Knowing Where Your Heating Vents Are Could Save Your Life!

It’s that time of year again. Time to bring out the winter wardrobe and stock up on hot chocolate. More importantly, have you checked your furnace lately? Have you checked your heating vents? Do you even know where they are?

We often neglect the vents that distribute warm air throughout our homes. However, the heating vents are an integral part of your heating system, so it is essential to check them before winter arrives to ensure they are damage-free and dirt free.

The location of your vents depends on the configuration of your home and type of heating system you have. Here we will explain the different types of heating systems and where their vents are usually located, making it much easier for you to resolve minor issues relating to your heating vents on your own.

Distribution Systems & Their Vents

The vents in your home are literally what keeps every room in your home warm and comfortable. They do this by circulating warm air around your home in one of three ways:

By forced-air, radiant heat, or gravity. A conventional vent system evenly dispenses warm comfort to all rooms in the house. Vents should be the right size for the home and sealed properly.

Gravity Systems

All heating systems generally keep a building warm by distributing warm air throughout the space, and they do so in different ways. For example, gravity furnaces use gravity to move air within rooms, instead of flowing air through the vents. Warm air is sent through ductwork to the top level of the house using the qualities of gravity. Hot air will exit the vents while traveling up into the house releasing warm air into the different rooms.

You can usually find the furnace of a gravity system near or below the floor, as it sends warm air up through the ducts to the vents on the floor. If the furnace on the top floor, however, you will find the vents installed above on the walls.

Forced-Air Systems

The blower in forced-air systems pushes warm air through the vents in the house. When warm air enters each room, cold air will then flow through a different vent to the boiler or furnace to be heated. Forced-air systems can be modified to raise or lower the amount of warm air that is carried to the home.

Forced-air systems offer superior energy efficiency and improve the indoor air quality inside. They are also convenient because they can use the same ductwork to dispense both cold or hot air.

Radiant Heating Systems

Radiant heating systems use hot water as the heat source. They heat air with a furnace. The heated air then travels through ducts under the floor, inside walls, or in the ceiling. These complex systems are energy efficient because they avoid loss due to cracks and other damage in the ducts. People with respiratory issues prefer radiant heating because it doesn’t distribute air throughout the home like other heating systems.

Why You Should Know Where Your Vents Are

Do you know where your heating vents are? This is the first step to keeping them clean.

Clean and clear heating vents are an absolute must. Modern heating systems will have pipes coming out the top of the system.

An exhaust vent covered in snow will allow exhaust gases, like carbon monoxide (CO) to be sucked back into the house. CO gases are hazardous and harmful for people and pets to breathe.

You Don’t Save Money by Closing Vents

Many people mistakenly believe that closing off the vents to certain rooms will reduce their energy bill. The truth is that closing some vents will change the amount of air your system is expected to handle.

This can lead to high energy costs and even total system failure. Your HVAC system is intended to produce a particular amount of air depending on the size of your house.

During construction, the vents were deliberately installed so the amount of air leaving the vents is equal to the air entering the return vents. If you close the vents in a room, you diminish your system’s overall performance.

Call Daniels Heating and Air, LLC in Albuquerque, NM for information about heating vents and how they can affect your monthly energy costs. They will gladly answer any questions and discuss your heating and cooling options.