Why one room is hotter or colder than the others

Go to every room in the house and just put your hand up to the vent. Make sure that you're getting a good consistent airflow out of those vents. Now, if the airflow is weak and it's strong in other areas, that might mean that you've got restricted airflow somewhere up in your attic or in your vents. If your vents are in the floor, okay, that might be a blower motor issue. So, there's a couple different things that it could be, but that's something you can check. Also, if you notice that the air coming out of your vents and the system's been running for about 10 to 15 minutes, if the air coming out of your vents is not cool, right? Should be 15 to 20° cooler than the air it's taking in, that might be an indication that it's not cooling efficiently. That might be a refrigerant issue or something along those lines. So, that's something you can check. It's just data for you so that you know how your system is performing. >> Your home >> [singing] [music]

why it's important to make sure you have enough return air. So, your system is designed to do 2,000 CFM of of airflow. If your return air is undersized, it will choke down the amount of airflow that can cycle through that system. And so, it'll it'll increase the static pressure on that equipment. Um and then also too, that affects how much airflow can be delivered by your uh throughout your supply ductwork. And so, increasing your return air and it's not uncommon for me to see houses that have return airs that's undersized by gosh, you know, anywhere from 40 to to to 50% uh as far as capacity is concerned. I've seen where a return air is only delivering 1,000 CFM back to the unit at a 0.5 static pressure. I want to make sure that return air is sized properly for 2,000 CFM. If it's shy, the supply ductwork is going to struggle providing that airflow to each one of those rooms. And so, uh and oftentimes that will help with the balancing as well. So, quick quick cap on the on return air, make sure you have enough, make sure you're getting enough uh return air to accommodate for the tonnage of your system. >> Your home >> [singing] [music]

uh we came out and looked at the equipment the customer was mentioning that that the bedrooms were having a problem cooling well part of that problem might be one the unit is starved for air and two those back bedrooms are the last ducks on that run and so every room before that getting the majority of the air and there's there's not a whole lot left by the time that it reaches those back bedroom we might have to get kind of creative on how we solve that problem just because the amount of space up here is going to be pretty tight to get any sort of extra duct on this plenum we've been to the Home Comfort game since 88 here in OKC share this with a friend who's in need of some serious homec Comfort help

Think of comfort as a system. The AC equipment, honestly, really matters. But, so does the ductwork, attic, windows, thermostat location, airflow, humidity, and homeowner habits. Guys, for the best results, you know, they come from looking at the whole home instead of just one part of that home. So, take into account the entire house, how your insulation levels are, you what type of system do you have? Do you have any kinks in your ductwork? Windows in that room, are they big windows? Are they small windows? All of these things are contributing factors to how well your air conditioner's going to cool your house off on the hottest months of the year.

what's up with mini splits mini splits are great when you need a heat or cool one room they're also wonderful when you have situations where you can't heat or cool an area with a conventional heat and air unit so some are wall mounted some actually can mount like a regular heat and air unit in an attic and then some can actually be flush with your ceiling such as this cassette so it makes it really nice to heat and cool this area with multiple zones to where we can control each room individually it really makes a great option when you don't have like this place an attic space to put duct work

One side of the house is hotter than the other. This could be ductwork, airflow, insulation, zoning, a dirty filter, or just a system that's not keeping up. The key detail is whether it's always been that way or this is something that has just started happening, something that just suddenly changed. So, a sudden change usually means that something failed or got blocked. Here's what you can do to check this out. Compare your rooms and don't just look at the thermostat. Walk around the house. Are the vents open? Is one return blocked? Did furniture get moved? If one area is dramatically different, write that down before the technician arrives and let them know about that.

whoever put this duct work in they did a good job of of strapping it up and and getting these uh you know getting these straps on it real well um but there's a couple of areas of concern that I see um the first one and this would be one cause of concern for her master bedroom is this right here so yeah they strapped it up they did a good job strapping it up but you can see it's almost 90 right here that's going to restrict the air flow a ton we've been in the Home Comfort game since 88 in OKC share this with a friend who's in need of some serious Home Service help

So, uneven temperatures come from the reason they happen at all is because you have different amounts of heat gain throughout different parts of the house. So, let's say for example the thermostat is based in the living room and the temperature in the living room is 72°, but you've got a back bedroom, okay, that's maybe down a hallway and around a corner. So, in that back bedroom, let's say it's 76°. Source of that heat gain in that back bedroom may be because the window was not sealed off well. So, there's too much heat infiltrating that window, it's heating that room up and the system has no idea that it's that hot in that bedroom because the thermostat is based in the living room. Another problem might be ductwork. So, we were talking about airflow before, you might have a restriction in the ductwork. It's just not getting the cold air that the system is producing all throughout the house. Also, insulation levels are really important to look at, too, because if you have uneven insulation throughout your whole house, you could be getting heat gain through the ceiling. So, any way we can look at a house and say this one room is having an uneven amount of heat gain in comparison to the rest of the house, that's going to be the external problem and then any internal problems is most likely airflow.

So, what can cause hot and cold spots? So, let's say bedroom, this bedroom over here is is warmer than what you want it to be. Make sure you don't have a disconnected duct. Can't tell you how many times I've been in homes where they have a hot spot in the house and they've got a ductwork that's barely connected to the system. So, they're getting a little bit of airflow, but they're not getting all the airflow that they could have. And so, I would make sure that the all the ductwork is connected. >> Your home. >> [singing] [music]

I just know that I'm uncomfortable in this living space. Will it harm my system if I add another supply duct? Typically, no, it will not. It will not harm your system if if that specific room is really struggling to kind of keep up. Um, I don't have an issue at all at adding a second duck uh a second supply duct work or increasing the size of duct that goes specifically to that room. [music] That's a very easy thing to do for the most part. It's a it's a little bit more of an expensive endeavor if you're hiring a licensed professional to do it because it just takes time to do and running duct work appropriately can [music] be very important. And so, but adding a duct to a specific room that you want more air flow in does not hurt my feelings whatsoever. So, I I would not be concerned about adding a adding duct. So, if you have questions about the sizing, it's like, you know, am I capable of adding a duct? Um, I would always recommend hiring a licensed professional come out and do a calculation and making sure that one that's [music] one that's possible. And so a lot of times they can come out and and differentiate, you know, between like, hey, are we SH return air or or do or can we add another supply duct? >> [music]

Here's a hidden reason for hot and cold rooms most people miss. Construction, how the house was built, how many [music] windows do you have in that specific room, and what type of insulation you have also plays a role. I have seen homes where you've got insulation that may have been removed or uh uh blown to the side or maybe you've had some electrical work done recently or you know, you insulation is no longer where it should be. That [music] can play a big role in making sure making sure that the energy that you're paying for uh stays within the [music] home and doesn't leave. And so you want to make sure that the insulation over that specific bedroom is adequate. So that way you're not losing uh losing to the attic space. And so I would I would check that. I would look at windows, make sure you don't have any leaky windows, [music] weatherization, make sure everything's sealed up. Those are some other things that you can do. And that's a very easy that's very easy thing for you to be able to see as far as the windows and the feeling. So, and a general rule of thumb on insulation is your uh if you can see uh the wood wood uh the [music] ceiling joists that run across your ceiling, that means your insulation is not nearly where it [music] needs to be. And so, I would make sure that you've got plenty of insulation in the house. That can help with the hot and cold spots. [singing] nose. [music]

One room is hot, one room is cold. Grandma's upset. Let's solve this problem of hot and cold spots within the house to help you fix hot and cold spots within the house. Make sure a duck work is is connected. You don't have any disconnections. Make sure that dampers are open to those areas. And then if you feel like you need to add a duct to [music] a specific room, that's not out of the question. You can you can do that as long as you have access uh and whatnot. And I would hire typically you hire a professional to come do that. [music] And so, and then last, make sure return air is sized appropriately and make sure you're getting enough air flow back to the system to help redistribute to the rest of the house. [singing] >> [music]

Airflow is super important. So, bedrooms get stuffy, you know, when doors are closed or the system sounds strained, return air may be the issue. If you find yourself closing door to master bedroom and that your master bedroom gets hot and you don't have a return air, that'd be a really simple fix where you add a return air to that master bedroom. So, that way whenever the door is closed, you go to bed at night, it's getting the proper air circulation. And so, the easiest way I know how to kind of explain it, it's kind of like, you know, airflow follows the path of least resistance. And if you've ever had a Coke bottle and you try to blow air into that bottle, there's only so much air that you can push into it before back feeds go out. And so, if you close that door inside your house and you've got supply ductwork that's pushing air into that room, if that door is closed and it's really properly sealed and you really don't have that much of a, you know, maybe a gap underneath the door enough for airflow can go underneath, then what's going to happen is well, that air is not going to flow into that room because it's pressurized. And so, you're going to get less air because that door shut. And so, adding a return air to master bedroom may help get airflow to that room whenever you sleep at night, when you go to bed. And so, that's one thing to really consider.

Insulation of a home is a big deal, especially as it determines how efficiently your air conditioner heats or cools the space [music] and will really make a difference when it comes to selling your home because buyers are going to be seeing this and this [music] is definitely going to be an added value. If you get a better quality insulation, you're going to increase the comfort level of your home and it's efficiency overall. And honestly, it reduces the strain on the HVAC system. Insulation is one of those ads that's going to have probably on the smaller end of the investment side, but will have larger returns. And this isn't even if you're selling your home. This is if you're currently living in it because so much of your utilities are affected [music] by this one item. Hey guys, I hope this video was helpful. If you want transparent pricing on HVAC or [music] plumbing upgrades, click the link below. Your >> [singing] >> home. [music]

Maybe you're thinking, "Well, Tucker, I want to see what I can do before I phone a friend, before I use that lifeline." Well, the first thing is that we want to check is airflow. Airflow is going to be kind of that easy money fix that we can look at before you get a tech involved, before you call your local HVAC company. And the airflow problem is on both sides, right? The system is a has a return side and has a supply side. Both of those need to be wide open and running. Meaning, we need to make sure that our filter is changed and also that nothing is like blocking our return registers. And then also, we need to make sure that our supply side is wide open, that we don't have any vents choked off. You know, maybe in the in the fall or the winter, the spring, or whatever, we didn't like, you know, the warm air blowing on us in a certain room, so we tapered off that vent. Well, now we need to make sure that all the vents are wide open. Because if they're not wide open, we're going to have airflow issues causing probably some imbalance in the house and making certain rooms feel warmer than others. So, the easy money fix is airflow. Make sure the returns are clear. Make sure that the supplies are clear. Also, if you're a pro homeowner and capable of it, you can crawl up in your attic and look at your ductwork and see if the ductwork is crushed. If the ductwork is crushed, there's some stuff you could do, but also I would say, get a pro involved. Call somebody. Phone a friend.

If one side of the house is always uncomfortable, ductwork deserves a serious look. Undersized ducts, leaks, crushed runs, poor return air, or maybe a bad layout can make good equipment perform bad. You can have the fanciest equipment in the world, but if your ductwork is designed poorly, yeah, it's not going to do you any good. And so, one of the most overlooked upgrades, because homeowners can't see most of the time, it's either in the slab in concrete underneath the house, or it's above your head in the ceiling. So, kind of hard to look at. Uh that would be one upgrade to really consider.

Let's solve this problem with hot and cold spots within the house. On a lot of homes, there may be we'll say dampers in front of every single one of these supplies. >> [music] >> Make sure that the dampers aren't closed. And so cuz if the dampers are closed, they're little mechanisms that shut off air flow to the room at the [music] supply plenum. And if those are closed, that they're not they're not letting air flow get to that specific room. So make sure that those dampers are completely open. That's a very easy thing to do. And so if you are capable, have at it. If if you don't feel like you are capable of doing that, call a call a licensed professional to come out and and check that for you. >> Your home. >> [singing]

Can't tell you how many times I've gone to to homes and they're like, "This room kind of struggles to keep up." And then I go up there and they're air conditioning the attic space. Um, make sure that duck works connected. That's a very easy thing to thing to find and see. Your attic space is better air conditioned than that specific room. Then you you know where the problem is. [singing] [music]

the other thing that I'm seeing is in this back corner right here that goes to her master bedroom um and you can see we got a tin coming off then it's wide off to two eights one goes to the living room and one goes to the master bedroom um so if straighten this up um you know get the get the kink out of it if that doesn't work um you know we may end up just taking this and and go on a straight run of eight right there and then take this straight from the plenum to her master bedroom uh to to get her get her better air flow in that area so right now we're just going to go ahead and straighten up this uh this duct see what we can do about it