air conditioning in two-story house
MarieD
hot in the summertime. It doesn't even feel like cold air is coming out of
the vents if the temperatures go above 85F outside. Fans do NOT help. We
were told to check in the attic to see if the cold air is leaking out
somewhere up there. When the temps are getting up to 100F, it's just about
unbearable upstairs. Does anyone have any ideas? Saturday my husband is
going to go into the attic to check for leaks.
I have tried keeping the doors closed upstairs, and also keeping them all
open. Neither makes a difference. And I do block the windows from letting
the sun through. btw the windows are new, double-paned, supposed to be good
at keeping the air from leaking in/out.
--
Marie
~The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of
tolerance comes when we are in the majority.~
Ralph W. Sockman
Walter
news:dWxhk.4414$KI7....@newsfe08.iad:
> We have a two-story house, and one a/c unit. The upstairs
> rooms are terribly hot in the summertime. It doesn't even feel
> like cold air is coming out of the vents if the temperatures
> go above 85F outside. Fans do NOT help. We were told to check
> in the attic to see if the cold air is leaking out somewhere
> up there. When the temps are getting up to 100F, it's just
> about unbearable upstairs. Does anyone have any ideas?
> Saturday my husband is going to go into the attic to check for
> leaks.
>
> I have tried keeping the doors closed upstairs, and also
> keeping them all open. Neither makes a difference. And I do
> block the windows from letting the sun through. btw the
> windows are new, double-paned, supposed to be good at keeping
> the air from leaking in/out.
Can you afford a swamp cooler? Mine is set in the middle of
my upper floor. Works great.
Do you use your fans to pull the hot air out of the upper floor to
the outside
James
Attic fan to lower temperature of attic and more attic insulation to
keep the heat from coming into the house. Close downstair vents so
all cool air goes through upstair vents. I doubt cold air is leaking
out up there since cold air drifts lower and hot air raises.
Downstairs are usually cooler than upstairs. You might have to get
some kind of vent fans for the upstair fans to help draw the cool air
upstairs if closing the downstair vents don't work.
hchi...@hotmail.com
>We have a two-story house, and one a/c unit. The upstairs rooms are terribly
>hot in the summertime. It doesn't even feel like cold air is coming out of
>the vents if the temperatures go above 85F outside.
In general, a single AC won't properly cool the second story of a two
story house. Cold air is denser, and sinks. Hot air is less dense,
so any hot air from below rises to replace it. This is the exact
opposite of the positive effects of heating a first floor. When
heating, the second story can be more comfortable and secure than the
first one, hence the Brit nobles tending to live on the second floor,
or the French living on the second floor but calling it the first
floor, the use of basements, etc.. You'll likely need a second AC
just for the upper floors if the situation is as bad as you describe.
Lou
"MarieD" <a...@123.com> wrote in message
news:dWxhk.4414$KI7....@newsfe08.iad...
> We have a two-story house, and one a/c unit. The upstairs rooms are
terribly
> hot in the summertime. It doesn't even feel like cold air is coming out of
> the vents if the temperatures go above 85F outside. Fans do NOT help. We
> were told to check in the attic to see if the cold air is leaking out
> somewhere up there. When the temps are getting up to 100F, it's just about
> unbearable upstairs. Does anyone have any ideas? Saturday my husband is
> going to go into the attic to check for leaks.
>
> I have tried keeping the doors closed upstairs, and also keeping them all
> open. Neither makes a difference. And I do block the windows from letting
> the sun through. btw the windows are new, double-paned, supposed to be
good
> at keeping the air from leaking in/out.
>
same vents as the furnace. Cold air is heavier and denser than warm air,
and a fan that's adequate for blowing hot air around the house in the winter
may be too weak to deliver sufficient cold air in the summer.
Have you checked that the ducts are clean and haven't been closed off?
I had this problem when I first moved into my house. I bought a few vent
booster fans for the upstairs. They sit on top of the floor vents and plug
into an electrical outlet. When the air conditioning starts blowing cold
air, a temperature sensor in the booster notices and turns on the fan,
increasing the air flow several fold. These things cost $10-$20 each, and
they made a big difference in my house.
They can be adjusted for heat or cool - in the winter, the upstairs office
is the room furthest away from my furnace, and it was always chilly. Using
one of these fans in that room in the winter made a world of difference.
On the off chance that your house is similar to mine - I have a two car
garage that's built into the house. A couple of bedrooms are located above
the garage. The first summer I was here, those bedrooms were hot as all get
out in the evening. I stopped putting the cars in the garage at night and
parked in the driveway instead. A car that's been running a while gives off
a lot of heat after it's turned off, and that heat has to go somewhere.
That simple change dropped the evening temperature in those two rooms at
least 10 degrees. And of course, when the weather turns cool, the cars get
parked in the garage so that heat helps warm things up.
MarieD
news:4886a433$0$13880$8f2e...@news.shared-secrets.com...
> Can you afford a swamp cooler? Mine is set in the middle of
> my upper floor. Works great.
I actually had to look that one up to see what it was. If I found the right
thing, it puts humidity into the air? The air here is extremely humid (I am
in South Carolina and summers here are really nasty) and to put more in it
would make it worse.
> Do you use your fans to pull the hot air out of the upper floor to
> the outside
No, the idea of even opening the windows right now sounds awful! I use
bedroom fans in the rooms to try and help move the air around.
Marie
MarieD
news:srhi-70D22F.0...@newsgroups.comcast.net...
> Its impossible to make specific recommendations about this problem
> without the slightest idea of where in the world you live or the
> construction of your home.
I understand, but I figured I could get general ideas about what to look
for. I did get some good ideas!
You and your husband should probably talk
> with neighbors to see what they recommend, as presumably they are in the
> same situation as you. You also might be better off consulting with a
> specialist in that area who knows how to check for these things. Ask
> your neighbors for a recommendation.
We have the only two story home in my immediate area and many of the houses
on my street are doublewides.
Marie
MarieD
news:4c39a70b-e3e2-4e2d...@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
<<Attic fan to lower temperature of attic and more attic insulation to
keep the heat from coming into the house. Close downstair vents so
all cool air goes through upstair vents. I doubt cold air is leaking
out up there since cold air drifts lower and hot air raises.
Downstairs are usually cooler than upstairs. You might have to get
some kind of vent fans for the upstair fans to help draw the cool air
upstairs if closing the downstair vents don't work.>>
Thank you! We just bought this house back in the winter, and with this being
our first summer in it, we just discovered this problem. Today, we actually
went into the attic and realized the insulation is majorly insufficient.
Then, my husband decided to take one of the vents off the ceiling, and the
ductwork wasn't even connected right and was angled to where the air was
blowing into the attic! No wonder it's been so freaking hot. We went through
the whole house, and found 4-5 rooms where this was the case. Shoddy
ductwork. So those were fixed, and we are planning to close off some of the
downstairs vents. Thanks for the suggestions!
The previous owners had bought and "flipped" this house. We've had to go
over alot of plumbing problems, and now the ducting(i am not sure of the
terminology). Alot of the electrical wiring is backwards and their painting
and carpentry had been pretty bad. I am shocked that someone got paid for
doing such shitty work as this.
Marie
MarieD
news:OLPhk.355$X2.208@trnddc03...
> I had this problem when I first moved into my house. I bought a few vent
> booster fans for the upstairs. They sit on top of the floor vents and
> plug
> into an electrical outlet. When the air conditioning starts blowing cold
> air, a temperature sensor in the booster notices and turns on the fan,
> increasing the air flow several fold. These things cost $10-$20 each, and
> they made a big difference in my house.
Thanks for the suggestion. We went through the house today and fixed alot of
the problem (it's our first summer here, and it wasn't something we thought
to look at in the wintertime, see my other posts). If those don't make it
well enough, we will look into the booster fans. The vents are on the
ceiling.
> They can be adjusted for heat or cool - in the winter, the upstairs office
> is the room furthest away from my furnace, and it was always chilly.
> Using
> one of these fans in that room in the winter made a world of difference.
Oh our problem in the winter is the upstairs rooms are suffocatingly hot.
But after all our vent discussion today I believe we will restrict the
airflow through the upstairs rooms.
> On the off chance that your house is similar to mine - I have a two car
> garage that's built into the house. A couple of bedrooms are located
> above
> the garage. The first summer I was here, those bedrooms were hot as all
> get
> out in the evening. I stopped putting the cars in the garage at night and
> parked in the driveway instead. A car that's been running a while gives
> off
> a lot of heat after it's turned off, and that heat has to go somewhere.
> That simple change dropped the evening temperature in those two rooms at
> least 10 degrees. And of course, when the weather turns cool, the cars
> get
> parked in the garage so that heat helps warm things up.
One of the rooms in this house was a garage that is now closed in as a room
in the house. The insulation is great in this room, and the best thing is
when my daughters have friends over, I don't hear a sound with the door
closed.
I'd love to have seen pictures of this house before so much was done to it.
Marie
James
It must feel good with the ducts and vents connected correctly.
Jeff
> "James" <j006...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4c39a70b-e3e2-4e2d...@y38g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
> <<Attic fan to lower temperature of attic and more attic insulation to
> keep the heat from coming into the house. Close downstair vents so
> all cool air goes through upstair vents. I doubt cold air is leaking
> out up there since cold air drifts lower and hot air raises.
> Downstairs are usually cooler than upstairs. You might have to get
> some kind of vent fans for the upstair fans to help draw the cool air
> upstairs if closing the downstair vents don't work.>>
>
> Thank you! We just bought this house back in the winter, and with this
> being our first summer in it, we just discovered this problem. Today, we
> actually went into the attic and realized the insulation is majorly
> insufficient. Then, my husband decided to take one of the vents off the
> ceiling, and the ductwork wasn't even connected right and was angled to
> where the air was blowing into the attic! No wonder it's been so
> freaking hot. We went through the whole house, and found 4-5 rooms where
> this was the case. Shoddy ductwork. So those were fixed, and we are
> planning to close off some of the downstairs vents. Thanks for the
> suggestions!
And all very good suggestions!
Blown in cellulose is pretty cheap and effective. Double check your duct
work and then load it up with insulation with the caveats of keeping it
off vents and any recessed lighting.
If it's a lot hotter in the attic than outside, then follow up with
an attic fan (or some other added ventilation).
Jeff
MarieD
On Jul 23, 10:52 pm, "MarieD" <a...@123.com> wrote:
It must feel good with the ducts and vents connected correctly.
Oh it is much better! You can breathe upstairs now and not break out in a
sweat upon entering a room.
Marie
Seerialmom
You didn't say how old your house was nor what age/size the AC unit
you have is, either. I think you're on the right track regarding
leaks though. Our electric company has a special promotion to have
the ducts checked for leaks and to have them repaired and sealed. If
your attic isn't well ventilated or insulated it could allow the heat
gain to build upstairs which would radiate down.