.
When the weather is hot, you expect your air conditioner to keep you cool and comfortable. However, a common problem with air conditioners is weak AC air flow—the air conditioner is working by cooling the air, but the conditioned air is not reaching its destination.

Remember – Heat Rises, Cold Air Falls
Two and three-storey houses often have more challenges getting air conditioned air to the top of the house. Naturally, air conditioned air wants to stay in the lowest parts of your home. It takes good design and knowledge of air flow to get this right. If you’re having consistent problems, try running your furnace fan 24/7 as this often helps. If not, read on and then call an Air Flow Specialist to assess your system design.

Check your filter!
With most heating and cooling complaints, the first place to check is your air filter. The AC unit often requires the maximum output from the blower in your furnace or air handler. It doesn’t take long for a filter to clog up when you’re pushing that much air through the system. It pays to use a good filter and it pays to ensure it’s stays maintained.

Ensure Registers and Dampers are Open
If there are certain rooms in your home that have weak (or no) airflow, ensure that the room registers are open and the dampers are in the “ON” position. The dampers control air flow from the plenum to the registers. Sometimes they can mistakenly be turned to the “OFF” position, restricting AC air flow.

Improper Duct Size
If your registers and dampers are open, one of the most common reasons for weak AC air flow is improperly sized ductwork or poor system design. The wrong sized ducts can prevent proper airflow and decrease your air conditioner’s overall efficiency.

Insufficient Returns
Air returns pull air from the room and deliver back to the HVAC system—ensuring fresh air is being circulated throughout the home. Not having enough returns in the proper locations can result in poor air flow. Often, we’ll see missing registers in additions and home renovations where the building contractor did not use an HVAC professional to ensure there was adequate ducting, returns and registers.

Ignoring Annual Maintenance
It’s extremely important to have your unit serviced yearly to ensure it’s running at its peak efficiency. During an annual service call, a cooling specialist will clean your AC unit and inspect it to make sure all the parts are working correctly. Making small adjustments at the beginning of the summer can drastically improve your air conditioner air flow that will, in turn, increase your home comfort.

Ensuring your air conditioner has proper air flow will increase your comfort, increase efficiency and decrease monthly hydro bills.  

At Delta Air Systems, our approach has always been to listen first. We focus on fully understanding our customer’s needs and then developing practical and cost-effective furnace or air conditioning solutions.

Schedule your service call today to have a professional heating and cooling specialist assess your unit.

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with HVAC tips, tricks and our latest promotions!