An HVAC system is designed to produce hot or cold air flow and force it into a building structure, such as a home or commercial facility. While many people are familiar with the process, they do not know that the airflow can be controlled manually. Having this ability allows people to control the amount of air that enters their homes or business. Find out how to manually adjust your air duct damper by reading the article below.
Control The Airflow In Individual Rooms
The HVAC unit is not only set up so you can control air flow coming into your home but also adjust the airflow to every room in the home. This means that you can control the airflow coming into your bedroom, kitchen, den, nursery, and bathroom. Basically, you can make airflow adjustments anywhere there is a vent or register.
Open Registers In Every Room
Before you adjust your air conditioner damper, you need to open every register or vent in your home. Monitor the ambient air temperature to determine which rooms need an adjustment in the airflow. Once you adjust the airflow, you should not need to keep the registers closed or partially closed unless you want to cut the worm air off to a specific room.
How To Adjust Air Duct Damper
Adjusting the air duct damper is generally not that difficult. However, you need to access the trunkline or where the vents branch off. This is most often in the basement, crawlspace, or attic. So, the most difficult step of the process is accessing the trunk line. Once you access the trunkline, you will find the damper lever, which is attached directly to the duct.
To adjust the damper lever, you will need to turn it to the left or right. If you want to close the damper, you will need to turn the damper lever in the opposite direction of the duct. If you want to open the damper, you will need to make sure it is running in line with the flex duct. You can also adjust the damper of the furnace or air conditioner so it is partially open.
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Monitor Ambient Air Temperatures
Once you make the necessary airflow adjustments, it is recommended to start monitoring the ambient air temperature. This is necessary to determine if the temperature in each room is suitable for your preferences. If the room is too warm or cool, you will need to repeat the above process. Once you do this, you will need to monitor the ambient air temperature again. Continue to do this until the temperature is right.
From Winter To Summer
Once you start making changes to your airflow, you may need to repeat the process periodically. This is especially true when the seasons change. Most people find that they need to adjust the airflow when the weather turns from cold to hot air. To determine if your air conditioning vents need to be adjusted seasonally, you will just need to monitor the ambient air temperature in each room of your home for two or three days. If the temperature is not suitable to your liking, you will need to make the necessary airflow adjustments.
Tip: If you ask yourself should my ac vent be open or closed and you don’t have dumpers you shouldn’t close your vents, it can cause damage to your AC unit.
Adjusting A System Without Dampers
Unfortunately, not all air duct systems will contain dampers. In fact, if a system is designed with a Manual J and D load you really shouldn’t even need to adjust the air in the home. The purpose of a Manual J and D load calculation is to assess the home, the windows, the doors, the roof, and pretty much every part of the home. The calculation will determine the amount of insulation in the home as well as how much heat and air it will take to cool or heat each individual room. However, things don’t always work out like this and this is why most contractors will go ahead and install dampers. Not every person on the plant is the same. Some like it hotter and some like it colder. Dampers can help because they will allow you to control the amount of air in each individual room.
Even if you do not have dampers currently installed in your home there are still ways that you can adjust the system without going as drastic as installing dampers. That being said most individuals will not agree with this process because it still allows air to travel to the register in the home. For instance, if you do not have dampers and you want to cut the airflow to the bathroom all you have to do is close off the register in the home. You do not even have to close it fully, you can just shut it off halfway to cut down on the airflow if you don’t want to kill it entirely. Just remember this method isn’t as effective because air is still traveling from the main duct to the register inside. This process will, however, eliminate and cut down on the airflow, so it does serve its purposes.
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Make Small Adjustments
When you are adjusting the dampers in your home you have to be extremely careful. And, this is because one slight adjustment in one room could make a major difference in other parts of the home. This is why most professionals would recommend starting out small. Never completely close or open a damper. You want to start by making slight adjustments in each room. If a room is too hot, you will want to crank open the damper just a bit to add more airflow to the room. If a room is too cool during the summer, you will want to slightly close the vent so that it stops some of the air from entering that room.
Maintaining Your Ducts Is Just As Important As Adjusting The Airflow
If you are reading this then you already know just how big of a hassle improper airflow can be. Not only will it affect the quality of life in the home, but it can affect the overall efficiency of your system. Well, the same thing goes for HVAC cleaning. Most people find themselves concerned with airflow because they aren’t getting enough airflow to certain rooms. It is usually not the other way around. There are very few times when you will find yourself where you are getting too much airflow in one room. Well, you might be surprised to learn that dirty ducts can impact your airflow as well because all the dirt and debris can choke off the amount of air going to each room. And, ducts accumulate lots of dirt and debris over the years.