Should You Keep Doors Open or Closed When Using Your AC?

Hot weather is a part of life in Southern California, so most LA County area homes have air conditioning. If you’re a local, you’ve grown up with AC available at home, in stores and restaurants, and in other indoor areas in your community, but have you ever considered whether you’re using your home cooling system effectively? For example, do you know whether to keep your bedroom doors open or closed for your AC to work best? 

At Fleetwell Air Conditioning, Heating, and Plumbing, our licensed and experienced HVAC technicians are knowledgeable in many air conditioner makes and models and know how to make your system work best within your unique home layout. Along with repairs, AC maintenance, and installation, we also provide in-home assessments to determine whether you’re getting the most out of your air conditioner. We’ll check the unit size and efficiency, check for issues like broken parts, inefficiencies, or mold in the AC, look at your vents and your home setup, and give you recommendations to improve the way your air conditioner works. 

In this article, we’ll explore the best practices for using air conditioning systems and provide home cooling tips and tricks to ensure you get the most cooling power from your AC. Your in-home air comfort is in good hands with Fleetwell. 

Effects of Open Doors on AC Efficiency

Your air conditioning efficiency is affected by a lot of factors, including:

• Maintenance: Your AC needs regular cleaning and tune-ups to run at its best.
• Ductwork condition: Leaky or damaged ducts allow cold air to escape before all rooms in the house are cooled.
• Thermostat settings: Turning the thermostat down too far wastes energy without cooling the space any faster.
• AC system size: If the AC is too small for your home, it’ll struggle to meet your needs. It may short cycle if it’s too big, wasting energy without keeping your house evenly cooled.
• SEER Rating: A low Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating means the AC will use more energy to cool your space effectively. A system with a higher SEER rating offers better overall efficiency.

Along with all these factors, you can also affect the efficiency of your air conditioning system by how you position your house’s interior doors. When you keep all the doors open, the air pressure stays balanced in every room, and the cooled air is distributed evenly throughout the home.

Depending on the size of your house, your cooling preferences, the state of your ductwork, and the AC setup, keeping doors open might be beneficial. However, it may also allow the cooled air to escape and make your system work harder than necessary to keep your home at your desired temperature. Below, we’ll explore the pros and cons of keeping doors closed.

Benefits of Closed Doors With AC

Many people believe that closing interior doors while running the air conditioner is beneficial. They believe that closing the door to trap cooled air inside maximizes AC cooling in a specific room. 

While closing your interior doors might seem the best solution to cool a room and may even work for a short while, it’s not recommended. In reality, closing doors in your home causes poor airflow and may increase the temperature in the room over time. Simply put, for cold air to have space to come into the room, the warmer air needs to leave. 

One of the only times closing interior doors makes sense to improve cooling is if there are rooms in your house you don’t use. For example, if you don’t need to keep a spare bedroom or storage space cool, you may want to close off the room completely. Shut the doors, and close the dampers so cooled air doesn’t get in. 

Impact on Airflow and Cooling

Your air conditioner is a complex system designed to cool your whole house. When you close interior doors, the air becomes trapped inside, raising the air pressure and potentially wasting cold air as it is forced out through cracks, windows, and poorly insulated areas. 

At the same time, the air return vent pulls air in from wherever it can, causing negative pressure in other parts of the house and bringing more outdoor air into your home’s ventilation system. This brings in allergens, mold, pollutants, and humidity, worsening your indoor air quality.

Closed doors also impede airflow, making rooms feel stuffy or uncomfortable. Over time, keeping the doors closed will raise your energy bills and put undue pressure on the air conditioning system to work harder than it should, as air in the closed rooms can’t circulate through the rest of the house. This is easily remedied by opening the doors to encourage proper ventilation.

Key Areas To Keep Closed For Effective Cooling

We’ve discussed that the best way to keep your entire home evenly cooled is by keeping interior doors open to encourage airflow. That said, you should keep some key areas closed to encourage maximum AC effectiveness. These include:

Unused rooms

Installing an effective damper system into your HVAC means you can close off certain sections of the home and redirect airflow. If you’re not using a room in your house, close the doors and dampers so AC isn’t unnecessarily wasted. Restricting all airflow to these unused areas of the house will increase your system’s energy efficiency.

Windows 

Keep windows closed while the AC is running. Use caulk or weatherstripping around all your home’s windows and window coverings to keep heat and sunlight out to maximize your air conditioner’s performance. 

Exterior doors

Keeping doors to the outside closed will keep outdoor air out and cool, conditioned air in. Sealing all the gaps under and around the doors will prevent drafts and lower your energy bills while running the AC.

Contact Fleetwell For Your In-Home Cooling Efficiency Assessment

When you choose Fleetwell for a professional assessment of your home’s cooling efficiency, you’ll receive expert opinions and recommendations on the best way to set up your AC system to keep your house comfortable without wasting energy. Our licensed, experienced HVAC technicians will look at your air conditioner, your vent setup, and your home layout to help you tweak your system to save you money while keeping your home at the perfect temperature year-round. 

Along with assessments, we also provide:

• Maintenance services, so you can have your system cleaned and tuned up so it’s ready to work hard all summer. 
• Repairs, with fast, professional help solving any air conditioner issue, from a loose belt to a whole system overhaul.
• Replacements, for when it’s time to upgrade your old system to a modern, efficient model.
• Help finding deals and tax rebates so you can get more for your money.
• Thermostat calibration and repairs, keeping your system accurate.
• Air duct cleaning and replacement services for quality airflow. 
• Heating system repairs, maintenance, and installation.
• And more.

We’re here for all your HVAC needs. If you’re in our California service area, call us today or use our online calendar to schedule service now.