FIX Hot and Cold Spots in Your House, For Forced Air Systems Only
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- If you have hot or cold spots in your house, this short video shows the typical problems and the right way to balance your air conditioning system to you will have less hot and cold spots. Shown in this video is how to balance or control the amount of air supplied to each room by adjusting the duct dampers that are installed on the supply air ducts and not the dampers on the air vents. Generally balancing your home costs nothing and can dramatically improve your quality of life. The process here will only work for a forced air system.
Thank you for this video!! I'm 71 years old and your video solved my problem. One of my rooms was almost 10 degrees colder in the winter and very hot in the summer. I didn't think anything inexpensive would solve it. I hated to call a repair service and pay a fortune. Your video worked!! I had no dampers on any of my vents. I used other videos and installed four dampers and the heat and AC in each room are balanced within 1 or 2 degrees of each other. Yes, I had to crawl through my "crawlspace", but your video inspired me and convinced me this was the answer. Total cost: $29!! Thanks buddy.
Glad I could help, and glad you got your HVAC fixed and 1-2 deg delta sure feels good when you are walking around the house
Purchased: August 2023 - still works GREAT!I th-cam.com/users/postUgkxxsUnXhGsSJLim_XnMHyQK0u3XVaW-CGn live in a studio and during the summer it gets scorching hot - really old building with no ac units. I can’t express how EASY it was to install. This unit has been a life savior during the summer and some days during other seasons where it can still be a bit warm at night. In this small place is my friend, a husky, poodle mix and myself. We need AC - lolI don’t use the dehumidifier option - I’m not sure if it will leak in my house, since I did not install the small draining hose that came with it. May look into it late but I don’t worry about much humidity in the apartment. I don’t understand why the negative reviews since all things mentioned, I personally did not find issues with. Definitely worth it!
Dang....I wish all “explanatory” videos on here were done as well as this one! Not a single wasted word or video clip, and made it so simple to grasp, even for someone with significant ADD! Thanks for your efforts!
Glad I could help.
This is the greatest TH-cam video ever. I fixed two separate vents that had no airflow. I can’t believe it was this easy. Thank you a million
Glad I could help.
Man I have to thank you so much for this video, I thought there was something wrong with the air duct or some how kinda clogged not allowing much air. The other rooms upstairs the air was wide open and blowing strong except the master bedroom, master bathroom & closet. I tried closing other vents to redirect the air flow but nothing. I'm kinda familiar with how the ducts are run and came on TH-cam for instructional videos and your was the second one i saw. I was about to go to Home Depot and buy the equipment to add 2 extra vents on the master bedroom to help it cool down. I never knew about the levers until this video. After watching this I went right to my attic where the ducts are near the furnace and found the dampers, adjusting levers that was wrapped in orange string hanging down. I never know what they were until now. There are 2 giant ducts leading to smaller ducts branched out. Right at the beginning of the duct were the lever aimed in a diagonal angle upwards, I turned them completely horizontal and success, strong blowing air!! I'm so happy and thankful for this video, you saved me money 💰!!!!
How did you turn a "diagonal angle upwards" to a "horizontal?"
This is like looking for a jewery.
Amazing -- this makes total sense -- I have been asking the guys who installed and service our furnace/AC for years and they never once recommended this.
I didn't even see the dampers until I watched your video. Now I see that there are dampers in 70% of the ducts in my basement and the previous home owner labelled each one clearly. I managed to adjust all of them. Looking forward to a much more balanced air flow. Thanks so much.
Glad I could help and hope your house gets nice even temps. It may take a few adjustments and time for the temperatures to stabilize.
Fareena Alam did it work?
Looks like an easy fix with less talking. Thanks again.
No problem 👍
I can’t believe it was so difficult to find a video properly explaining this. Thank you so much!
I learned about dampers awhile back and adjusted the ones for the rooms that were lacking air but I never thought about the balance between all the house vents. I’ll try that before getting one of those inline fans.
Very, very good video! One end of my home is 5°+ colder/ hotter than the rest. Due to limited or no access to those ducts supplying that end of the house I’ll first install dampers on the others. Hopefully that will resolve the issue. If not, I’ll be removing some ceilings for access. 😕
Thank you!
Thanks Man . I found the dampers and it was totally closed to one side of the house. Once I opened it. Every thing fixed and heat went out to all the house again. Your video is estremely helpfull
Thank you for the informative video. I had 2 AC companies come by and inspect and no one mentioned this. The best thing is I can fix it for free. I pull air only from 2 rooms now I plan on correcting this. Thanks again!!! Dan Winter Garden FL
Thank you for making this video. The visual aids and explanations were extremely helpful in helping me better understand this problem. Your explanation and showing how to adjust the dampers was extremely informative. This video might be 9 yrs. old, butter the information you provided is very relevant today. Thank you very much.😊👍👍👍
glad I could help.
Thank you for this video! So easy to understand! I will get my husband to do this because one of the rooms it's usually hot, while the other 2 are supper cold.
Glad it was helpful!
Oh thank you. I was closing vents as well. I called someone to check out why my daughters room stayed so hot in the summer and cold in the winter and they just checked the AC unit outside, charged me $150 and left. Definitely going to try this, thank you
Any update? Did this video help your situation?
This video shows what I have been looking for with TH-cam videos. None of the others meet my situation. Thank you!
Glad I could help
I think the "pro's" need to watch your video and explanation. Very clear and concise. Just the explanation I was seeking. THX
Glad I could help!
Thank you so much I have owned my house for 6 months and have not been able to get good air flow....until today.
Your're very welcome.
*Saw this video. Was excited to find a solution to my problem. Soon as I got home i rushed to my attic to adjust my dampeners....only to find out i don't have dampeners and im SOL.*
You're not the only one. I had a HVAC company quote me $130, so I'm leaning towards letting them install one.
My issue was the restrictive filters(not dirty). I resolved it by replacing the filters with ones with a lower MERV rating. It was like NIGHT AND DAY. The thermostat now always reaches the set temp during the very hot summer. I have in slab ducts, so I don't really have the option to add in-line dampers. I used to shove towels in the floor registers to keep air from coming out of the specific ducts.
See my other videos on how to replace your 1 inch filters with four inch filters …makes a huge difference as well.
I increased airflow to two upstairs rooms with your help. Now they will be warm in winter and cool in summer. The previous owner must have shut down the other two rooms to save energy. I cracked open the damper and air is flowing full and warm.
Great video! I had a technician come out because I wasn't getting heat in 3 bedrooms. He told me I needed to a damper installed. He said my house (built in 2006) didn't have any in the duct work. I still don't know if it is something I can do myself, but at least now I can go look in the attic to see if they see there.
If you have access to your ducts, adding dampers is easy.
Kris, great video! The engineers only seem to look at the size of the room and NOT at how far away it is from the fan that "forces" the air through the system. Your schematic at 1:39 illustrates this as the room size is only variable, not the distance from the fan. I have the same problem in both my main house and a vacation property. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help.
I am going to try this!! We just bought a house built in the late 1800's and our upstairs is 10-15 degrees colder while it is a heat wave downstairs.. the vents do not blow hard upstairs, there also are not any in take vents upstairs. Winter is coming and we do not need our babies freezing at night!!
Fantastically useful. I bought my funky 70s house 3 years ago in a place that has all four seasons - a brand new experience for me and my family. It has 4 levels and the airflow is a huge issue. Every winter we have roasted upstairs and worn sweaters in the lower levels. In summer, the opposite. Plus the bathroom vent blows out what seems like most of the air, leaving little left for the living room and kitchen. Trying to close that vent led to poltergeist levels of shrieking. Dreadful! I never knew about those nifty dampers until seeing this video. To my shock and delight, my retro house has them exactly where you said they'd be. I am looking forward to experimenting with these levers and having a cozy house, top to bottom. Sure beats getting a new furnace like some companies have suggested. Thanks so much, sir!
You're very welcome. Keep in mind heat rises so you may not get the first floor as cozy as upstairs.
If I can get them within 10 degrees of each other, it will be a huge success.
Without even seeing you house, that should be very doable.
That’s really interesting! I wonder if my house has those dampers, considering these builders barely did anything right. I’ll have to go poke around in the attic as well.
Excellent video. I learned a lot. The camera was good, you are obviously very knowledgeable, and there was no annoying music accompanying the video. A Plus job!!!
man this video saved me for 2 years in my house I had a room burning up air /heat barely blown through the vent , thanks
DUDE! The damper junction point-out ALONE makes this video worth sending you a fiver! God BLESS you XD
Glad I could help
Thanks Kris for the video highlighting design vs actual and fix. Awesome
Glad I could help.
Thanks for this, your drawing was extremely useful and your explanations were excellent! Much appreciated! I was going to buy a couple boosters but didn't want to use electricity and this will be much more effective!
Glad I could help
Thank you, best demonstration and solution to our irregular hot/cold rooms.
Great help thank you im going to go find the dampers .. because all the cold stays in the basement
Thanks for the video. Explains clearly what many servicemen over 15 years wouldn't take the time to do. My case is a 1994 construction two story in New England with finished basement, garage under... and everything is in the walls. It's all floor registers (except the two gems in the basement) and there are two returns, both in the living room, the most central room in the house, also where the thermo is. I have two rooms diagonally opposite from the air source that are easily 10-15°F difference from the rest of the top level (minimal if any air flow) even with their d does wide open. Also a prior owner cut directly into the main branches in the basement to source two registers in the finished area down there, which is easily stealing 5° or more and a TON of airflow from the rest of the house right out of the gate. Adjusting the round registers does nothing noticeable. "Best" of all, there's only one thermostat for the 3000SF of finished space on three levels. Can baffles possibly be retrofit right at the furnace where everything branches out? Any way to permanently close off one of those basement registers (even if it means pulling sheetrock) Any ideas that don't involve tearing into other walls or floors would be appreciated.
Thank you SO much! I was considering replacing the entire duct system.
Glad I could help!
@@KrisKasprzak Rock on!
Me too
Yes, this makes sense. I actually have dampers on all 7 of my first floor ducts but none on my 3 upstairs ducts. I will restrict to 60% on my main rooms to hopefully force air to upstairs
Heat rises, so you may not get the upstairs fully balanced.
Did it work for u. I'm having issue with my upstairs big difference
Great video, thank you for posting. I am currently on phase three of correcting the poor building that was done on my home. First was installing more insulation in my attic (they actually put loose fill over garbage to make it look more than it actually was), second was reinsulating the wall space between my garage and bedroom floor, was cold for 3 ft from the wall during winter, now phase 3 is redoing ductwork but your balancing tip is well needed and will definitely do so.
I hear you, of all the houses I've owned, at least one vent was covered with something--i'm not sure who to blame, the builder or the inspector. Glad I could help.
This video and information is golden. I have been having major cooling issues upstairs in my home. I've tried closing off a few vents to try to balance out the air, I've turned on all of the ceiling fans upstairs but the three rooms on one side of my house will not get cool enough. I was told to get smart thermostats and sensors to help. The sensors help me see that there's really a problem.
The difference in temperature is 5 degrees so I know for sure this is definitely the issue considering I feel very little airflow on all of the rooms on that side of the house. I've called out professionals and they say that I need a more efficient unit which was going to cost about $20,000 since my house was built in 2004.
I will take the time to go into my attic this week to do this for that side and I'll tape up any leaks that I find. I can assure you that you're saving people a ton of money with this information.
Glad I could help.
20k!!! Crazy
this was phenomenal, thank you! i wasted time and money with an ac guy who only just said i need a return (then i pointed out i have one) or that it was my insulation. he never really checked the ducts at all let alone an adjustment like this. SO, now i have something i can look at for this. (the other company i had out didn't do this either but at least they had some other ideas vs SHRUG or telling me it's normal to always have this issue and basically live with it.)
Glad I could help.
Hay thanks for this valuable information. Had 4 office vents in my warehouse that the air waa coming out so so faintly. I we in the attic and followed your ez instructions and now i understand what balance is. It helped and make a significant difference in air flow. Never went to hvac school but your instructio s are too legit to quit mc hammer hammer time. 🔨 thanks
Kris. Thank you for this vid., and especially the duct map showing CFMs. I found one branch right under a Kitchen cabinet, so I took off and filled the Boot with insulation. I planned to add it to my 82*F Bedroom before I saw this. Now I am going to see if I have these adjustable dampers first. I live in GA.,
Glad i could help and I hope it works out for you.
Excellent video! Thanks. My home was built in the 70s so I think I will probably have to add dampers to my system. The HVAC is new but I doubt dampers were every added.
Glad I could help.
Well, very informative video but my home has NO dampers. It was built in 2002 in Florida and is 3500 sq. ft. living area. I suspect that depending on where you live and the local codes that you may, or more likely, MAY NOT, have dampers installed.
I am very savvy regarding HVAC as evidenced by my videos. I can only say that I wish I had dampers, but alas I don't. The most common way of alleviating imbalances in a home is to mitigate pressure imbalances from room to room. That's done by adjusting the return air that's routed back to the HVAC unit. There are many videos showing how to do that. The usual remedy is either to add a return to a room, or rooms or add 'in door' return grills. The problems with temperature imbalances is almost always in the return side of the system and not the supply side.
Once you've got the pressure return balances mitigated then you can go about using your REGISTERS as a throttling mechanism to do what Kris has done using the dampers. Almost all ceiling or floor registers have one, or sometimes more, levers that allow you to open, or close off, the register to some degree to control airflow into the room. This is the same as using a damper. It does exactly the same thing and possibly better because if you have multiple registers in one room and you have an area that's say colder than other areas of the room you can fine tune the room to your liking by using localized registers.
I have lived in several places in my lifetime and this is the first time I've heard of them installed. I've lived in the following states: New York; Illinois; San Diego, California; Alameda, California; Chesapeake, Virginia; and a few places I no longer recall. Never did I have a home with dampers installed in the ductwork.
I thought it was not good to close off a register? I will try your method as long as it's not bad for the unit.
This is very useful (even though I'm late to the party). I have a single story (ranch) with all of the duct work fairly easy to get to from a full basement with drop ceilings. None of my ductwork has the insulation around it...I'm wondering how useful it would be to try to retrofit it with insulation. The finished basement is a pretty consistent 68 degrees regardless of the temperature outside. Would you suggest going through the effort of trying to add insulation where possible? At least I have dampers to adjust.
Thanks!
Thanks for the info! My HVAC company told me there was no way to close off part of the ducts to limit air flow. I knew that must be false and I was right! Time to fire my HVAC company.
They were basically too lazy to go do it.
Beautiful video Kris, explained with more experience than these so called HVAC professionals. I just received my new home in December 2015 and the temperature on the 1st floor is always just right while the 2nd floor is always either too hot or too cold. Unfortunately all the duck work in my home is sealed between the 2 floors, I have to lift the carpet and floor on the 2nd floor to even look for these dampers. I don't see anything on the unit that can control the dampers electronically.
Yikes. I've seen that before, depending on how "off" your rooms are you may get by with just adjusting one--but it sounds like you can get to any of them.
Hopefully technology will improve where these dampers can be controlled remotely. Once a house is built if there are different levels its hard to get inside walls
I am a certified HVAC contractor with over a decade of experience. While I do find this video educational and informative I do believe that this video doesn’t talk about return air problems and in my opinion return air deficiency/luck of return air is the major issue with residential construction. I can safely say that ~95% of residential properties don’t have enough return air ducts and for 2 stories houses it is a case of 100% deficiency. During construction people use inside of drywall space as a return duct/pathway. Standard space between two studs can route ~100-120 CFM of air.... so, if your house has 5 ton system , your house should have 23-27 of these returns........ now, go ahead and count how many inside of drywall return your house has. You are lucky if your A/C unit gets more than 30% from what it designed to have. What does it mean?...... It means that ~50-60% of your electric bill goes to....... goes to..... utility company for nothing!
So, look for a HVAC contractor that is able to do simple math and can calculate air flow correctly. You will be glad to see your electric bill after when air flow will be improved. I can help you with this issue if your house is in greater Memphis area.
Ed I need ya!! I’m in Memphis area and I am about to try this method!
Four 1 two six 7 3 two
@kris. Can you send a link to the product you’re using to measure the temp of each room
I just use basic thermometers from the local hardware store. I did initially put them next to each other, to make sure they were all reporting the same values.
I don't have the dampers in my house. Not required by code when it was built in South Florida in 1986. My problem is that I have a vent right above the air handler going into the living room that is taking all of the air and leaving none for the bedrooms. I think I am going to "damp" it by placing a section of AC filter in the vent grille, probably trying a few different filter material types to see if this makes a difference. My only thing is that I do like more air to the living areas during the day at the height of summer and more the the bedrooms at night so I may have to figure out an easily adjustable solution.
Strange that all the reviews are positive, kinda like Amazon. Thank you for posting informative videos, but:
1. Not all homes have easy access to air ducts.
2. Not all ducts have dampers.
Any solutions to this?
Not sure what you’re implying, but I keep all of the reviews. I may deleted one But only if it has extremely foul language.
@@KrisKasprzak but do you have any ideas for ducts that do not have dampers? i was curious about that. from looking through the comments, seems some ooooold systems don't have them. thanks!
What year was your house built? Wondering if this is something common even on older homes.
This video is very helpful! Thanks
In terms performance, what's the difference between adjusting the dampers as oppossed to the floor/wall registers? Seems like it would effectively accomplish the same thing?
As I mentioned, in the video, you can control airflow by adjusting it at the register however, most likely you’re going to get a very goofy pattern, and possibly some whistling or hissing from the vent
great video... im having this problem now. just moved into a two story home, my sons room gets chilling while me and momma are sweating in our room. thanks buddy
+Sal Aguayo Glad I could help. Take your time and make sure you let you temps settle before you adjust your dampers. It took me several days (maybe a week) and 3-4 adjustments before I got my house equalized. But now that it's done--it was well worth it.
If my system does have damper..what would be the best solution on where they go. Do they go on the grills or at the duct board?
+Sal Aguayo Most likely you will have a large central "trunk" duct that spans the width of the house, this duct will be a few feet in diameter and probably steel wrapped in insulation. From that trunk duct you will most likely have flexible ducts, probably around 8 inches in diameter. Where the flex duct connects to the trunk duct is where you should find the dampers. I doubt the dampers will be at the air vent.
WOW! This is what I was looking for! TY!
Great explanation. Watched 5 videos and yours was so much better than the others, since your explanations were just better. Keep up the great work.
Glad I could help
I have one room that doesn’t get good air flow I noticed that it’s ran from the trunk right next to another duct. That duct is a short run to my bedroom an the other is a longer run to another bedroom. Assuming that airs taking path of least resistance. I closed my vent a bit to get more air in the other room. I notice a difference but that room still seems a bit warm when I walk in there. My room now since I closed the vent slightly has the air blowing directly down instead of evenly across.
Pure gold! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
In my area unless you as owner specify dampers there will not be any because the contractors won't spent the money for dampers. It increase cost of job and they don't explain the cost benefits to homeowner.
Good to know. I'm in the south and so far they have been pretty common--not sure if it a code thing though.
I went to my attic to check the air-leaking and I wanted to replace the entire air-ducts. I found one "triangle duct box connections" with branched out about five lines. This is too many lines mounted on one small triangle duct box. Should I separate them?
Excellent explanation and detailed presentation. Very easy to understand. Thanks so much.
Glad I could help.
Thank you, Kris!!!!!!!!!
Glad I could help.
Excellent video thanks !
You are welcome!
Thank you for this helpful info.
I’ve done all kinds of Trades work. And there’s been 2 rooms that have always been hotter than the rest of the house. So I’ll try not to break my neck or other bones in my attic. As it’s a huge attic.
This is so upsetting. The airflow in my house is so bad. There are 2 dampers on the trunk duct in the basement. I thought I had somewhat solved the problem in summer by closing the damper to the basement and forcing most of the air to the living level and the 3rd floor. After a few years doing this, a contractor found mold in my basement walls and the entire basement had to be gutted. $5000+. This past summer I bought a freestanding AC unit for my BR to run at night, and was able to survive it, but my kids were still roasting in their rooms. Now that I know I can't shut off the flow to the basement, I guess I'm going to have to purchase window units for my kids' rooms. I'm hoping all the trees will hide the window units, and the neighbors won't be able to hear them, because they are in violation of the HOA.
I went in my attic today and found the levers for the dampers. The guys who installed them covered many of the levers in tape and pulled the insulation over the top.
Some of them even have zip ties clamping the insulation to the duct with the lever partially stuck underneath. I managed to adjust some rooms which were getting too much air, but will have to do some more cutting and reshaping of the insulation to get the levers to move their full range of motion.
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for sharing. I’m sure my subs will appreciate firsthand experience that sometimes you gotta dig a little bit to find those levers.
Thank you for this video. Very informative. Would you be able to share some of the things you used to measure the temperature of your house grid, and some tools to best capture the room temperatures?
Sure I went and bought five or six outdoor thermometers and placed them around the house. After any adjustment I would let the house temperature stabilized for a few days then take some readings, this process can easily take a week because of the time it takes to let your temperature stabilize.
This is a great clear video Kris! Thank you for sharing. I saw several videos that didn't explain it as clear as you did with the right video! I never provide comments on youtube videos but this one is a keeper!!
+quetzalsal Thanks i hope this will help you get any issues sorted out.
This is great if you have an attic access or a basement. How do I find my duct work on a house built on slap?
Do you have a forced air system? Then you will have ductwork up in the attic it may be a tight squeeze though.
Brilliant! Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Seems like an easy fix. My AC unit won't kick off once it reaches the desired temperature. Often, it struggles especially when temps go above 85 degrees. I live on the second floor in a condo so my unit is in the attic. I've been up there to look at things and I didn't find the dampers. I saw in another video that you might have to feel around for them or even make a slight tear in the duct work to get to them. I'm afraid that there won't be any dampers due to this being an old building. I'll report back with the results.
Help I have an above the tub airhandler/coil where is my trunk line? I have flexible ducts in my attic. 1984 townhome which is too cold downstairs/ warmer upstairs. The summer is ok. Winter is too cold downstairs
Great Video! Thank you Kris!
I have an issue in my townhouse where the 3rd level gets all the air flow and the 2nd and ground levels get almost none. I have no basement so I don't see where any of this duct work is. There are just a couple dampers by the furnace but i've played with them and none of them seem to let any more air into the problem areas. This video was informative but unfortunately will not help everyone with air flow problems.
I have the same issue. You ever solved the problem?
I rent a room in a house and the room doesn't get any sun and I think the system is not balanced so the room is always too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter. Also, I think the exterior walls are poorly insulated although I poked my head in the attic and it looks like it's insulated well.
The trunk duct that I can see in the laundry/mechanical room is square. The only branch duct that I can see is maybe 6" or 8" and it doesn't have a damper. The only thing we can do at this point appears to be shutting vents in the warmer rooms but that doesn't seem to help.
Also, the combustion air lets in a lot of cold air into the mechanical room which although it's obviously needed is not helping the temperature imbalance situation.
Suggestions?
If there is no damper then the max possible air is going into the problematic room. As you state, you need to force more air into that room, you could try adjusting vents in other rooms. The ultimate fix is to add a second vent in the room. My kitchen had a similar issue, after adding another vent, problem fixed. Since it's a rental, may the landlord will fix it or allow you to.
@@KrisKasprzak The basement is finished so that would take a lot to add another vent from below but there is an option of sort of tapping into a duct that is in the wall of the adjacent room. Unfortunately that would rob some air from that adjacent room but that's probably ok since that room has two registers and it does get sun (living room).
Thanks for the quick response!
Great video 👏
Thank you!
Wow. I have a really small house (1000 sq ft) and I wonder if they put these dampers in. My heat is on constantly, and I did realize that keeping the doors and vents open in empty rooms did help, instead of closing vents and doors. I also noticed that the intake vents are under the windows, and I thought they shouldn't be?
intake under a window seems odd but probably not the end of the world. sometimes the put returns where ever there's room. If you close too many vents, the unit will not get enough air through it and could cause the heating elements to overheat--and temporarily shut down.
I did not know there are "force air systems" in some houses until last September when I was looking for a home. I think my house is a regular air-system. What is the difference between regular and force air-systems?
A forced air system simply means that has a fan pushing the air around as opposed to baseboard heating which uses natural convection to circulate air
I thank it might work . Also dusting helps
My house was originally built in 1871 and is stone. Additions were added in 1977, 1992, and 2004. It is three stories with two AC air handlers. The AC was added in 2004; it is not a high-velocity system. My husband swears that there are NO dampers in the system. That it would be too expensive to have dampers (run by motors) to be installed. The hall bath on the second floor and the hallway on the second floor do not have vents for AC.
My question is are all the ducts in the basement, even for the second floor? Will I find the dampers that you describe in the video in spite of what my husband says?
It's hard to say what you have going on.Some feedback anyway... motorized dampers are generally used in commercial applications where air is constantly moving--i think rare in residential. Dampers added after the fact could range in price but i can't see that addition being too expensive. i'd just poke around the branch/trunk intersection and see if you have them. If you do find some, hang something on the handle and point out the cool hanger to your husband--then let him figure it out, hahahah. A real cheezy fix could be to just pinch the duct a bit to restrict air flow. regarding the upstairs, where are the vents, ceiling or floors? I doubt the upper floors are fed from the basement due to large ducts and thin walls. I'm guessing you have a unit in attic. Its rare to have a vent in a hallway, bathroom should have one--required by code in most states.
Thank you for reminding me. There is a unit directly above the bathroom that has no AC.
My understanding is that one of the air handlers outside handles both the third (attic) floor and the second floor.
There are two bedrooms and one jack-n-jill bathroom up there. Both bedrooms are occupied and can get cool only if both bathroom doors are open but the bedroom doors to the stairs are closed. Each room has a vent. Those vents are in the walls at various heights depending on the room.
Second floor - the vents are in the ceiling. First floor - the vents are in the floor.
There are two thermostats and controls; one is on the first floor right above the air return and one is on the second floor in the hallway, near the air return in the laundry room (no AC in there, of course).
I wish we'd done HV AC as it would have cost the same (different vendors), but, oh well.
I am hoping this is my issue, I have a crawl space.
My daughter's room is 15° warmer than anywhere else. But in the upstairs it has two vents but it's almost cold, so I'm guessing the duct through the dead space is not covered up.
Hello Kris, and THANK YOU for such clarity on this issue - that it makes me feel like I could do it myself. I have a lot of enthusiasm but more insecurity here. I visit my daughter in her new home in Syracuse, NY and the 2nd floor guest room feels like a hot airless cell in summer and is freezing in winter. She doesn't have any problem with the temps in her bedroom, so there doesn't seem to be any hurry to fix or adjust anything. So, I'm taking this on myself, but am looking for a competent and trustworthy serviceperson who will inspect and adjust all of the things you have mentioned in your video without trying to sell a new system. Would you have any leads as to reliable HVAC services in the Syracuse, NY area?
Glad I could help, but i'm not familiar with that area.
@@KrisKasprzakhow are you doing I have no heat in my living room and bed room it's freezing in my living room and bed room the heat is at 68 could it be the air ducts or boiler , the management said I have heat but I don't feel no heat in my living room and bedroom like it use to be,
Hi Kris, great video! How would you manage a 2 story home where in winter and summer 1st floor is cold so that 2nd floor can be comfortable. In other words rising heat requires more airflow for 1st floor then 2nd in winter and less airflow then 2nd in summer. Seems like dampening must be reversed by winter summer season or is there another way?
Is your house a split system? Meaning 1 unit for up and 1 unit for down? Each thermostat will maintain it's set temp but rising heat can trick the upper tstat. The biggest issue i see in balancing across different units is thermostat location. My house the upper tstat sees the rising heat and does not come on enough to warm the far most back rooms--generally tsats are near the intake but i may have to move mine to get more even temps up and down. Have a look at where your tstat is. I'm guessing it's nice and warm in that location. If your house is a single system, reverse dampening will help, but a pain to set them 2x per year--and throttling them back too car can cause excessive back pressure on the system and cause other issues. Unfortunately with a single system, balancing across floors is not an easy solution.
@@KrisKasprzak Thank you. Unfortunately, it is a single system with tstat at lower level which must be set at lower temp to keep upper level comfortable. I will explore motorized dampeners and separate tstats.
My house was built in 83' with flex duct. Do you think this will work?
Hopefully your duct work will have those dampers if so, it’s just a matter of adjusting them
Do Texas houses have duct dampers installed? I've never seen one.
Great video thanks for posting! Question, I located my dampers, only 2 slightly off so I turned back parrallel with duct for now to see if that helps. I have a 2nd floor bedroom over a garage that gets very hot in the summer. If I closed dampers all the way on other side of house where its cool will the air be redirected to the other side to go up to 2nd floor? Looking at where and how many dampers I have they aren't labelled where they feed, how can I find this information out? Thanks in advance!
Closing other dampers will force air to the open ones. It's hard to say how much air increase you will get due to duct pressure drops etc. without seeing your duct system. However rooms above garages are very challenging to heat/cool. Unless all walls, ceiling and floors are very well insulated--which they never are, you will get higher temperature swings. How hard would it be to add an additional vent in the room above the garage? Adding vents may sound hard but if you have reasonable access, it's not too bad.
@@KrisKasprzak I'm not sure, built in 2004 and i have 4 if I include the walk in closet....feels a little cooler already . So if I semi close one on other side of house should help push some air up ?
Yes it will but you will need to give it several days for the room temperature to stabilize
@@KrisKasprzak Honestly I'm not sure, appears there is a duct in drywall in the ceiling in the garage. I have 2 returns and 4 vents total already in the room.
I don’t have dampers in my system. How is adjusting airflow with a damper different then the vents? I’m guessing it has to do with WHERE the airflow is adjusted?
Also, if you’re not supposed to balance with the vents, what is the purpose of their adjustment dial?
What if hardly any air gets to the room on the 2nd floor from furnace located in basement?
what you show here is a single level. what about balancing a multi level home? 2nd floor is always about 7 degrees hotter then the 1st, no matter the season. Is there any accommodation to make for the multi level home? during the winter I want to push most air to the basement and Summer I want it to go top floor.
There is no easy answer here--especially if you have a single unit. Sending air here and then there based on season will require some mechanical (or automated) diversion system. Technically not hard, but you will need lot's of access and probably additional vents to handle increased load (upstairs vents are sized for a certain flow, increase flow may cause too much back pressure--hence more vents are needed).
Could it be possible that my duct work doesnt have dampers?
I went to the attic and inspect it to no avail.
The issue Inis not airflow though. Air comes out strong in this particular room, but too warm, compared to other rooms.
Yes it's very possible you don't have dampers. Depending on how bad you want to fix it they're fairly easy to install cost about 10 bucks a piece at Lowe's or Home Depot
Thank you so much
You're most welcome
Maybe mine are not visible, but I do not see a control lever to adjust air flow on the dampers... Any ideas on my situation would be greatly appreciated...
Your system may not have air flow dampers.
So when you are taking your room temperatures before and after damper adjustments, do you keep the doors open or closed?
I kept the doors open
Can you cut into the insulation to turn the damper? I have access to the handles but they will not turn over a 1/4 turn.
You sure can, just make sure you replace the insulation tape everything up to keep it sealed
Wow! Look at all the comments from homeowners whose contractors charged them while doing zero with the shut offs. If they weren’t licensed, shame on the homeowners. If they were licensed, shame on the contractors. And as for soft ducting - I don’t EVEN want to get into what a disaster that can be.
For the rooms on the 2nd floor do I have to get in the attic? And the main floor ducts in the basement? Thank you.
Not sure, where are your air vents on floor 2? if in the ceiling, i'm guessing you will need to go up in the attic. for the 1st floor, if your vents are in the floor, most likely you will need to go into the basement.
Kris Kasprzak the registers are on the floor for the 2nd floor.
I'm guessing you have the main duct in the ceiling of the first floor, getting to the dampers may be a challenge,
Kris Kasprzak ok thank you so much
Hey this is good to know, but can it be done if your ductwork is in a concret slab foundation?
are you sure your duct work is sunk in concrete? Meaning you have a concrete floor and floor vents?
Very informative