You’re settling in to the winter weather in your home, and the furnace, heat pump, or boiler is working away at keeping everyone comfortable.
Except something is not right … the heater is putting out heat, but some rooms feel colder than they should. And maybe some rooms feel far hotter. Your house has a case of uneven heating, which is one of the more common comfort problems that can afflict households.
The Causes of Uneven Heating
If you use a boiler for home comfort, we recommend you check on the different radiators/baseboard heaters in the rooms. If any have gone cold or aren’t as hot as normal, you may be dealing with blockage or leaks in the pipes. The circulator pump may also be malfunctioning, or the burners are not staying on long enough. Whatever the cause, call a licensed HVAC technician to find the issue so it can be repaired.
The rest of the potential reasons for uneven heating we’re going to list apply to forced-air systems, such as gas and electric furnaces.
- Clogged air filter: Before taking any other steps about uneven heating, make sure the air filter for the HVAC system isn’t clogged with dust and debris. A clogged filter will reduce airflow and some rooms won’t receive enough heat. Put in a clean filter to see if this remedies the situation.
- Malfunctioning thermostat: The thermostat may be sensing incorrect temperatures in the house or is causing the heater to run for too long or not long enough. This could be a simple miscalibration (a fast fix for a professional) or might indicate a connection loss between the thermostat and the heater.
- Zone control trouble: If your house has zone controls to shut off the ducts to particular rooms, this system may have broken and caused dampers to seal off rooms or remain stuck open. The thermostat handling individual rooms could also be the culprits.
- Air leakage from ducts: Leaky ducts create all types of problems in homes, and one of the first signs of leaks is when certain rooms aren’t receiving enough warmth. Ventilation professionals will pinpoint where the leakage is and then seal the ducts to make them airtight again.
- Short cycling: This describes when a furnace doesn’t complete a full heating cycle, but instead shuts down early, only to turn back on again a short time later. This is a major malfunction, and uneven heating is only one problem of many. Have the heater looked at right away!
- Heater age: Uneven heating might simply be a sign a heater is too old to effectively heat the home any more. For a furnace more than 15 years in service, it’s probably best to have it replaced.
In most cases of uneven heating in a house, you’ll need the assistance of licensed experts of heating in Staten Island, NY. Changing the filter is simple, but attempting to diagnose why a furnace is short-cycling or locating leaks along ductwork and sealing them are tasks you must leave to professionals. Rely on our experienced team—we’ve handled comfort for the area for more than sixty years.
