How to Adjust the Damper on a Forced Hot Water Boiler
A forced air hot water boiler heats the air of a building and then sends it out into the ventilation ducts with a fan. Dampers are paddle-like deflectors built into vents that are used to direct the air through them. During the summer months, a damper will need to be opened in order to send the cold air-conditioned air up to the second floor. Dampers can be adjusted with a lever or a screwdriver, depending on the model. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Look for the small dampers located in the heating and cooling duct system in the basement of the building. They are typically located where a round-shaped supply duct connects to a rectangular-shaped main duct.
-
2
Inspect the dampers. They will have small 1/4-inch threaded rods held in place with either wing nuts or a lever.
-
-
3
Adjust the damper for winter by moving the lever up to fully open the damper. For a vent damper with threaded rods and wing nuts, loosen the wing nuts by turning them counterclockwise three to four turns with your fingers. Insert a screwdriver into the screwdriver slot on each threaded rod. Turn each threaded rod clockwise with the screwdriver to make the slot parallel to the direction of the duct to fully open the damper. Tighten the wing nuts with your fingers.
-
4
Adjust the damper for summer air conditioning by fully opening all of the second floor dampers in the vent. Close the dampers that lead to the first floor halfway by moving the lever or turning each threaded rod slot with a screwdriver to rest at a 45-degree angle from where it started. Closing the first floor dampers halfway directs the air to the second floor, which requires more cooling as heat rises to the top of the building.
-
1
