Nine Reasons Your Home Isn’t Heating Evenly
Does your furnace struggle to heat your entire home evenly? Heating unevenly occurs when some rooms feel comfortably warm while others are much chillier. Several causes could be to blame for this heating problem. Here, we’ll explore what could be triggering these temperature imbalances and provide tips on how you can fix the problem.
Something’s Blocking Your Home’s Vents
Your problem: Your furnace moves heated air throughout your home in supply and return registers. If these are closed or covered up, the restricted air movement creates warm and cold areas in your home.
How to fix it: Make sure all your home’s vents are clear of obstructions, especially if some rooms feel like they aren’t getting enough warm air. Then, check to make sure there aren’t any furniture, mats or drapes blocking airflow. If a room is too warm, make sure the registers in the other rooms are open and feel like they are putting out about the same amount of air. If a register is unobstructed but not a lot of air is coming out, there may be a problem with a control mechanism or the duct isn’t routing the air to the right place.
Your HVAC System Has a Dirty Air Filter
Your problem: Your furnace air filter traps dust, pollen and other airborne particles to provide clean and healthy air in your home. However, a clogged filter filled with these particles can severely restrict airflow, making your furnace work harder and causing uneven heating. If warm air can’t get through easily, rooms farther from the system feel colder.
How to fix it: Look over and change the air filter every 30-90 days, especially in the winter when your heating system operates often.
Your Home Needs More Insulation
Your problem: Inadequate home insulation allows heat to leak out, especially in rooms exposed to outside walls or your home’s attic. This makes certain rooms more difficult to heat, even when the rest of the home feels comfortable.
How to fix it: Enhance your attic insulation to stop heat from rising out of your home. If your existing insulation is in good shape, you may be able to simply add more on top of it.
You Have Drafty Windows and Doors
Your problem: Single-pane windows and old, leaky doors are often to blame for letting cold air into your home, cooling the indoor temperature. This problem is most common in older homes, which frequently have windows and doors that don’t close as snug as they need to.
How to fix it: Avoid drafts in and around doors and windows with weatherstripping or caulk. Insulated curtains and thermal blinds also help keep cold air out of your home. If you find that these simple fixes aren’t enough to prevent cold spots in your home, it may be time to look into replacing your windows and exterior doors.
You Have Leaky Ductwork
Your problem: Ductwork delivers heated air to all the rooms in your home. If there’s a hole, warm air can leak out of the ducts before it gets to some rooms of your home.
How to fix it: Hire an HVAC technician like one of our team members at Rob's Albertan Service Experts to inspect your ductwork for breaks, which can usually be sealed with metal tape or mastic sealant. In more severe cases, you may need to replace the ducts.
You Need to Move Your Thermostat
Your problem: The thermostat regulates the heating system throughout your home. If it’s in a windy or unusually sunny spot, it may give misleading readings, causing your HVAC system to run at the wrong times—and lead to uneven temperatures.
How to fix it: If your thermostat is near a cold window or energy-producing appliance, think about relocating it. An HVAC technician from Rob's Albertan Service Experts can help you move it to a more central location where it can more accurately read your home’s average temperature. For extra convenience, opt for a smart thermostat, which gives you remote temperature control and customized heating schedules.
Your Furnace Is the Wrong Size
Your problem: A furnace that’s too small may struggle to heat all of your residence, leaving some rooms colder than others. On the other end of the spectrum, a furnace that’s too big often turns on and off continuously, resulting in temperature fluctuations and increased wear and tear that can shorten the lifetime of your HVAC system.
How to fix it: Have a heating and cooling specialist assess your home’s furnace size compared to your home’s size, the climate where you live, the home’s insulation quality, windows and other factors. If your furnace is too small or large, you may opt for upgrading to the right size for better heating performance and energy efficiency.
Your Home Struggles to Heat Multiple Levels
Your problem: Heat rises, which is why the second floor of your home is sometimes heated while the main floor is cool.
How to fix it: Zoning your heating system allows you to control the temperature in different areas using multiple thermostats and ductwork valves. This way, you can send warm air exactly where you want.
You Need to Schedule Regular HVAC Maintenance
Your problem: Like any appliance, your furnace needs regular maintenance to operate smoothly. If you neglect to do routine care, your HVAC system may experience issues that reduce efficiency and hinder it from heating your home evenly.
How to fix it: Schedule professional maintenance for your heating system annually—if possible in the fall before the heating season kicks off. Regular maintenance also helps detect and fix problems before they result in potentially expensive performance issues or total breakdowns.
Trust Rob's Albertan Service Experts for Furnace Services in Edmonton
No one likes to spend time in a chilly room. If an easy fix doesn’t do the trick, count on Rob's Albertan Service Experts to get the job done correctly. Our certified technicians provide efficient, reliable solutions to all your comfort needs backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Don’t let an uncomfortably chilly room ruin your comfort—call 780-800-9047 today to schedule Edmonton furnace services with the Experts at Rob's Albertan Service Experts.
