Can Water In Register Vents Cause Ac Issues?

HVAC airflow issues can lead to excessive energy bills and problems keeping your home at a comfortable temperature. In this post, we'll walk through some of the well-nigh common airflow issues yous'll encounter with key air conditioners and heaters.

What Are HVAC Airflow Problems?

An air conditioner used to portray the concept of HVAC airflow problems.

While we've already discussed full general air conditioner bug, bug relating to airflow are a bit more specific. As you lot may have guessed, these issues pertain to air not making information technology from your furnace or air conditioner to various parts of your home.

While some of these issues crave professional ductwork to resolve, others tin be easily fixed with DIY solutions.

Identifying Common HVAC Airflow Problems and Resolving Them

Furnace Non Blowing Air Through Vents

If your furnace comes on but doesn't pump hot air through your vents, in that location are a few possible issues. The most likely of these is a malfunctioning furnace fan. To figure out if this is what you're dealing with, hither's what you do:

Plow your furnace off.
Switch your thermostat to the 'fan only' setting.
Listen to see if the fan turns on.

If the fan activates (which you tin't miss as it'south typically quite loud and unmistakably comes from the furnace), yous'll know you don't have this issue.

If, nonetheless, the fan does not come up on within a couple of minutes, head to your excursion breaker and encounter if the switch for your furnace has been activated. This would signal that there's an effect with your fan'south wiring, in which case yous should contact a technician.

If the circuit breaker hasn't switched off, your fan or thermostat probable needs replacing. Yous might want to try replacing the latter commencement equally it'south a bit cheaper.

Another potential culprit of a furnace not blowing air through vents is your limit control switch. This is the module that actually communicates with your furnace fan, telling it when to turn on and off. You'll definitely desire to work with a technician to take this part replaced; their diagnosis will also help you rule out the previous two potential culprits.

Some Vents Not Blowing Air in House

If your fan works just some vents are not blowing air in the house, you are probable dealing with an undersized furnace or air conditioner. The nonfunctioning vents will be the ones furthest abroad from the unit. This is 1 of the reasons getting your air conditioner'due south size right is and then important.

While an oversized air conditioner will plough on and off regularly, an undersized unit will struggle to service your home. The only permanent solution is to accept the unit replaced.

If you're looking for a cheaper pick to resolve an AC vent non blowing in one room, consider the following.

How to Increase Airflow to Ane Room

You tin can attempt to improve airflow to the affected room by endmost vents in other non-essential areas. For example, if your cranium has a vent and you lot don't demand that infinite to be heated or cooled, you can shut it. This will redirect some air through your ductwork and out of the affected vent.

Of form, this isn't ideal; if you ever decide to use your non-essential space, you'll be back to square ane. You lot should think of this more every bit a temporary rough-and-tumble solution while yous wait until you're able to have your furnace or air conditioner upgraded.

How to Increase Airflow to 2nd Floor

Another issue y'all may run into is decreased airflow to your home's second flooring. While an undersized unit of measurement, as described above, is a probable culprit here, there are also some boosted considerations you lot should proceed in mind.

The first of these is your ductwork. If you live in an older habitation, information technology's possible your ductwork may have been compromised at some point. The sparse pieces of metallic that brand up these ducts can become 'pinched' or warped over time, which may lead to reduced air making it to your second floor.

Information technology's too worth taking a look at the registers upstairs, particularly if yous oasis't done and so in a while. It's surprisingly easy to close your registers accidentally; all it takes is a bump of furniture or your foot on the switch.

You should likewise inspect the dampers inside your air conditioner's ducts. Nearly air conditioners in Phoenix accept thin metallic disks that direct airflow. Yous can observe them in the vents adjacent to your HVAC home controller. If 1 of these discs has fallen out of identify and information technology happens to be in the vent leading upstairs, in that location's your problem. Y'all can only slot the vent back into the tabs that concur information technology securely.

How to Increase Airflow in Air Duct

Check for Clogging

Another mutual culprit of airflow obstacle is clogging. This is peculiarly likely if you are experiencing unlike temperatures throughout the rooms in your house and/or a college energy bill.

Over time, your ducts tin get clogged with dust from renovations and even foreign objects that may have been dropped in accidentally. If you suspect a blockage, remove each register in your home and encounter if there's annihilation lying near the opening. To check deeper, you'll need to contact an HVAC professional person who knows how to audit your ductwork without dissentious it.

Change Your Filters Regularly

If yous've gone months (or worse, years) without changing your HVAC filter, you may notice issues like to what yous'd experience with blockage. If that'southward the case, replace the filter immediately and run across if things improve.

You lot should always change your HVAC filters at least once every 2 months (perhaps more than if the area you lot live in is highly polluted or you have smokers in the business firm).

Check for Leaks

If you've looked into all the potential causes of airflow problems we mentioned above and can't find the culprit, you lot may want to inspect for leakage. Occasionally, the joints in your ducts can expand, causing gaps. Use the methods we describe in point #nine of this checklist to inspect for leaks.

If you detect a leak, y'all'll want to get in touch with a professional to accept the impairment repaired. While you can seal the leakage off with duct tape, that's just a temporary solution; y'all'll eventually want to take the leak repaired properly.

HVAC Airflow Bug: Conclusion

In this mail service, we explored a number of common HVAC airflow problems, including:

furnace non blowing air through vents
some vents not bravado air in house
Air-conditioning vent not blowing air in one room

If you live in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area and are having airflow problems, experience complimentary to requite us a phone call for professional guidance. At American Home Water and Air, we've been providing HVAC installation and maintenance services for more than 30 years. Nosotros'd be happy to lend y'all a hand!

Frequently Asked Questions

How exercise I get more than airflow out of my air conditioner?

If yous've noticed an airflow issue, your first steps should be to bank check your thermostat and registers to see if either are set incorrectly. If that's not the case, bank check your filters to run into if they've get besides clogged for air to laissez passer freely. If neither of these are to blame, run through the more complex diagnostic processes outlined above or arrive touch with a local HVAC professional.

What does information technology mean when you have weak airflow in your air conditioner?

When this happens, you're either dealing with a minor issue like airtight-off flooring registers or something more serious, like a malfunctioning blower fan.

Which way does the air flow in an air conditioner?

This might seem like a silly question but it'southward actually important when installing your air filters. The arrows must e'er indicate in the direction of the airflow. While it may seem counterintuitive, that means the arrows need to point towards your unit. In other words, if the vent is on the ceiling, the arrows should point towards the ceiling. Is your vent on a wall? The arrows demand to point towards the wall. If you don't believe us, just take a plastic bag and hold it near the vent while your air conditioner is running. The pocketbook will be sucked towards the vent because that'south the direction the air is flowing.