The air is supposed to flow through the ducts in a balanced way. This means that the pressure with which the air is forced into room should be the same.

If you have some rooms experiencing forceful air pressures and others not as much, you have what we in the industry call “An airflow problem”.

You will experience one of the following situations if you have an airflow problem:

1. You hear whistling sounds
2. Find that some areas of a room are drafty
3. Have no air coming out of some registers or the airflow is weak
4. You find the doors sometimes slamming by themselves
5. There are spaces/rooms in your home that is hot or cold

Most airflow problems start as a simple issue and if left unattended, can morph into a problem that may make it necessary to replace the whole unit. ???

Airflow issue in its beginning stages is fairly easy and inexpensive to fix. So heed your airflows!

Here are some reasons for airflow issues and how to fix them:

1. Damper is in closed position. Damper is used to balance the flow of air in the system. Damper controls the flow of air inside the duct work. If you aren’t getting air into the room, the damper could be closed, or there’s a crushed pipe or the pipe is too small for the size of the room. Call your HVAC to take care of this.
2. Obstructed vents or registers. This happens when there are physical objects in front of the vent or register and obstructing the air from flowing into the room. The solution is simple: Clear all items from near the vent or the register. This would enable to air to move freely.
3. Dirty filters. A standard filter is there to protect the equipment and not you. If you move into the higher-end filters, they will help you with the air quality inside the house. The filter’s job is to rid the air of dust and allergens and allow the air to be cleaned before it is blown into the house. This not only allows you to breathe clean air, it also keeps dust and debris from your heating/AC which helps your equipment to keep going for a long time. When this filter gets dirty or clogged, it not only takes more energy to push air through it, it also impedes the airflow. This also makes the system work harder which lowers its lifespan. A simple way to fix this issue is to replace your filter as recommended by the furnace manufacturer. During fire or allergy season, change it more frequently since the filters will be filtering a lot of gunk from the air. https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtrete/program/change-reminder-programs/
4. Leaky ducts. Ducts are the way the warm or cool air is distributed throughout the house. If there is a leak in the duct, then some air is escaping out of the duct leading to reduced pressure. This is not ideal because now the dust and other grime from the attic can enter the duct and be blown into the living area. You need a professional to run an inspection of your duct system.
5. Fan not working. The HVAC system has fans that blow the air through the ducts and into your home. If those fans aren’t working, you can notice airflow problems. This could be a matter of simply cleaning the fans.

Unless it is the case of an obstructed vent or register, we highly recommend that you call your HVAC professional to diagnose and recommend solutions. Airflow issues tackled at the start of an issue are less expensive to fix than when they have grown into bigger problems.

We’d be happy to help you with any airflow issues. Call us at (650) 575-3915.