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Dulley's Money-Saving Tip #1140

Adjust duct damper baffles for heating position

(related column topic links - 890, 899)

Most central furnace/air conditioner ducts have dampers in them somewhere near the furnace. Although most people never notice or use them, their purpose is to control the flow of heated and cooled air that goes to various rooms in your home. This is called balancing the air flow throughout the house for even heating or cooling.

If you have adjusted them to get more cool air to hard-to-cool rooms, you will probably have to readjust them for heating. MARK the cooling position of the baffle adjustment handle on the duct so you can quickly adjust them again next summer. Hard-to-cool rooms, that require the duct damper to be fully opened in the summer are usually the warmest rooms in the winter too. This means that you will have to partially close the ducts to these rooms and open the dampers fully to other rooms. Don't be surprised if it takes several days in the winter to get the damper adjusted properly for even heating