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How To Improve Airflow Upstairs With Your Air Conditioner
Diego Rojas
Do you feel like your home is not getting the airflow it needs upstairs to keep your home cool? If so, know that there are a few things that you can do on your own to fix it.
Check The Dampers
If your ductwork is located in an unfinished basement, there are likely dampers that you can adjust near where the air is pumped out of the air handler. The dampers should be located on the part of the ductwork that goes up to specific rooms in your home, with the ability to turn a knob to open or close the dampers. It is always worth checking the dampers to make sure that they are fully open in the rooms that are not getting enough airflow. Hopefully, this will fix your problem and you won't have to call a professional to take a look.
Shut Off Registers
Do you have rooms that are feeling too cold or have rooms that are not in use? Try closing the vents to these rooms so that more airflow is directed to other parts of the home. If you want to shut off an entire run of vents going up your home, you can also close that damper in the basement to prevent the air from traveling through the ductwork at all. It is a very simple solution that could have a huge effect on making your home feel more comfortable.
Check For Air Leaks
The lack of cold air going into a specific room can also be due to a leak in the ductwork. This is a bit harder to diagnose due to the ductwork being sealed in the walls, but it is possible to tell if there is a leak if you use an infrared camera on the wall. An area where the ductwork is leaking can cause big temperature changes, and narrow down where you need to open up the wall to fix it.
Install Zone Controls
It is possible to create zones within your home, which will give you multiple thermostats in your home. They work by automatically controlling the dampers to shut off the air to places when you do not want it to go to those rooms. For example, you can create a zone on the second floor of your home, and turn off the dampers going to the first floor at night when you are not on the first floor of your home.
Contact an air conditioning contractor to learn more.
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By the time I finally finished saving money for my new home, I knew that I wanted something special. I didn't want to buy a starter home, and I really didn't want to deal with fixing up an older place. Instead of scouring the market and dealing with real estate agents, I decided to work with a general contractor to start building a place of my own. However, I didn't choose my contractor willy nilly either. I spend hours interviewing and researching various construction firms until I found the business I wanted to work with. This blog is all about working with contractors, so that you can make better construction decisions.