To Close or Not to Close Vents in Rooms You Don’t Use – That is the Question

You’ve probably heard there are ways to cut heating and cooling costs, like closing off the vents in rooms that are seldom used. That’s what your grandparents did, so there must be something to it, right?

5 HVAC Hoax-Busters: Shutting the Vents

It’s frustrating when you discover a Facebook post is a hoax. If there were a “Snopes” for HVAC customers, one of the deceptions revealed would be that closing off vents and shutting room doors doesn’t save energy or money and can do just the opposite. Here’s the truth:

1. Modern HVAC systems use pressurized forced-air to heat your home. Shutting vents skews the way the HVAC system “breathes.” That makes the entire system work even harder, trying to equalize your heating and cooling air distribution balance.
2. Closing vents can damage your HVAC system’s blower. Whether you have a PSC (permanent split capacitor) or ECM (electronically commutated motor), each one strains to overcome air deprivation in the rooms where you’ve shut the vents.
3. Air conditioning evaporator coils can “freeze up” and break as they work harder to compensate for blocked airflow.
4. Your heater’s heat exchanger can overheat and crack as it struggles to force more warm air into your home.
5. The process – heating up or cooling down – will take longer (and cost more).

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