Does Closing Vents Save Energy?
From when I was a child, my parents would close off several vents in our house in order to prevent cold or warm air from going to areas of our house that we weren’t occupying. Just the other day, I was recommended to close my vents to save on my energy bills. I was excited to write about this topic since it seemed like a legitimate way to save additional energy, so I did some research on if you can really save on energy on closing your vents.
After doing some research on this topic, I found so many varying opinions on this topic. On some websites, they will have you believe that closing off most of the vents in your home will continue to save you money. Others warn from closing any of the vents in your home says that most homes may actually use more energy. Logical thinking would lead you to believe that the more vents you close, more cold/warm air will go to the rooms with vents still open. It turns out that neither method is fully correct.
Various forums and sources on the topic seem to agree with a mixture of both arguments above. It’s seems ok to close a few vents in most home, but closing too many vents could actually increase you energy use and possibly cause damage to a home’s heating or air conditioning system. That’s pretty scary that you could do such damage by simply closing your home’s vents.
To answer the original question in the title…well, I’m actually not really sure how to answer the question. You should be able to save money by closing your vents if you only close off a few and be sure to be extremely careful. Something that may seem so harmless on the surface though could actually be extremely costly in the end. So before deciding to close off too many of the vents in your home, I would consult with a professional. It’s better to be safe than sorry in this situation.
If you are a heating/air conditioning expert or have talked with a professional on this topic, please share your thoughts on this topic.
Comments
I wouldnt think it would save energy, or not enough to make it worth doing. It just seems like it increases the pressure to the open vents.
-Jack
Well I try to keep vents closed that are not being used. I think in the long run this can help you save energy and money.
I have always thought that closing the vents would re-direct that cool or warm air to other rooms with vents open myself. My whole family has always done this. I hope its not an old wives tale.
This topic/question sounds like a good question to be answered by the MythBusters! Have you ever seen that show? Maybe we should submit this topic to them =D
Till then,
Jean
I may have to see if they have already one an episode on this one or if I should submit it as a show idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
You’re welcome! I am curious to see this myself, hehe =D If you don’t find it, be sure to plug you’re blog on your entry submission
Till then,
Jean
I think it such nice suggestion have given by used tires. You must consider on it.
Very very interesting! I too was raised with the idea that closing vents would help save some money and energy, but this actually opens a whole new can of worms to say the least!
I’ll be looking back here to see if you get any more info!
Usually, yes, but you must use common sense in selecting which registers to shut off. Rooms that have exposed plumbing or may have plumbing in the walls should be heated. You must also be careful about shutting doors.
If you close off a few bedrooms that aren’t being used, there should be no problem at all. Just be sure to close the doors to the rooms that you aren’t using, or there won’t be much difference. The problem begins when the room where the thermostat is located has it’s vents closed. This causes the thermostat to register below desired temperature and continue pumping heat into rooms that are open, using more money than you would have in the first place. One suggestion is to place the thermostat in a room that you always want to keep warm; living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc.
In a 2003 study done by Lawrence Berkley Laboratory their findings were that if you close off registers closest to the air handler the loss is that you are using more energy than you would leaving them open. The study showed that if you close the registers farthest from the air handler you could save a minimal amonunt of energy. The study also warns that there is a fine line there because this can easily damage your equipment (crack the heat exchanger or freezing your evaporator coils) and from a safety stand point a crack in the heat exchange can kill an entire family. . .