You would think they would make it possible (better HVAC system design) in this day & age. Why even manufacture and "install" vents that have an open/close? So stupid we can't close vent to a room we don't use because it might hurt the system.
Some systems in basements have shutoff valves for each duct going to the rest of the house. I don’t know if that changes anything but I did that to block off one of the vents upstairs so the duct wouldn’t be part of the system.
@@larsonfamilyhouse that's not what all of the pros are saying. They're saying not to close even one. I presume that presumes a perfectly designed A/C system where the ducts have been tailored to the system.
Trapping air with a closed vent only happens when the vent (register) is at the end of a run, but you don't want that air, anyway. How does closing a hole "block" air from getting out another hole? It doesn't, but turbulence can be increased depending on the layout which effects resistance to air movement. Also, in some poor duct designs, there are vent openings very near the furnace. Air dumping out those holes at the beginning of a run will severely lower the pressure available farther down the run. Air is compressible. You want to dampen those nearby openings using a register with louvers to reduce the large dumping of air from there, so more will go farther down the run to get out the other vents. If you wanted to prove your claim, why didn't you show a flow meter over some vents left open while closing other vents? Tell us what is the layout of the duct work, measure and record air flow at every vent, show where in the diagram you are closing a register, and then measure the air flow at other vents. Yeah, we already know the results.
there are zone valves in-line to shut off sections of the building; I think he's saying BACKDRAFT will cause furnace/AC to go out of its operating temperature range since people are choking flow off at ends, and usually the system is designed for a given number of vents - think more parallel wiring than serial, y'all are talking as if the house was wired where bulbs are dim at the extremities so shut off lights near the mast and you'll make them brighter further out (NOPE!). If you feel the flow's too weak in a room, strong in another, you can usually PARTIALLY close off a vent, fully open another.
How about adding extra ceiling register to a room on the same trunk that needs extra cooling or heat ? That way there will always be the proper designed vents open .
So what’s the point of having vents that can close then, just to prevent dust when work is being done. Seems stupid to even have the ability to close them if they’re never meant to be closed.
My house was built in ‘49 so when you say modern systems what does that mean in this industry? The upper level is always struggling while the bottom level is thriving. Thanks
What about this case? I added in 2 extra supply vents in my basement when I finished it (basement only had one vent before it was finished and was always closed off). Since the 2 vents weren't there originally, wouldn't it be ok to close them off? My house has 20 supply vents, 4 double return vents and 2 single return vents (one of those single return vents was added in my basement). Seems like it would be OK to close all 3 of the basement vents.
I lived in a townhouse where it had dampers in the vents so that you can direct cold air upstairs in the summer and and keep warm air downstairs in the winter. Was that bad? What’s the difference between that and closing vents?
Good day. I have a quick question. I have a landlord lady upstairs where I'm.renting. i am in the basement. It just seems like she sprayiing stuff through the vents. This might sounds crazy but true i was smelling some unusual smell.coming throw the vents. Is that possible that the spray of the vents upstairs can reach through mine downstairs. I did close all my vents. I want to know how i can completely seal the vents and what to use
The air return is where the furnace pulls air in from a vent somewhere in the house, and then the furnace heats it and blows it out through the heat vents. In my house, yes, if I spray some air freshener in the air return, which is on the edge of the kitchen floor, the furnace blows the air freshener throughout all the heat vents, in a matter of seconds.
Who know what's what's right and what's wrong.if you shut the vents off in the rooms your not using it only makes sense that you would just get a higher air flow from the vents that are open on a small electric heat pump anyways,Im sure gas furnaces are a different story
This sounds like a problem in search of a solution, not a dead-end problem. E.g., why heat and cool a 2,000 sq ft house if a person is only using 1,000 sq ft of it? E.g. someone who bought the house while married with 5 kids but now is a widowed empty-nester. Or a family of 5 and then 4 go away on a 2 week trip. Or a family of 5 that goes away on a 2 week trip and they only want to heat the home enough to keep the water pipes from freezing, which probably is only a limited space within the home. It's wasteful heating and cooling unused rooms. How about upsizing ductwork so the system can handle 1/2 of the registers being closed?
He means the coil(? lol) or whatever it’s called. It freezes and turns into a block of ice and restricts all airflow because there’s a block of ice in the air passageway. Someone needs to do an intro to ac so I can watch it and understand in layman’s terms. I’ve watched like ten videos and finally understand vent = register and that the outside box thing has a fan on top and the aluminum foil-isn vents(? lol) are called an condenser coils if I remember right. Crap, that means that first thing isn’t a coil maybe idk what it’s called but it’s like tubes like a crazy straw by the furnace. Those tubes (and other stuff if it gets out of control) can turn into a giant block of ice and then no air gets through. So yeah, I’m in the too cold in the summer alternate universe 😂😭🤣
It's been asked by others but since there's never an actual professional response, it bears repeating. If air registers aren't meant to be fully closed, why do they have adjustable dampers that rotate into a closed position? 🤡🌎
I have a vent in the garage...looks like the previous owners recently extended it from the existing system. Should I just leave the vent open? (It's a big 2 car garage) I feel like it's just a waste to leave it open since no one really stays there for a long time just for laundry...
By code, there is supposed to be a fire wall between garage and interior of the home. (1" drywall and solid core self closing door). A vent is an illegal opening through that firewall. Also, this pushes air outside of your homes envelope which is replaced with unconditioned outdoor air which must enter your home elsewhere. So yes, seal the vent, permanently.
I’m not a HVAC tec but I would assume it’s ok after a HVAC tec checks the pressure in your system . And what type of blower you have . My family always shut vents on little used rooms or as children move out time went on in a 4 bedroom home . The system operated excellent for 62 years then replaced only for adding AC to the home .
I hear you can just get a high efficiency (like super thick) filter and just get a hardcore blower. Just get a regular filter and change it once a month and then the air will already be super clean coming out of the vents. Changing your regular filter often should do the trick:) you can also have all the other stuff cleaned like pros will come clean the vents and you can have them do the furnace and ax unit too. You should clean your ac outside unit at least once a year before you use it anyway. If dust is coming out the vents (registers) you need other components cleaned. Cleaning the rest of the system will give you MUCH cleaner air than trying to filter at the end where the air comes out. There’s lots of videos on how to clean most of it yourself:)
Can I block off my exhaust fan in my apartment? My neighbor smokes cigarettes and pot in her apartment. Especially in her bathroom. She doesn’t know that I can smell it. Management doesn’t care
I tend to partially close all my vents in the basement during the AC season. That way, there's still some airflow but the basement doesn't become a meat locker. The ultimate method is to use a flow meter to balance the rooms. That's why the vents have adjustable louvers, I would think. Then again, there's often damper plates inside the pipes. I've never understood why you need a damper plate AND an adjustable vent cover. Why both? Perhaps damper plates were used decades ago when the vent covers didn't come with adjustable louvers and the idea just stuck. I removed all my damper plates and taped up the hole left behind from the screw.
The air return is probably upstairs, so if she happens to spray some cleaning spray etc near the air return, it will pass through the furnace and it would blow out your heat vent and all the others pretty quickly.
My HVAC installer just told me to close my hallway vents to increase airflow in the living room. To each their own I guess.
Yeah I don’t get it either. I’ve done this with heat for a very long time.
Exactly the answer and the level of explanation i was looking for.
Thank you
Thank you for the video! Anything I can do to make one room colder than the other if I can’t do it by closing one of the bedroom’s vents?
You would think they would make it possible (better HVAC system design) in this day & age. Why even manufacture and "install" vents that have an open/close? So stupid we can't close vent to a room we don't use because it might hurt the system.
Some systems in basements have shutoff valves for each duct going to the rest of the house. I don’t know if that changes anything but I did that to block off one of the vents upstairs so the duct wouldn’t be part of the system.
You can close a vent to A room, just not 5 rooms.
@@larsonfamilyhouse that's not what all of the pros are saying. They're saying not to close even one. I presume that presumes a perfectly designed A/C system where the ducts have been tailored to the system.
I AGREE. THEY PUT IN ALL THIS EFFORT TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY BUT NOTHING FOR THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION!
Trapping air with a closed vent only happens when the vent (register) is at the end of a run, but you don't want that air, anyway. How does closing a hole "block" air from getting out another hole? It doesn't, but turbulence can be increased depending on the layout which effects resistance to air movement.
Also, in some poor duct designs, there are vent openings very near the furnace. Air dumping out those holes at the beginning of a run will severely lower the pressure available farther down the run. Air is compressible. You want to dampen those nearby openings using a register with louvers to reduce the large dumping of air from there, so more will go farther down the run to get out the other vents.
If you wanted to prove your claim, why didn't you show a flow meter over some vents left open while closing other vents? Tell us what is the layout of the duct work, measure and record air flow at every vent, show where in the diagram you are closing a register, and then measure the air flow at other vents. Yeah, we already know the results.
there are zone valves in-line to shut off sections of the building; I think he's saying BACKDRAFT will cause furnace/AC to go out of its operating temperature range since people are choking flow off at ends, and usually the system is designed for a given number of vents - think more parallel wiring than serial, y'all are talking as if the house was wired where bulbs are dim at the extremities so shut off lights near the mast and you'll make them brighter further out (NOPE!).
If you feel the flow's too weak in a room, strong in another, you can usually PARTIALLY close off a vent, fully open another.
Old home 2 main trunk lines added 1 extra vent in each trunk to shut off 1 in each trunk in 2 rooms seldom used .
How about adding extra ceiling register to a room on the same trunk that needs extra cooling or heat ? That way there will always be the proper designed vents open .
So what’s the point of having vents that can close then, just to prevent dust when work is being done. Seems stupid to even have the ability to close them if they’re never meant to be closed.
I guess everywhere is different, in PR the home I stayed in had no vents. Only wall AC. Even the windows were just shades. It wasn't that old either.
My house was built in ‘49 so when you say modern systems what does that mean in this industry? The upper level is always struggling while the bottom level is thriving. Thanks
What about this case? I added in 2 extra supply vents in my basement when I finished it (basement only had one vent before it was finished and was always closed off). Since the 2 vents weren't there originally, wouldn't it be ok to close them off? My house has 20 supply vents, 4 double return vents and 2 single return vents (one of those single return vents was added in my basement). Seems like it would be OK to close all 3 of the basement vents.
I lived in a townhouse where it had dampers in the vents so that you can direct cold air upstairs in the summer and and keep warm air downstairs in the winter. Was that bad? What’s the difference between that and closing vents?
so how about closing the AC vents half way?? will it still be bad for the AC system?
Only an opinion.
Good day. I have a quick question. I have a landlord lady upstairs where I'm.renting. i am in the basement. It just seems like she sprayiing stuff through the vents. This might sounds crazy but true i was smelling some unusual smell.coming throw the vents. Is that possible that the spray of the vents upstairs can reach through mine downstairs. I did close all my vents. I want to know how i can completely seal the vents and what to use
The air return is where the furnace pulls air in from a vent somewhere in the house, and then the furnace heats it and blows it out through the heat vents. In my house, yes, if I spray some air freshener in the air return, which is on the edge of the kitchen floor, the furnace blows the air freshener throughout all the heat vents, in a matter of seconds.
Is it ok if I shut one of 3 bedrooms on the top level of Tri-split level 1500 sqft house ? It's hot like hell in here ?
Who know what's what's right and what's wrong.if you shut the vents off in the rooms your not using it only makes sense that you would just get a higher air flow from the vents that are open on a small electric heat pump anyways,Im sure gas furnaces are a different story
This sounds like a problem in search of a solution, not a dead-end problem. E.g., why heat and cool a 2,000 sq ft house if a person is only using 1,000 sq ft of it? E.g. someone who bought the house while married with 5 kids but now is a widowed empty-nester. Or a family of 5 and then 4 go away on a 2 week trip. Or a family of 5 that goes away on a 2 week trip and they only want to heat the home enough to keep the water pipes from freezing, which probably is only a limited space within the home. It's wasteful heating and cooling unused rooms.
How about upsizing ductwork so the system can handle 1/2 of the registers being closed?
Can I close my cooling ducts in kitchen and corridor for more cooling in rooms???
Exhaust heat pump , should I close the vents ?
I WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION AND SPECIFICS.
i almost blew up the heater doing this. but the heater was super old, and i got a new one out of it
Cools to much in the summer and that’s a problem in what, an alternate universe
He means the coil(? lol) or whatever it’s called. It freezes and turns into a block of ice and restricts all airflow because there’s a block of ice in the air passageway. Someone needs to do an intro to ac so I can watch it and understand in layman’s terms. I’ve watched like ten videos and finally understand vent = register and that the outside box thing has a fan on top and the aluminum foil-isn vents(? lol) are called an condenser coils if I remember right. Crap, that means that first thing isn’t a coil maybe idk what it’s called but it’s like tubes like a crazy straw by the furnace. Those tubes (and other stuff if it gets out of control) can turn into a giant block of ice and then no air gets through. So yeah, I’m in the too cold in the summer alternate universe 😂😭🤣
It's been asked by others but since there's never an actual professional response, it bears repeating. If air registers aren't meant to be fully closed, why do they have adjustable dampers that rotate into a closed position? 🤡🌎
I have a vent in the garage...looks like the previous owners recently extended it from the existing system. Should I just leave the vent open? (It's a big 2 car garage) I feel like it's just a waste to leave it open since no one really stays there for a long time just for laundry...
By code, there is supposed to be a fire wall between garage and interior of the home. (1" drywall and solid core self closing door). A vent is an illegal opening through that firewall. Also, this pushes air outside of your homes envelope which is replaced with unconditioned outdoor air which must enter your home elsewhere. So yes, seal the vent, permanently.
Should the vent be permanently blocked or go to where the ductwork starts for that run?
I mistakenly pulled the styrofoam from inside an 18000 BTU window ac. Can this be repaired? Where do I buy the styrofoam??
I have close the vents to stop second hand smoke coming in from neighbour upstairs
Can we put small thin filters on vents to filter some dust?
I’m not a HVAC tec but I would assume it’s ok after a HVAC tec checks the pressure in your system . And what type of blower you have . My family always shut vents on little used rooms or as children move out time went on in a 4 bedroom home . The system operated excellent for 62 years then replaced only for adding AC to the home .
I hear you can just get a high efficiency (like super thick) filter and just get a hardcore blower. Just get a regular filter and change it once a month and then the air will already be super clean coming out of the vents. Changing your regular filter often should do the trick:) you can also have all the other stuff cleaned like pros will come clean the vents and you can have them do the furnace and ax unit too. You should clean your ac outside unit at least once a year before you use it anyway. If dust is coming out the vents (registers) you need other components cleaned. Cleaning the rest of the system will give you MUCH cleaner air than trying to filter at the end where the air comes out. There’s lots of videos on how to clean most of it yourself:)
Can I block off my exhaust fan in my apartment? My neighbor smokes cigarettes and pot in her apartment. Especially in her bathroom. She doesn’t know that I can smell it. Management doesn’t care
If this is the case, then why do you clowns install vents that can be closed in the first place?
That’s what I’m thinking too!
just don't close it all the way, leave it open about halfway.
That's a reasonable question, without the "clown." With the "clown" it makes you a random, anonymous creep.
I tend to partially close all my vents in the basement during the AC season. That way, there's still some airflow but the basement doesn't become a meat locker. The ultimate method is to use a flow meter to balance the rooms. That's why the vents have adjustable louvers, I would think. Then again, there's often damper plates inside the pipes. I've never understood why you need a damper plate AND an adjustable vent cover. Why both? Perhaps damper plates were used decades ago when the vent covers didn't come with adjustable louvers and the idea just stuck. I removed all my damper plates and taped up the hole left behind from the screw.
@@DonTrumanno more random or anonymous than you and using clown isn’t creepy it’s just rude. As rude as using creep.
I never knew
so what he said is they did not install the right equipment.
Another thing she has full control upstairs..
The air return is probably upstairs, so if she happens to spray some cleaning spray etc near the air return, it will pass through the furnace and it would blow out your heat vent and all the others pretty quickly.
My power company recommended closing vents in unused rooms to save on energy. So who’s lying? 😂
HAS YOUR BILL GONE LOWER?
It’s not often you go to learn how to do something on RUclips and your told not to do it.
Don’t agree with that at all