Just moved into a 2 story house and upstairs stays HOT

[dngnb8]

Our downstairs stays a comfortable 69-70 degrees, the upstairs 73-76 depending on the bedroom, which makes for very uncomfortable sleeping, and showering/getting ready is miserable. I just bought (and should receive tomorrow) a small clip on fan that I will either clip to our bed or towel rack in bathroom and a High-Velocity 3-Speed Oscillating Blower Fan to use on ds's floor to circulate air (after reading this tip online). Are there any kind of curtains, blinds, etc...that would help with this or if anyone has any other tips I would greatly appreciate it

Ive lived in several, and currently live in a 2 story in Phoenix AZ.

Some hints

1: Check your environmental controls. Can you program them to temp by hour of the day? My current home has 2 AC units, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. My old house had 1 unit, and used a dampener system. If you have the dampener system, make sure it isnt stuck open. Have your system tuned and checked. Make sure its capacity can handle your square footage.

2: Fans, fans and more fans. Ceiling fans to be exact. Make sure you get the ones that can have the direction changed. Heat rises so have the fans blow down if your upstairs is getting way to hot.

3: Do you have cathedral ceilings? These are difficult to maintain optimal temps. Fans really help here, but you can adjust the upstairs temp down, and downstairs up. Since the heat rises, you have it come from downstairs.

4: Close your doors to rooms you dont use much. Temp control in them isnt as necessary.

Hope this helps.

 

[disneyismyname]

We have the same problem. Even in the winter it is super hot upstairs! Ceiling fan and air conditioners help but I've made a nice cozy spot downstairs if it gets unbearable!

 

[Buckalew11]

those honeycomb type blinds are 3 layers. they work really well. I was amazed at how well they cut the heat from the evening sun in my shop. I used www.blinds.com and it could not have been better, quicker service.

 

[Prose]

We like to sleep in a cool bedroom (around 67 degrees year-round), so we have finally figured out how to accomplish that on a second floor...in summer, we turn the AC on and close every single vent (ours are in the ceilings) EXCEPT for the one in the master bedroom. Then we keep the door closed all day while we're at work.

In the winter, we close all the vents except for one downstairs in the living area.

We also keep a ceiling fan going 24/7 in our room.

Somehow this works, at least for us.

 

[Poohforyou]

Look into ceiling fans and an attic fan. In the summer I put the ceilings fans on upstairs in the late afternoon and by bedtime it's cool enough up there that I need a light cover on the bed.

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

Thanks for the great ideas and tip

 

[cepmom]

we have a Cape style house and our upstairs also can get hot. We have central AC but ever seems to get cool enough upstairs...it doesn't help that there's no return upstairs either. So instead, I bought 2 fans that sit on the floor(bought at Lowes for $20 each) and set them in front of the vents where the air come out of and it helps pull the cool air into the room. Definitely makes a big difference.

 

[JoanGirardi]

The guy that installed our air conditioner told us that we absolutely have to close our vents differently for the air conditioner as opposed to the furnace, and it's really worked well for us. We live in a tri level, and in the summer we completely close all of the vents in the basement, close most of the vents in the middle level, and make sure all of the vents upstairs in the bedrooms are wide open. The upper level cools off quite well this way. Obviously when it's hot out we keep all of the room darkening shades pulled down upstairs or it heats up more, but the bedrooms upstairs cool down quite well. When it's time for the furnace again, we have to go around the whole house and open/close the vents differently, but it's worth it.

 

[jam217]

I agree with the others who said to check into installing an attic fan. It's made a difference in my house.

 

[tvguy]

My next door neighbor is a Heating/Air Conditioning/Insulation contractor. He has a 2 story house, put in a whole house fan, ceiling fans, a larger high efficency heat pump, insulated ducting and an unbelievable amount of insulation in the ceiling, into the walls, and even has the underside of the first floor (it's a raised foundation). Summer or winter the upstairs is still always too hot. He says the only real solution is a one story house.

 

[rwdavis2]

Have you tried a register fan? see here: http://www.amazon.com/Suncourt-HC300-Register-Air-Booster/dp/B0007N5LHW

We put them in all the upstairs berooms and they work in summer and winter.

 

[wdw_girl_18]

We have the same problem with our upstairs. A ceiling fan did not help at all so in all the rooms we have window air conditioner units.

 

[suebeelin]

We have the same problem with our upstairs. A ceiling fan did not help at all so in all the rooms we have window air conditioner units.

Old thread but relevant. I read that closing vents on rooms you don't use can actually use more energy than not.

I'm trying this out-- narrowing the vents on the first floor (not closing them completely) and force more air upstairs. Wish me luck. The house is 3500sq ft, and I'm hoping to keep the electric bill under $300/mo.

 

[Traveliz]

I live in an old house (1860s). We had central air installed years ago but it never made a difference upstairs. We have window ac in three rooms upstairs (basically every room but the bathroom and a small craft room) and run them as needed.

Liz

 

[xlxo]

I too live in a hold home. About 10 years ago, we had our home auditted and a few things really helped...

• dehumidstat bathroom fan. Having the fan meant moist air is pulled outside. Far less mildew and mold
• multi-pane thermal windows to keep out the hot South sun
• ceiling insulation blown in
• I have 9" window fans that I run for 30 minutes after sunset to pull in cool air. I keep my windows closed at night for security

Thinking about a portable air conditioner for added coolness.

 

[Imzadi]

You need to get the air circulating upstairs and bring in cooler air, especially at night and first thing in the morning before it gets too hot outside.

Take one window in one of the rooms upstairs, it would be better if no one is staying in the room. Put in a good quality, strong big box fan like the pic below. Instead of having it situated to blow the air IN, turn it so the air blows OUT the window. Make sure there is a screen in the window, and it's not a window that a burglar can push the fan out of the way and get into the house.

Open up the other windows in the other rooms. Leave ALL the doors open. Then turn on the fan on high. The fan will suck IN air from all the other windows that are open upstairs. If you have gotten a good strong fan, you will be amazed at the breeze it makes in the other rooms as the air is pulled in the windows and how much cooler having moving air make in each room.

Run the fan especially at night, to move in the colder air. Turn the fan off during the hottest parts of the day, if you can. If you have good insulation, even during the hottest parts of the day, the house should retain that cooler air for a few hours, until the hot part of the day is over. Then turn the fan on again.

It is quite an inexpensive solution, using only one big fan to circulate all the air on the floor.

 

[xlxo]

It is quite an inexpensive solution, using only one big fan to circulate all the air on the floor.

Love those industrial high velocity industrial fans. It's amazing how well it flushes out the hot air.

 

[HM]

What you think of as hot, is cooler than we keep our house in the spring/summer. Our thermostats are set at 78-80 depending on time of day.

I agree that an attic fan may be a big help in keeping the upstairs cooler, since it will put the heat build up out of the area above the rooms.

And if you can replace overhead light fixtures with fans that would feel better.
For your son's room that has a loft, you can set up a rotating fan on the floor that moves the air in his room. My kids have these as well as the overhead ceiling fan because they like more air moving in their rooms.

 

[Thing 1]

If this is your own home, and a long term home, I would simply invest in installing a second unit for the upstairs. There are lots of ways to "help", but if you are going to be in this home forever, or even a long time, I would just go ahead and invest the money to fix the issue. We had the same issue in our home.

 

[FINFAN]

guess I will add to the old thread lol


did you check the damper ? If you have one it is a small lever on the side of the duct, like right where the up and downstairs duct work split off. When the lever is in line with the duct it's open. Maybe try playing with it to see if you get any better airflow upstairs. You would be switching the air flow winter/summer, for your preference. We marked with a sharpie where we like the lever for summer/winter to keep us less confused lol. I agree with a booster tho (fan). Do you think there may be anything in there blocking it, or did any sections come loose maybe causing a weaker air flow?