Does Closing the Floor Vents Damage a Heating System?

20 Feb

Does Closing the Floor Vents Damage a Heating System?

By shutting off the heating vents which warm rooms people attempt to save money. Even though the concept sounds plausible, study performed by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that shutting some of the vents in your home actually reduces the efficiency of heat and cooling methods. The study further shows that closing greater than 60 percent of your system’s ports is unsafe and likely to harm your system.

Why It Doesn’t Work

In some furnace methods, every room has a cold air return as well as a port. Blocking the vents compels air to be sucked into the machine lowering the overall temperature of the air and mixing together with the warm air. This results in the furnace to work harder and run for longer periods of time. Closed vents also harm ductwork, since the heating system is designed to drive as much air as required to heat your home. Blocking vents causes air pressure to build causing leaks where the air pressure strains their ducts’ seams.

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