Good airflow is essential for keeping your house comfortable. However, depending on the size of a room, it can be difficult to achieve. How does room size affect airflow? How do you ensure the correct airflow for your room size? Here's what you need to know.
The Right Airflow
How much air does your HVAC system produce, and is it enough to heat or cool your home? Airflow is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). How many CFM need to circulate through a room in order to make it comfortable? Larger rooms will need more CFM, while smaller rooms will need less. Therefore, if you have uniform airflow throughout your home, it can cause problems.
In a larger room, you might not have enough CFM to heat or cool the room properly. As a result, your system can become overworked, requiring too much energy to meet the room's needs. On the other hand, if your CFM is too high for your room size, it can cause ventilation problems. Too much air results in too little ventilation, which in turn causes high humidity. The excess moisture in the air can then lead to mold and mildew, as well as other problems.
Getting the Right CFM for Your Room Size
How much airflow do you need for a given room in your house? Your HVAC technician can help you measure your CFM and determine if it's too much, too little, or just right for your room size. Particularly if you have drastically different airflow needs across different rooms, you might consider investing in a zoning system.
A zoning system outfits each room with its own thermostat and provides air according to a room's individual heating and cooling needs. With a variable-speed air handler, it can simultaneously provide a higher CFM for larger rooms and a lower CFM for smaller ones, reducing humidity problems and saving energy. Talk to your HVAC technician about HVAC zoning in your home.
To learn more about how room size affects airflow, contact us at Air Assurance. We help make Broken Arrow homes efficient and comfortable.