Skip to content The practice of closing off vents in parts of your home that aren’t being used in order to save money dates back to when homes were heated from a central location, like a fireplace. Back then it worked. Today, homes are equipped with central heating and air conditioning systems which are meant to work at peak efficiency if all vents remain open; shutting vents in areas of the home that aren’t used can actually increase your energy costs, not reduce then. The reason is simple; a modern home’s heating & cooling system is designed to either heat or cool the entire residence, and is sized according to this need. By shutting off a part of the air flow, you increase the air press on the system, which can increase the amount of leakage from the ductwork. In fact, too many vents closed can actually cause your heating & cooling system to malfunction. This is because today’s systems rely on a certain amount of air flow to maintain a certain temperature within them.
