During the summer, a great way to save money on energy is to close the heating vents in your basement or another room you don’t use very often. Despite this, you shouldn’t do it for more than two or three days at a time. Shutting off vents in summer for a long time can cause damage and leaks that cost a lot of money to fix.
Shutting off vents can have some good effects, but there are also some bad effects that you should think about. In the long run, it’s best to be careful with how you handle your basement vents. If you don’t, you could damage your HVAC system.
How do air vents work?
Many places in and around your home have air vents. You could put air vents in your home’s floors, walls, ceilings, or basement if you have one. Most air vents have dampers or some other way to open and shut them.
If you live in a house with more than one level, the dampers will be changed based on how much hot or cold air you need at different times of the year.
When summer comes, people close the dampers on the vents that bring air into rooms that aren’t used very often. This sends the cold air back to the rooms where the homeowner spends most of their time.
In most cases, shutting off vents in summer is not a good idea because it makes it harder for the HVAC system to move air around the house as it should.
The benefits of shutting off vents in summer.
In many cases, homeowners can save money by shutting off the vents in their basements. If you don’t spend as much time in your basement as you do in other parts of your home, there’s not much reason to keep the temperature there as stable as you would in other rooms.
By closing off your air vents, you can lower your energy bill and use that money for something else.
Note that if you close these vents, the air you cut off from your basement won’t get to other parts of your home.
If you want to cool other parts of your home more precisely, you should buy HVAC units or fans that can be placed in each room. Even a single dehumidifier can help you adjust the humidity and temperature in different rooms of your house.
The side effects of shutting off vents in summer.
Many people who own their own homes want to save money in any way they can. But it could be a problem if you shut off the air vents in your basement and other rooms. As pressure builds up against the closed air vents, your furnace might find it hard to move the right amount of air through your home.
Let’s talk about the bad things.
- Poor airflow: Closing vents can stop the right amount of air from getting to other parts of the house.
- Hot and cold spots can happen in different rooms when air vents are closed. This is because the airflow is cut off.
- Noisy air duct: If you close the air vents, the air will bounce off of them and go back to where it came from. This makes a whistling sound in the air ducts as the air moves through them.
- Frozen AC coil: When cold air backs up and builds up in the AC unit, it freezes the coils.
- If air can’t move around well, the system has to work harder and longer, which raises the energy bill.
- Unit damage from overuse: When there is a buildup of air, the unit has to work longer. This can hurt things in a big way.
- Cracked heat exchanger. The heat exchanger can break if it gets too hot. Even though it happens rarely, a cracked heat exchanger can slow the flow of air.
- Leaky air ducts can be caused by a buildup of static pressure when air vents are closed. This can cause your air ducts to break and leak.
- Static pressure is caused by dirty air filters, small ducts, and ducts that are broken or otherwise not in good shape.
If you shut off too many of the vents, you may have more problems than you thought. Your furnace fan needs to move air through your home in the summer. If that air doesn’t have as many places to go, pressure can build up in your air ducts. As that pressure goes up, your ducts might start leaking.
If you have leaks, it may not take long for your electric bill to start going up, which is the last thing most homeowners want. Leaks will also make your home less comfortable to live in because they will slow down the flow of air throughout your home, both in the warmer and cooler months. If you shut your vents for too long, the low airflow through your air conditioner could even freeze the coil connected to it.
Is it safe to shut off vents in summer?
Is it a good idea to close the vents in your basement in the summer months?
It won’t hurt anything to close a few basement vents. But after a day or two of being closed, you should make sure to open them back up. You should also try to keep the vents on all the other floors of your home open to make sure the air flows well and consistently. By doing this, you’ll keep the pressure in your air vents low and stop leaks that could cost you a lot of money.
Conclusion
To save money on the energy bill, you need to know what your best options are. You wouldn’t want to make a mistake and hurt your HVAC system by accident. Make sure to maintain your HVAC system once a year so that your energy-efficiency rating stays high. Call a professional HVAC technician in your area and ask when and for how long you can shut your vents during summer.
