Reducing 5 degree temp differential in a high performance home – GreenBuildingAdvisor

After living in our newly built home for nearly 5 months we’ve observed the HVAC system balancing could really be improved.

Is it normal to see a 5 degree temp differential in a high performance home, on the same floor? With triple glazed windows, R40 walls, 0.6 ACH50, I expected it to essentially be perfectly comfortable. The house is basically a 30×40 box.

In reality, on the main floor we notice the HVAC is problematic because it seems poorly balanced. They did the balancing AFTER drywall and I’m almost certain they ignored the engineer’s note to include balancing dampers on every branch. So they really just adjusted the vent dampers to try to balance it, that’s not proper balancing IMO.

The main living space (living and dining open to kitchen) is at the east side of house and has large windows. On hot summer days it is usually about 5 degrees warmer than the other side of the house, where the thermostat is. When we first moved we had a bit of cold weather and it was the same thing, 5 degrees too cold in this area. The duct run to the east side is longer. On the west side of house there is minimal glazing and it’s more utility so the entry area, mudroom, bath, office.

The problem is that when the heat pump is running, you can barely feel airflow in the places we need it most (living and dining) but it’s blasting out from the vent above our mudroom door, in the foyer, and in the office. So with air conditioning working all day in an office is freezing cold, it must be turned off and the rest of the house gets super hot.

Maybe this is normal but I don’t see why we have to live like this. I like precise temp control and to me, when I set the thermostat to say 74 degrees in the summer I expect it to reach that temp like 20 ft away from the thermostat. I don’t want to set my AC to like 69 degrees and have several areas freezing just to get the living space to 74. Likewise, I don’t want to set a thermostat to 78 in the winter just to get the living space 73.

How can I fix this? Can we simply close off the vents or do we need to open the ceiling and properly balance the branches?