How To Fix Hot And Cold Spots In Your Home

Written on: March 8, 2021

uneven heat solutions new york Many of us have problems with uneven heating in our homes – a room that’s always cold, for example, or a big temperature shift between the first and second floors.

You could solve the problem by adding or taking off layers as you move from room to room, but that gets old quickly. The better solution is to tackle the problem at its source – or at least to mitigate it so you can stay comfortable anywhere in your home.

Let’s take a look at some common causes of temperature imbalance in your Hudson Valley home – and what to do to manage them.

Underlying Causes Of Hot And Cold Zones

Uneven heat in your home is typically caused by one or more of three factors: poor airflow within your heating system, insufficient insulation, or air leaks. More specifically, causes include:

Interrupted airflow between the furnace and vents, most often caused by clogged or dirty air filters.
Leaky or poorly installed ductwork. The Department of Energy has found that up to 30% of a home’s HVAC energy consumption can be attributable to duct loss.
An incorrectly-sized heating system. If your equipment is too small, it will need to cycle more often. Too large, and it will be hard to maintain consistent indoor temperatures.
Drafts, which can come from wall seams, doorways, windows or poorly-insulated basements, attics and crawl spaces.
A thermostat giving inaccurate readings, typically because it’s not located in the ideal part of your home.

The challenge is that these problems aren’t always easy to diagnose without the right tools and training. A licensed heating technician can test and assess your system to help you identify the real cause of your heating issues and determine the best course of action to take to solve the problem.

7 Solutions To Uneven Heating

If you’re experiencing uneven heating in your home, here are some possible solutions a heating professional might suggest, in order from the simplest to the most complex:

move thermostat

Manage your vents – If you have a forced air system (that is, if you have a furnace and vents rather than a boiler and radiators or baseboards), close vents in rooms that are rarely occupied. This redirects warm air to rooms you use most. While you’re at it, make sure vents in regularly occupied rooms aren’t blocked by rugs, furniture, plants, etc.
Keep an eye on your air filter – In a forced air system, a blocked air filter will make it difficult for your blower to force air through your ductwork; inhibited airflow means less warm air reaches your living space, so your HVAC equipment must work harder. Check your air filter every month and replace it if it’s dirty or clogged. This simple, low-cost fix may solve your problem, and you won’t need to take more substantial measures.
Bleed your radiators – If you have a boiler rather than a furnace, trapped air pockets can keep heated water or steam from reaching your radiators. If spots on your radiators or baseboards are cold to the touch, your system probably needs to be bled.
Weatherize – Caulk leaky window and door frames, install doorsweeps, and add weatherstripping to door jambs to reduce drafts. This will keep warm air inside and cold air out of your home, reducing how hard your system needs to work.
Add insulation to unconditioned spaces – Most homes – especially older ones – are under-insulated. Insulation is one of the best investments you can make in home comfort; if your home is not insulated to recommended R-Values, consider adding more. Here are some guidelines about where and how much insulation to add to your home.
Inspect (and possibly seal) your ductwork – You don’t want to pay to heat air that goes right out of your ducts without reaching your living space. Consider investing in a professional ductwork inspection: since many leaks are located behind walls and in hard to reach spaces, it’s not a DIY job.
Move your thermostat or add a zone controller – Your home’s thermostat should be in a central location and separated from vents, baseboards or radiators that could skew its readings. A zone controller allows you to control temperatures on each floor of your home independently using multiple thermostats. If your heating system can be configured this way, it could solve an uneven heating problem. Contact us today to see if your current equipment can accommodate a zoning system.

Experiencing uneven heat in your home? Downey Energy can help. Contact us today to learn more about heating system service in the Hudson Valley!