If you have a ducted heating and cooling system, you know that depending upon the physical layout of your ductwork, some areas of your home may be much colder or much warmer than others. To correct this, ducted systems usually come with adjustable covers that you can manually adjust to limit or increase the amount of air that flows through the register. You may also have in-duct dampers that will accomplish the same thing.
Even when you adjust the dampers to accommodate awkward system design, you may end up with cold- and hot-spots in your heating and cooling system. This has less to do with the equipment you use and more to do with the design of the heating and cooling system in the home. Often, big errors (like a single heating and cooling zone for an entire house), can’t be corrected with manual damper adjustments alone. The result is that areas of the house are chronically too hot or too cold to be comfortable.
A new line of in-register devices may allow your home heating and cooling systems to deliver a more consistent comfort level throughout your home, and reduce your energy consumption at the same time. Wireless, battery-controlled in-register dampers can automatically open and close the registers and prevent air leakage to achieve a pre-programmed comfort level. These devices can automatically restrict airflow in areas of the home that are too hot or too cold, and direct more heated/cooled air to areas of the home where additional airflow is needed to achieve your preferred comfort level.
In most homes, between 20%-40% of the rooms are either much warmer or much colder than the thermostat’s set point. This means that you use more energy you need to, and spend fruitless time trying to balance out the airflow in your living space. It also means that you may be heating or cooling areas of your home that you don’t use regularly or that don’t need precise heating and cooling to keep you comfortable.
In-register systems contain a thermostat control unit and electronically controlled register covers that open and close based on the way the thermostat control is programmed. Generally, no modifications are needed for existing ductwork, and no additional wiring is needed to make the system work. The thermostat control unit can control registers within a 20-ft radius, and the register covers are paintable, so you can match them to your existing décor.
These systems offer the benefit of more precise comfort control and a reduction in energy usage. On average, homeowners can expect to reduce their energy consumption by as much as 5% per room when they use electronic dampers to control airflow in their homes.
If you would like more information about in-register dampers and to learn whether this approach may solve your home’s uneven climate control issues, please give us a call at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 362-0377 anytime. We’ll be happy to schedule a consultation!
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Categories:
DIY Air Conditioning, DIY Blog, DIY Heating
