Your ducts are a series of channels that allow air in your home to be cycled into your heating and cooling system so it can be conditioned and then sent to your home’s various rooms in order to control the temperature. Thus, in a way, your ductwork is kind of like the veins that flow to and from the heart of your home’s climate system, your indoor unit. While this principle may seem simple enough, the size of your ductwork is actually an extremely important factor to take into consideration—ducts that are too small can actually cause problems that waste energy and money or can even cause your system to break down and stop working entirely.
In order to understand why, we need to take a closer look at how your home’s duct network functions. There are two primary sides to your ductwork: a return side, and a supply side. The return side of your ductwork is connected to yourintake vent, which is a vent that actually sucks air back into your heating and cooling system so it can be re-conditioned and then sent back into your home. The supply side are the ducts that allow the conditioned air to travel to the various rooms of your home. Generally, there is just one return vent in your home located somewhat near your indoor unit, but there is a whole series of different supply side ducts leading to vents in the various rooms of your home.
If your ducts are too small, several different things could happen. On the return side, a duct that’s too small isn’t going to be able to provide the amount of air your system demands for optimal operation. Thus, your blower motor is going to have to work harder to keep feeding the air into the system to be treated and then send it back out into the rooms of your home. A harder-working system is one that’s less efficient and wastes more energy, and thus costs more to run. They also tend to break down far more often because of the extra strain on the fan and blower motor.
On the supply side, a duct network that’s too small can’t handle the amount of air being pushed through in order to be fed throughout the home. When these ducts are too small, you could face the same extra strain on your blower motor or fan, as well as other problems including your indoor air conditioning coils freezing over. Furthermore, you could also face issues with indoor air pressure, such as slamming doors, sudden air currents, and more.
For more information about duct sizing or if you need an estimate for having the ducts in your home replaced or repaired, call the San Fernando Valley HVAC experts at Air Products & Services today at (818) 989-2030!