Do you think closing rooms to save energy is a smart strategy in your home? Think again. While it may sound like a smart idea, in homes where vents are closed in an attempt to save on energy use, you may actually see more harm than good. Below are a few of the problems closing rooms to save energy can cause in your Dayton area home.
- Closing vents to rooms may increase duct leakage. With forced air backing up in your ducts due to the register blockage, it will find a new route to escape, forcing open new duct leaks at weak connections or worsening existing leaks in your ductwork.
- Closing too many vents can damage your heating and cooling equipment. When the conditioned air backs up in your ducts because it cannot enter the living areas, it can cause your furnace to overheat and your air conditioner coils to freeze up, preventing your equipment from doing its job.
- When vents are closed, you are restricting your furnace or air conditioner’s ability to distribute conditioned air. Doing so will force your heating and cooling equipment to work harder to move air, which places unnecessary stress on your equipment and can even damage it.
- Some building materials and furnishings are climate sensitive and can be damaged if exposed to certain conditions. For instance, vinyl flooring can crack at lower temperatures and wood furniture can be damaged by large temperature changes.
- Closing rooms to save energy creates pressure imbalances in rooms with return registers. Those registers will continue to pull air from a room, but because the supply vent is closed, cold outside air will be sucked in through gaps and openings in windows or doors, and then into your forced-air system. This puts more work on your equipment.
Even though it sounds like a practical idea, closing rooms to save energy isn’t a smart strategy. For energy saving ideas that are proven to give positive results, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services. We can provide sound advice and help you choose energy saving measures that will actually benefit your family and protect your Dayton area home.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about conserving energy and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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