow your hvac system the freedom to operate freely.

Does closing off air vents in unused rooms help.

This can raise your energy bills for a couple of different reasons. But will closing vents in unused rooms help cool your house better. But there s still plenty to be cautious of before you begin trotting around the house with a stepladder. Closing air vents in unused rooms may seem like a no brainer but trust the experts.

Closing vents does not save you money. A lot of people think this tactic will save money by using the hvac unit to heat or cool fewer rooms. Most homes don t have sealed ducts either so the higher pressure in the duct system will mean more duct leakage as shown below. You might think that closing the vents and doors to unused rooms in your house would be a good way to lower your heating and cooling bills.

On balance this idea sounds like it has some merit if that is the air that is blocked from one room or rooms because of closed vents simply skips over to a room or rooms with open vents. It s even worse than wrong. The side effects of closing vents in unused rooms. As a result you ll prevent moisture build up and unhealthy mold spores from plaguing your family.

This is not the way your duct system works. But it can actually cause problems for the hvac system in your home since central heating and cooling systems are sized to accommodate a specific amount of square footage. It s ok to close air vents in unused rooms. Closing vents in unused rooms saves energy from entering the room but it also pushes the excess air to other places in your home.

The pressure increases and that means an ecm blower will ramp up to keep air flow up whereas a psc blower will move less air. Just close the vents in unused rooms and only control the air temperature in rooms that you use. When you close off supply vents air will build up inside of your ducts because there will be less vents available to release that air. The dangers of closing air vents in unused rooms it seems like a good idea.

In fact it can actually waste more energy than operating your system normally does. When you start closing vents in unused rooms you make the duct system more restrictive. Don t close too many off. Closing vents can actually cause your ac or heat pump to run inefficiently and eventually break.

Your energy bills will be higher. Despite that logic it s actually a common misconception that closing vents in unused rooms saves energy.