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Why Are There Hot and Cold Spots in My House?

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Is your house suffering from a plague of hot spots, cold spots, or both? It can be maddening to try and fail to keep your home comfortable no matter how much you run your heating or cooling, no matter how good your system may be, no matter how many doors you open or fans you turn on.

Today, we’ll take a closer look at this phenomenon, what can cause it, and how you can fix it or get it fixed in your home.

What Causes Hot and Cold Spots in Your Home?

Hot and cold spots are, almost always, the result of one of two things: Your HVAC air not getting where it needs to be or outdoor air getting inside. More specifically, hot and cold spots are caused by these problems:

Poorly designed or obstructed ductwork

In many cases, the simplest explanation is the best: You have hot or cold spots in your home because your HVAC system isn’t blowing hot or cold air in those locations. This can happen because your ducts simply don’t reach those rooms because of poorly designed ducts that don’t carry air properly or because of leaks losing the air before it reaches its final destination. Have a professional look over your ductwork if you notice ducts aren’t blowing properly in trouble areas.

Poor air circulation

If the air can’t move through an area effectively, then it doesn’t matter how good the cooling or heating for the rest of your home is. Suspect this problem if your hot and cold spots are in closed-off rooms, further away from where your ducts blow, etc. Extending your ducts to service these places can fix this, as can fan installations.

Poor home insulation or weatherstripping

If your hot spots or cold spots seem to be localized to areas adjacent to walls, the attic, or the basement, then there’s a good chance your problem stems from an insulation or weatherstripping problem letting heat in or out of your home. You may need to invest in retrofit insulation or weatherstripping for your entranceways and windows, depending on the source of the problem.

Mechanical and electronic devices

Personal computers, video game consoles, and televisions are just a few of the devices that can cause hot spots in your home. To resolve these localized unintended space heaters, make sure you have plenty of circulation to get the air mixed in with the rest of your home.

People and pets

Like your devices, people and pets can cause hot spots but not cold spots in your home. If you have a room full of people, it can easily end up uncomfortably warm after some time, even if the rest of your home feels perfectly climate-controlled.

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How To Eliminate Hot and Cold Spots in Your Home

There are a few solutions you might consider which are independent of the specific solutions we already discussed.

Ductless mini-splits

Ductless mini-splits are heat pump systems that use separate internal units instead of having the heat pump blow into your ducts like an air conditioner or furnace. Instead, refrigerant lines carry heat in and out from the internal unit to the external unit. Each room can have its own climate control settings without the need for space-eating ductwork.

Window units and space heaters

Standard window units for heating or cooling can be an option if nothing else works to control specific rooms with hot spots or cold spots. Still, these tend to be far less efficient than any of your other options unless you need one particular room to be a different temperature from the rest.

Learn More About Heating & Cooling From Damiani’s

If you’d like to learn more about the causes and solutions of hot spots and cold spots, you can reach out to the experts at Damiani’s Comfort Design today for HVAC services in the San Antonio area. Contact us online or by dialing 210-646-9600.

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