If you have a forced air furnace and central air conditioning system, you will have air ducts hidden in your walls. These ducts are connected from the HVAC system to the rooms in your home through register vents. In addition, your rooms should have return air vents in them. The return air vents are vital for your HVAC system, and here are several things you should know about them.
The Purpose of Return Air Vents
During the summer, you probably run your central AC system every day to stay cool, and each time you turn the thermostat on you probably expect the system to work. As long as everything is working properly, your system will work to provide cool air for your home.
To do this, the system pulls in warm air from your house. It then extracts the heat from the air and sends the cooled air into your home. For this to happen, your system must be able to pull in used air from your home, and this used air reaches the system through your return air vents.
This process is continually happening when your AC system is running. The system produces cool air and sends it into the rooms in your home. As the cool air is forced into the rooms, the warmer air is forced into the return air ducts, and this process keeps occurring as long as the system is running.
Why You Should Keep Them Clean
Unfortunately, the AC process can be disrupted if the return air vents are not functioning properly. The main thing that can go wrong with this process is that the return air vents might get clogged with dust and debris. If this happens, they are not able to keep pushing recycled, warm air to the furnace. If the furnace cannot get enough air, it may have trouble cooling your house. In addition, a lack of airflow can cause an AC system to freeze up.
If you have never had your return air vents cleaned, you might want to consider having this done. Any dust and debris in your air vents will get transferred throughout your entire house, and this means your HVAC system might be contaminating the air inside your home.
Signs They Are Dirty
If your system is not cooling your house enough, take a peek at your return air vents. If you see dust on the outside of the covers, these vents might be clogged. You can also remove the covers to get a better look inside. If you can see debris in the vents, they might be too clogged to supply air to your system. You can try cleaning them yourself if you have a vacuum with an attachment. If this does not help, you should contact a company that offers HVAC services.
If they are dirty and you do not clean them out, you may end up spending a lot of money trying to cool your house. Your system will have a very hard time keeping up with your cooling needs if it is dirty. In addition, dirty air vents often mean that the furnace itself is also dirty. The dust and debris that is forced into the return air vents can often end up inside the HVAC system, and this too can cause problems with a system.
If you are having problems with your AC system, you should call a company that offers AC repairs. They can diagnose and fix the problem for you, and this will help you get cooler faster. Call today to schedule an appointment with a skilled HVAC service company in your city.
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