How to Balance the Air Flow of Forced Air Heating

Forced air heating systems are very good for keeping a home warm. They are powered by gas, electricity or oil and do exactly what they are named for: They force hot air from the furnace into different rooms around the house through ducts. The forced air heating system then returns the cold air from the room t the furnace where it can be re-heated.

A common problem that arises when forced air heating is being used is how the heat in different rooms around a house is not uniform. This is due to unbalanced air from from the forced heating system i.e. one room gets more hot air than another. It is usually not due to the furnace and is only because the ducts are not set right in every room. This simple step-by-step process can help you fix that.

Step 1 - Open Ducts and Register

The forced air heating system consists of ducts and registers in each room from which hot air flows out and keeps a room warm. Make sure the furnace is on while you do this as you want warm air to flow into all the rooms for the next steps.

Step 2 – Bring Thermometers to Same Temperature

Do this by laying them together for 30 minutes at room temperature. Once they are all on the same temperature you can move onto the next step.

Step 3 – Fix Thermometers in the Rooms

Take as many thermometers as there are rooms. Go into each room and stick one thermometer on the wall using duct tape not near the duct from where warm air from the forced heating system is coming out. Wait for an hour.

Step 4 – Take Thermometer Readings

After an hour has passed, take thermometer readings in each room while the furnace is still on. If one room shows a higher temperature than the room next to it, close the duct’s damper slightly to reduce hot air flow in that room a little.

Step 5 – Repeat Step for All Rooms

Follow this step for all rooms, fixing the damper on ducts by opening it or closing it slightly until the same temperature is reached in all the rooms on the thermometers. You will have to be patient while this entire thing works out as you work the dampers on the ducts and look for results. Make sure the furnace is on and the thermostat at the same reading during carrying out this whole process.

Step 6 – Finishing and Increasing Warm Air Flow Overall if You Want

If you wish, you can increase the overall warm air-flow of the forced air heating system by turning the pulley clockwise on the blower drive motor.

You should be able to easily balance the air flow of forced air heating yourself if you follow these six simple steps.