4 Potential Causes Of A Room That Doesn'T Seem To Heat Properly

Uneven heating in different rooms of a home is a fairly common phenomenon, especially in older homes. The good news here is that it may not take the intervention of an HVAC repair person to get this problem corrected. If you have a room in your home that suffers from chronic chilliness, read on. This article will present four possible fixes within the grasp of most homeowners.

Register is closed.

As always, it is best to check the simplest possibility first. Here that means checking to make sure the register is open. In case you don't know, the register is the rectangular, slatted sheet of metal through which hot air enters from the ducts. Many people close registers in seldom used rooms to decrease heating costs--only to forget to open those registers again when the room is in use.

Register is blocked.

Just as a closed register will keep heat from entering a room, so will a register that is blocked by furniture. To reduce the likelihood of this happening, many newer homes feature registers that are near the tops of walls. Registers in older homes, however, are often found at the base. Thus, be sure to check that there isn't a bed or couch blocking the flow of heat into the room.

Furnace dampers are closed.

Now that you've verified that the registers are okay, it's time to move on to the bigger picture. That means heading to the basement to ensure that the furnace dampers are all open. Like registers, dampers are used to control the flow of hot air except that they are responsible for larger sections of the house. You should be able to find the damper handles on the ductwork leading out of your furnace. If the handles are parallel to the duct, the dampers are open.

Furnace filter needs to be replaced.

While you're down in the basement, there's another easy check you can do: inspect your furnace filter. This simple piece of equipment is responsible for keeping dirt and other unwanted debris from choking up the blower motor. Just like the air filter in your car, a furnace filter has to be replaced periodically. An overly dirty filter will not only affect heating efficiency and air pressure, but over time it may even lead to your furnace overheating and blowing out.

Be sure to visually inspect your filter every two months during seasons of heavy furnace use. If it appears excessively dirty and choked with dust, invest a few dollars in a new filter. This will likely do wonders for increasing the effectiveness of your furnace--and for ensuring hot air makes it all the way to that chilly room!

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