Residential Air Flow Balancing
Residential Air Flow Balancing: Why It Matters in Creating More Comfortable Homes
By Steven Rogers, TEC
(Steven Rogers is a mechanical engineer who has been working with instruments and measurements for more than two decades and has specific expertise in measuring flow and in HVAC applications. He joined The Energy Conservatory Inc. in 2015 and became its president in 2017.)
(Published in digital edition of The NEWS, 10/22/18)
Near Minneapolis, the Jones family was having serious comfort issues in their two-story colonial.
Each winter, the upstairs master suite was so cold the owners had to use an electric blanket, while rooms down the hall were too warm. The problem reversed itself in summer, when the master suite overheated and the other bedrooms were too cold. The main level experienced similar issues, with the living room over-conditioned and barely any air reaching the family room.
Comfort problems like these are common in residential HVAC, and can be difficult to diagnose and solve without knowing the air flow of each supply register. Despite challenges of air flow measurement and balancing, this is an essential practice to ensure the long-term comfort and satisfaction of your customers.
The Jones home is an ideal example to demonstrate how residential air flow balancing works, how to overcome challenges and how this practice can benefit your business and customers.