Are Your Ducts Making Your House Hot?

According to the information by James Dulley located at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080727/BUSINESS04/807270481/1017/BUSINESS, the ducting in your house might be one of the problems if your house isn’t staying cool. He suggests checking your ductwork “The walls of the ducts may be losing or gaining heat as the air makes its way from the furnace or central air conditioner to the rooms. A simple method to check this is to hold a thermometer in the register outlet air in each room.” If the temperature is significantly different, there may be a problem with the ducting. One of the solutions is to insulate the ductwork. You can also utilize the grating on the registers. If you open or close the slats you will correspondingly let more or less air into a room. If you need the living room to be cooler, close vents in rooms that you aren’t using. This will push more cool air into the room that you want it in. These are pretty simple fixes to a fairly common problem. The article also suggests some not-so-simple fixes if there is a substantial problem. One option is installing a fan into the ductwork to diffuse the air that can sometimes get ‘caught’ near the duct without circulating in the room. However, these upgrades can be costly and require professional assistance. If I were you, I would try the insulation or even check for leaks before installing a whole other fan. Ducting that makes it way through the attic might also get hot fairly quickly. There are ways to prevent heat from entering your attic – like a whole house fan or putting reflective panels on. This might also help.