Hot and Cold Spots? Here’s What to Do

Are hot and cold spots in certain areas of your home making it impossible to enjoy consistent comfort? If so, it’s not something that you just have to put up with. There are a number of ways to deal with temperature inconsistencies in different areas, and the first step is identifying the underlying cause.

There are a couple of possible causes related to a decline in airflow through the HVAC system that you can easily resolve yourself:

• Closed or blocked air registers. Make sure that all the registers are open and unobstructed by household items like long window treatments, furniture, or a bunched up area rug.
• Clogged air filter. Check if the air filter has any significant build up of dust and debris, and install a fresh one.

When to Call an HVAC Professional

If there’s no noticeable improvement after taking the above steps and you’re still experiencing hot and cold spots, it’s time to have an experienced HVAC technician check for other issues like:

• Ductwork deficiencies. A pro may find and fix leaky, disconnected or damaged ducts, a lack of insulation, inadequate return airflow, improperly-sized ducts and other ductwork problems.
• Oversized equipment. If your HVAC equipment is too large for the square footage of your home, it cycles on and shuts off again too quickly so it can’t properly heat or cool your living space.
• Poor thermostat placement. Your thermostat can’t accurately control heating and cooling in your home unless it’s installed in a central location, where it’s not exposed to drafts, direct sunlight or other heat sources.
• Home design issues. If you have a two-story or complex home, or finished space over the garage or in the attic, you may need to have a zoning system installed that divides the space into separate areas with individual thermostats to provide more consistent temperature control.

At Sobieski Services, Inc., our goal is to help our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey learn more about energy and home comfort issues — especially HVAC and plumbing issues — so that they can save money and live in healthier, more comfortable homes.