How to Find and Fix Hot and Cold Spots

July 6, 2017
man cooling

If you find that you have hot and cold spots throughout your Franklin & South Indy home, you’re not alone. This is a relatively normal occurrence. While it might seem like a larger concern, the good news is that the normal causes of hot and cold spots are typically easy to fix with a straightforward air conditioning service. The most routine causes for hot and cold spots are:

  • No zoning or improper zoning
  • Poorly designed or ineffectively sized duct systems
  • Leaky or inefficiently insulated air ducts
  • HVAC equipment that is too big or too small

Lack of Zoning or Improper Zoning

A zoning system breaks up your home into separate areas, known as “zones,” and means you can customize the air temperature in each zone. The system is composed of multiple thermostats that run 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 match up with the thermostat’s settings. This may be the missing piece to keeping that one frozen bedroom warm in the winter, or that smoldering sunroom comfortable all summer. Plus, when it’s used with a programmable thermostat, zoning may mean home energy savings of up to 35 percent.*

Poorly Designed or Ineffectively Sized Duct Systems

Some homeowners end up with 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 designed the wrong way. We find this is pretty commonplace in homes that were built before many 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 allowing it to do its job. In fact, a shoddy duct system could actually cause new equipment to work harder than it should and decrease its life. The pros at Winters Heating and Cooling 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 could still be the source of your home’s hot and cold spots. It’s normal for the ducts in a home to leak some over time. Pros like Winters Heating and Cooling can check 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 pretty routine 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 feeling hot and cold spots throughout your home. Improperly sized HVAC equipment could be the cause. 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 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 properly.

No matter what’s the culprit of the hot and cold spots in your home, Winters Heating and Cooling can help. Just give us a call at 317-406-5382 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