By: Jason Peavey October 12, 2022 4 min HVAC The supply vents in your home probably have dampers on them. But should you close them, even if only part of the way? In multi-story homes, some people adjust these dampers during the hottest and coldest times of the year. During summer, they’ll partially or completely close the downstairs dampers so that warmer upstairs rooms get more attention from the air conditioner. When they’re running the furnace in winter, they’ll do the reverse. By closing the upstairs dampers, they reduce the amount of air going to the upper stories and direct additional warm air to colder rooms downstairs. At least, that’s how the thinking goes. But it’s not always that simple. There’s this little problem called “static pressure.” And most HVAC systems already have too much of it. To effectively cool or heat your home, your HVAC system contains a large blower fan that pulls air from return grilles and blows the same (now conditioned) air through supply ducts and,...
