Closing Return Air Vents In Winter

Once winter arrives you want to have the cold air at floor level drawn into the air return system.

Closing return air vents in winter.

It is time to open these vents if they are closed. Closing air vents is a popular strategy for adjusting air flow in the home but it s not necessarily a good one. Since cold air is heavy it will automatically flow down to the lower register. Try the following since it is still the winter heating season.

By opening the lower registers and closing the top ones you keep hot air in and draw the cold air out. Whether your vent is open or not the warm air is still going to try to push through to each vent. When the vents are closed the air won t be able to come easily through the vent. Open top return grill dampers and close bottom return grill dampers on all sets like this throughout the home.

Winter time open your cold air return vents. Note any change in comfort. Then switch positions on each set and run it like that for a few more days. Since cold air is so heavy it will automatically flow to the lowest level into cold air return vents.

The belief is that closing a vent will simply push the air onward to other parts of the home improving energy efficiency. The ac draftshield when used as the manufacturer suggests you isolate the entire system by covering all of the ac grills. The popular notion has always been to shut off vents in rooms that you use infrequently. Other issues with closing vents.

Run it a few days like that and see if you re comfortable. In the winter you want the cold air to be drawn through the return registers leaving the hot air behind. That means your home will take longer to cool down or heat up. It most likely has adjustable fins that allow you to direct the flow of air in the room and you can use the adjusting level to shut off a vent almost entirely.

Others say that they should always be open so the hvac unit doesn t have trouble pulling in air. So we ve covered the most important problem with closing vents. Instead it will be forced through any crack it can find in the duct work or other areas that aren t sealed properly. Comfort issues remember a psc blower delivers less air the more vents you close.

Homeowners typically close vents in an attempt to redirect air away from unused spaces. Adjust return registers for summer. Closing return air vents in the winter the ac draftshield is designed for dual system homes having a separate system for heat and a separate system for air conditioning. Blocking a return vent if one of the rooms in your house gets too warm when you turn on the furnace a good way to lower the temperature is to cover the return vent.

But there are a few other important problems closing vents can cause including. Look at the nearest air vent in your room.