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Having inadequate return air in your HVAC system is akin to lungs that can’t exhale.
You may have noticed a weakened airflow from your AC via various tell-tale signs.
An ineffective airflow shows an HVAC that does not distribute air around the house properly.
This could impede the proper working of the system, and your AC may not cool as it normally would.
But how do you deduce if your airflow is weak?
To illustrate, imagine your house requires 1000 CFM of return air.
What if your air conditioner is only able to pump half of it as return air?
There would be obvious airflow problems around your house, right?
An adequate amount of return air in your HVAC ducts ensures that temperature and air pressure are maintained alongside reducing your HVAC expenses.
A professional duct cleaning helps regulate airflow in your home—and at Queens Air Duct Cleaning, we do just that.
In this guide, we cover the various tell-tale signs or symptoms of not enough return air in your AC ducts.
We also discuss certain preventive and curative measures you can undertake to ensure that your HVAC system is functioning properly.
Symptoms Of Not Enough Return Air
While we certainly do not expect you to be carrying around an airflow meter to tell you air pressure in CFM.
Yet there are numerous other symptoms that show that your ducts are not pumping out return air as efficiently as they should.
Keep a look out for these signs below:
Areas In The House That May Be Too Hot Or Too Cold
This is among the major symptoms of not enough return air in your HVAC system.
You may have noticed that even with the AC switched on, certain areas around the house are too warm, as if they are cut off from the air supply.
Similarly, some of the spots in your house could feel excessively cooler.
This could be because of an AC that is not functioning well or air vents that are not adequate for the air supply.
A way to deduce whether the return air has a weaker flow is by assessing the temperatures in rooms close to the HVAC unit as well as those away from the unit.
Those closer would have a higher return air and would thus be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
While those away from the system would have the opposite effect.
Pressure Imbalances Around The House
Ever noticed creaking doors around the house while the SC was switched on?
Or have you been spooked out by doors shutting without human intervention?
Do not worry, it is not a ghost; rather, it is your HVAC system playing mind games with you.
This is because a weak airflow from the vents creates pressure imbalances which can be detected by either measuring the pressure manually or via our ears.
If you feel variations in air pressure around the house, it is time to get your HVAC ducts checked.
Air that IS Too Warm Or Cold
If you have an AC unit that is warming the house instead of cooling it down.
Or if you have a furnace that is cooling your house instead of warming it up.
It could be one of the symptoms of not enough return air in your vents.
However, there could be other reasons for an AC blowing warm air as well, but you should not rule out the possibility of a weak air flow in your vents.
If you are unsure, we suggest an air duct cleaning company in Queens to help you with this dilemma.
Manually Check The Air Supply Directly From The Unit
If you notice any of the symptoms above, we suggest that you manually check the vent for air pressure.
Use a wet finger to help you do this.
You can also lick your finger and place it close to the vent to ascertain whether the pressure is high or less.
This is because the human body can adequately feel velocity differences in the air.
It may not directly tell you the pressure of the outflow, but it can be a good starting point, especially if you are checking your AC ducts yourself.
The Bottom Line
As you may have read, the symptoms of weak airflow are quite straightforward.
However, in case you still feel like your HVAC system is experiencing a weak airflow from the vents and you would like to have a professional check it out.
We recommend reaching out to us at Queens Air Duct Cleaning to put an end to your HVAC woes for once.
We also provide professional duct and vent cleaning services at very affordable rates.
If you want to know more about the symptoms of not having enough return air, we suggest watching this video here.
