How to Reroute Air Ducts to Open Up a Kitchen

Kitchens get hot, it's a fact. Between ovens, stoves, dishwashers and hot water in the sink, the space you spend most of your waking hours in can become uncomfortably warm. It is nice to have central air conditioning, which cools the air away from the kitchen space and routes it there via ducting in the ceiling or floors. When the kitchen's unbearably hot, you could shut off duct vents throughout the house to direct all the chilled air to the kitchen, but you'd reduce the airflow to other parts of the house, making them uncomfortable in turn. Lucky you: There is a better way.

Ruler
6-inch ribbons
Scissors

Instructions

- 1
  Measure out several pieces of ribbon and cut them exactly to 6 inches with a pair of scissors.
- 2
  Tie an end of each ribbon to the middle of each vent in your house. Then pull the ribbon taut, measure it and cut the ribbon so only 3 inches extends from the vent. When you are done, completely close each vent in the house. This works best with ceiling-mounted vents, but try it with floor vents or wall vents.
- 3
  Go to your thermostat and turn the Fan option to "On." Don't set the thermostat to heat or cool; all you want at this point is airflow.
- 4
  Close all of the vents in the house to their completely closed positions.
- 5
  Walk around and slowly open each vent until the attached ribbon begins to flow at a 45 degree angle -- diagonally, whether the vent is in the ceiling, the wall or the floor.
- 6
  Enter the kitchen and turn the vents to the most open position possible. This vent should be closed initially so that the airflow is dispersed evenly throughout the vents in the rest of the house. By closing these vents initially and then opening them, you get a better overall airflow.
- 7
  Walk around the house and note the current position of all of the ribbons now that you've opened the kitchen vents all the way. Then make tiny adjustments to the rest of the vents to ensure that each vent is blowing the ribbon at approximately the same angle. This method reroutes air through your house so that the majority of the airflow goes into the kitchen.

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