If you have a combined heating and cooling system and need to decide between placing the return vents high or low, consider your climate. If you live in cooler climates, it might be wise to install them towards the floor, whereas if you reside in warmer areas, they should ideally be installed close to the ceiling.
Up High: having an air return higher up on a wall will be better at sucking in hot air that rises. Making it more efficient at transferring this hot air back into your system to repeat the cooling cycle. Down Low: if you have your air return lower on your wall it will function better as a cold air return.
Should Return Air Vents Be Open Or Closed In Winter? Once again, NEVER close a return air vent. If you have operable cold air SUPPLY vents in your home, you can close upper supply air vents and keep lower return air vents open in the winter to keep your home cozy while allowing your heating system to work efficiently.
Hot air rises and cool air sinks. Therefore, opening the right return vents in the summer and winter significantly improves the distribution of air by your forced-air system. You'll also enjoy more even heating and cooling throughout your home. In the summer, open your high returns and close the low ones.
Conversely, in the Winter heating season, you will want to pull the coldest air back to the furnace to be warmed and create circulation. In these months, you'll want the lower air return open and the upper air return closed.
You want to pull in the colder air so vents should face the floor! What if they are closer to the ground? Either way is fine, but aiming upwards looks better because you see less contrast between wall and grille.
Leaving crawl space vents open in the winter allows cold air to enter, making your heating system work overtime to maintain warm indoor temperatures. Sealing crawl space vents enhances energy efficiency and may reduce energy bills, saving money and reducing strain on your HVAC system.
One way to help combat this problem is to modify your cold air return ducts for better airflow. Whenever possible, expand your existing ducts vertically by cutting out pieces of wallboard and installing a new cover and air filter to fit.
If you prioritize heating, put the HVAC and vents in (or below) the floor. This principle works for return heating vents as well. Place returns for cooling in the ceiling where the warm air congregates and heating returns in or near the floor where the cold air congregates.
Symptoms include weak airflow and uneven cooling or heating throughout your home, with some rooms feeling much cooler or warmer than others. Homeowners should regularly check vents for consistent airflow. If you notice a significant drop in air pressure or uneven temperatures, it could indicate return air issues.
To maintain an even temperature throughout the room, return air vents should ideally be positioned higher on the walls or near the ceiling to capture the rising warm air effectively.
A second return duct can lower static pressure if the airflow bottleneck is on the return side. If the static is on the supply side, adding a second return will do nothing. So it's usually a good idea.
We recommend keeping vents and interior doors open as much as possible for the best airflow. If comfort is an issue, try closing certain vents partially.
The warm, less dense air rises while the cooler, more dense air sinks down. At home you may ask, “Does cold air rise or sink?”. The answer is cold air sinks.
When vents are placed near the ceiling, air is able to more freely circulate throughout the room. Furniture is also less likely to obstruct the flow of air. This allows your home's heating and cooling system to make each space more comfortable while improving your energy efficiency along the way.
For your furnace to run efficiently and your home to heat evenly, this airflow must be in balance. In other words, the amount of air that your furnace “breathes in” must equal the amount of air it “breathes out.” Cold air returns are what allow your furnace to “inhale” your home's air.
The floor location allows the system to pull in the coolest air in the room for heating. If you were living in a more tropical climate, you would want to do the opposite to focus on removing warm air near the ceiling to cool it before recirculating it.
The return vents in your home help equalize the pressure that changes as your HVAC system heats or cools your home. These vents should never be fully closed because closing them off restricts airflow and strains the system.
Does Every Room Need Air Return Grilles? While it is a myth that air return grilles are required in each and every room in the house, it is definitely necessary to have more than one of these grilles installed at strategic places in the house. The most important place to have these would be the bedroom.
Dirty filters, leaky ducts, and poor insulation can cause cold return vents. Leaky ducts often cause cold air to blow even after cranking the heat up. 20-30% of air, especially hot air, is lost because of leaky ducts. Cracked, holey ductwork needs sealing or replacement.
Restrictive vents or grills: A vent that isn't the right size or shape can make a ton of unwanted noise. Some vents aren't made very well and have very narrow openings for air to enter or have vents that fall closed easily, which means that the HVAC system or furnace has to work super hard to get enough return air.
Placing the return air vent up high allows for quicker and more thorough air exchange. Think of it as the flash mob that rescues the guest with a swift getaway dance.
If it's cold outside and your vents are located near the ceiling, then you need to point the vents downward. Your goal is to increase the circulation of air inside each room as much as possible.
Today the consensus is that crawl space ventilation is not only unnecessary, but actually increases moisture in the crawl space. Open crawl space vents allow warm, moist air to enter and condense on cooler surfaces, creating moisture.
Keep your home ventilated
Open windows at least once a day, keep window trickle vents open, and air vents uncovered. It's important that air can move through your home as ventilation is one of the best ways to avoid mould, as flowing air means spores can't settle somewhere and absorb water.