If you own a home, it’s important that you have basic knowledge when it comes to your appliances and technologies. Without knowing the purpose of parts that make up your home, you may have a harder time recognizing issues and resolving problems as they come up. This is especially true when it comes to your air conditioner.
One part of your AC that you may not know much about is the return air vent. Read more below to learn about the purpose of the return air vent and potential problems to watch for.
What is the Purpose of a Return Air Vent?
Return air vents are typically described as an air passageway in a home that work to pump air out of a room and into an AC system. Depending on your home’s layout and structure, your return air vents may be found in the wall, on the ceiling, or in the floor. Since your AC system’s job is to pump air into your home either for cooling or heating, it requires that air be sucked in from somewhere — through your return air vent.
A Return Air Vent Maintains Air Pressure
At one end of your AC system, you have the supply air vents, which bring in cooled or heated air into the rooms of your home. They work to get the temperature of each room to the setting made by the thermostat.
With the addition of more air in your home, there needs to be a way of balancing out the air pressure for optimal home comfort. This is where your return air vent comes in: to suck in air and bring it back into the larger AC system for the cycle to be complete.
A Return Air Vent Filters Airborne Particles
Inside your return air vent is the air filter. This filter works to collect dust, debris, pet hair, and other small particles floating in the air of your home so that it doesn’t continue cycling through the system and out the supply vents. As the air gets sucked through the return air vent, your air becomes cleaner and your indoor air quality improves, leaving you with fresh, particle-free air to breathe.
Return Air Vent Maintenance
One of the most important things you can do for your AC efficiency is to regularly replace or clean your air filter. If the air filter becomes too clogged or dirty, less air will be able to get through the filter and your AC will have to work harder to achieve the same cooling results.
The outside grill of the vent may also become dirty, so be sure to clean that off as well on a regular basis. And since it requires easy access to the air in your home, keep large furniture, drapes and other items away from the return air vents whenever possible.
Return Air Vent Common Problems
Some of the most common issues relating to the return air vent of your AC system include imbalanced room temperatures and higher energy costs. When the doors to many rooms inside your home are closed, it’s harder for the air in one room to get sucked back into the system through the return air vent of another room.
This can lead to higher energy costs because your system will continue to work hard in order to even out the temperatures across the house. If your home doesn’t seem to have enough return air vents, talk with your local AC expert to find out the next steps to take.
Call on Air Experts for Return Air Vent Help
Our technicians at Air Experts are your go-to experts for AC help. With years of experience and highly technical knowledge of your AC’s anatomy, it’s no wonder so many in Texas depend on us for their comfort needs. Call us today or schedule an appointment online!