Your HVAC system helps maintain adequate temperature and humidity on your property. It works with its supply and returns vents to fill your house with healthy air. So when your return vent is not pulling enough air, it’s going to result in some problems. In this blog, we’ll go through the symptoms of not enough return air from vents.
Why Is Return Air Important?
When you hire HVAC system installation services, it comes with many benefits.
With the help of its supply and return vents, the HVAC system is critical for your property. But for it to work efficiently, you need both vents to give their optimal performance. Return vents, in particular, are important as they offer these advantages:
- Maintains air pressure
- Filters air through air filters
- Help maintain adequate temperature and humidity
- Reduce the HVAC costs on cooling and heating expenses
Symptoms of Not Enough Return Air
You need the optimal performance of the HVAC system to attain the benefits. Thus, you should be alert if the airflow is lower than required. In that case, you can contact an air distribution and balancing service.
Here are some symptoms that’ll show up when there’s not enough return air:
- Hot & Cold Spots
The primary symptom of not enough return air is hot and cold spots. A homeowner will notice that some rooms are hot while others are cold when the return vent is not pulling enough air. It could mean that
there’s an issue with your HVAC system. Moreover, it also indicates that your return air ducts are not the proper size. - Difference in Air Pressure Between the Rooms
Another sign you’ll notice is that the air pressure will vary in your rooms. Therefore, the rooms close to the HVAC unit will receive more return air. In comparison, the rooms further from the HVAC unit will get the lowest amount of air. Consequently, you’ll have different air pressure in other rooms.
Obviously, detecting air pressure is not an easy task. You can either measure it or feel it with your ears.
- Use a Wet Finger to Tell the Air Velocity
You can notice the symptoms of not having enough return air with your finger. Putting a wet finger near the vent generating airflow could help determine if there’s enough. This technique will help you measure air velocity, not airflow. Still, low velocity does hint that the airflow is low as well.
- Air Conditioner is Blowing Warm Air, or the Furnace is Blowing Cold Air
Supply vents and return vents work together. So if one has problems, the other would also have some issues.
The HVAC system should work so your AC blows cold air in the summer. Hence, if your AC is not blowing cold air, there’s something wrong with your HVAC. Similarly, the furnace will start blowing cool air, instead of warm, in winter. There are multiple reasons for this to happen, but insufficient return air is one of them.
What Now?
If you’ve noticed the symptoms of not enough return air, contact the Crump AC & Heating team. We’re just a few digits away at (281) 533-9200. Our address is 535 E Fernhurst Dr #312, Katy, TX 77450, United States. You can find us near Houston, Texas, Painters of Katy.