8 Ways To Avoid Hot And Cold Spots In Your
SW Oklahoma Home
How To Balance The Air In Your Home
If you have hot and cold spots in your SW Oklahoma home, you know how frustrating it can be to stay comfortable. No one wants to have one room sweltering hot while another feels like you need to wear a parka just to stop shivering!
Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to eliminate these hot and cold spots throughout your home. Check out these eight simple ways to avoid hot and cold spots in your Southwest Oklahoma home.
1. Check Your Air Filters
When was the last time you changed your air filters? On average, when your HVAC unit is being used steadily, you will need to change these filters monthly. However, most homeowners go months (or longer) before replacement. Built-up dirt, dust, and debris can severely impact the health of your entire system.
If you notice hot and cold spots, it could be nothing more than your filters needing changing because they are too dirty! Start here before pushing the panic button and replacing your entire unit.
2. Feel For Drafts In Rooms
Depending on the weather, check for drafts in rooms that feel hotter or colder than the rest. Feel around the windows in the room and around any doors that go to the exterior of your home. If you feel air coming around these areas, you might find the cause of your temperature issues.
Eliminating drafts may mean adding more insulation to block out exterior weather. While many people will stuff insulation around the problem areas, you may find that having your insulation handled by a professional is necessary.
While you are feeling for drafts in your room, remember that electronics can give off much heat. So, if you are dealing with hot spots, look around and assess just how many electronics you have in the room, as this could be the culprit. To remedy this, you will have to decide if you can split up the electronics in the room or learn to live with them.
3. Check Your Ceiling Fans
Almost every SW Oklahoma will have ceiling fans in bedrooms, dens, and living rooms. What direction is your ceiling fan going in? The idea is to have ceiling fans running counterclockwise during warmer months to help keep cool air circulating.
During the cooler months, you change your ceiling fan to a clockwise direction to help disperse the warm air evenly throughout your home.
4. Install Window Coverings
Window coverings are more than just decor. They serve a vital purpose in helping reduce cold and hot spots throughout your home. You will discover that proper window coverings like shades, blinds, or curtains can make a huge difference in a room, visually and physically.
These coverings are designed to block out UV rays and heat, helping maintain a comfortable temperature in your room.
Even if you are not a person who loves decorating, you will find window coverings are not just decoration – they can help reduce the hot spots throughout your home. Window covers can also reduce cold areas during the winter by helping to block the cold air.
5. Change The Location Of Your Thermostat
The thermostat is the brain of the HVAC system. It detects the temperature in the home, telling the HVAC to turn on and off. If your thermostat is in the wrong location in your home, it could result in some rooms being cooler or warmer because of their proximity to the thermostat.
In many cases, you may find your thermostat is too close to a source of heat or cold – resulting in uneven heating and cooling throughout your home. For example, if your thermostat were to be located outside a bathroom where people are always taking hot showers, the steam and warmth could result in the thermostat thinking it is warmer in your home than it is.
6. Upgrade Your HVAC
HVAC units are not one size fits all. The unit installed on your home is meant to handle the square footage of the house. However, if the home has had additions built on, rooms expanded, or the size changed in any other way, your HVAC unit could be to blame for the hot and cold spots in your home.
In addition, you will find that an old HVAC unit simply may not have the power to perform as it once was. On average, if your HVAC unit is anywhere from 15 to 20 years old — replacements are often the best solution to ensure energy efficiency and proper running.
7. Blocked Vents Or Registers
Sometimes when you feel cold or hot spots in your home, there is a simple solution: a register or vent has become blocked. It could be that you closed off one of the vents or registers since the room is one you do not use as often. Or the register or vent could have accidentally become blocked or covered with furniture or throw rugs.
Go room to room and check for these blocks and ensure that each vent and register has free space around it to function correctly. Also, consider when was the last time you cleaned these? Clean AC vents can help circulate air and heat better!
8. Invest Into Floor Fans
Floor fans that can help direct more hot or cold air into a location of your home can be a simple but effective way to remedy cold or hot spots — with the bonus of being relatively inexpensive. You will also find that putting a floor fan into a room with hot spots can help circulate the air making the space less hot.
Any floor fan will help the air travel throughout your home, just like a ceiling fan.
Free Quotes For Your SW Oklahoma Home HVAC System
If you are tired of dealing with hot and cold spots throughout your SW Oklahoma home, the tips mentioned above could help you to find a balance. However, if you are tired of having to guess at the issue or simply want a professional to help, Robinson Air is here for you!
Contact us today or call us at 580-699-5760 for a free consultation and quote in which our professionals will determine what the issue is causing your hot and cold spots!