2 story living room question

Let me preface my question by stating that I know NOTHING about heating/cooling homes- it's never been a questionable topic in my life until now!

Our home has the catwalk overlooking the 2 story living room, so my question is for those of you with the same layout: our thermostat is on the wall below the stairs, and the heat is CONSTANTLY running. The living room temp is comfortable, but upstairs gets too warm! It shuts off for MAYBE 45 seconds at a time but then comes right back on- presumably because the heat rises and the thermostat adjusts to the temperature in the living room.

Can I move the thermostat to a more sensible place? How do you folks deal with this issue? Just want to know how others dealt with this issue before I make any decisions on how to even out the temp in my home... thanks in advance!


Ciao,

Redon1

 

Are you sure the heater is running "constantly" or is it your fan? If it is your heater, then consider keeping the whole house fan on at all times to help with circulation.

Do you have a ceiling fan? If not, you may want to consider installing a ceiling fan that will circulate the air more evenly.

Have you checked all the heating vents to see if adjusting them makes a difference?

(I appologize for answering with so many questions, maybe Neilz will respond with answers (Just kidding))

 

Actually, I have a few more questions.

Does your home have more than one zone ?? If not, you may want to close off all the doors on the second floor, so that the airflow doesn't drift upstairs easily.

That's the problem with these newer designs and open floorplans. Its a law of nature, heat rises. So why design houses where the heat goes straight to the second floor and the first floor is always cold.

We have that type of house, with a two story entryway. The first floor dining room is where the thermostat is, so its usually tripping off if we have the doors to the upstairs rooms open so we keep them closed.








Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

I don't think moving the thermostat is going to help. This is what I do at my home close the vents on the upper level, this increases the airflow at the lower level. Installing a ceiling fan is a good idea. Though it's not a perfect solution, it helps.

sh

 

When we bought our home our building inspector showed us how to control the airflow through the ducts.
In our home there are levers on the ducts coming out of the furnace that allow us to control the
airflow to the upstairs duct as well as the downstairs duct work. These levers are accessible in the
basement. I believe that even in the off position it still allows a small amount of air flow so you
may want to close the actual vents themselves as others have suggested. In the summer, of course, you
would want to do the opposite, having A/C flow to upstairs.

 

First thing if one is worried about energy costs, why would a person buy a home with lots of volume and glass and sq footage ????

Saving on energy starts with design and the even the direction of the home. Most new homes today are energy efficeint compared to homes of yesterday.

People are buying larger and larger homes and with that comes a price for the energy to run them, just like the difference between a economy car and a suv. The suv is going to cost more to run and maintain.

Having said that the two story rooms open to the upstairs is the price you pay to get that design effect in higher energy costs.

The things mentioned will help some but not significantly. If your unit is running all the time it is most likely undersized for the location and direction the home is facing.

The same home with the major glass areas facing north is going to require a larger heating unit then a home with the glass facing south. Of course that is the opposite in the summer. Most large builders don't take in account of the direction the home is facing when designing the ac and heating they do an average and so a lot of the time your heat or ac will be undersized not matter how you try to balance it. Just like a car that is under powered not much you can do unless you replace the unit and many times the duct work also.

Many gimmicks out there and most don't work well. You must also figure the cost to savings.


My opinion I would get a mechanical engineer to look at your setup and make recommendations. Not joe blow the inspector or private inspector. These things need to be calculated as well as inspected, and that is why an mechanical engineer or at least someone who can calculate heat loads is neccessary. Inspectors a only good fore the band-aid approach.

The building inspector relies heavily that the calculations from the mechanical engineer are correct not to calculate or check his figures for him. So when a large builder is doing an average for his heat and air calculations you are going to get many homes undersized.

Lee J Buividas

 

Lee - you have some very good points that you bring up from time to time. Can't you dispense said advice without your diatribes?

 

thanks for all of the tips- you've all helped tremendously. Lee, just for the record, the cost of heating the home is not the issue I'm concerned about- it's comfort. I don't mind paying the price for "the design effect" of our 2 story living room- but I'd rather not do it wastefully or inefficiently. If there are a few basic things I can do like closing doors and checking levers before unnecessarily hiring an engineer... well- there ya go.


Ciao,

Redon1

 

"diatribes" I actually had to look that word up. I do say it does seem to fit some of my posts to a Tee. I do feel T8erman you have hit my forum posts on the mark and I really do appreciate what you said as a compliment. thanks

I would also like to add if the ac/heating or the home is still under warranty that might be another approach if the simple fixes don't work.

Even if the home is out of warranty and is new enough it would not hurt to still approach the builder in a nice way and they may come and rectify the problem to your satisfaction even if you are not the original owner.

Lee J Buividas

 

We had someone tell us the same thing. Oddly enough, it was the Maytag Man when they came to fix our brand new washer. He heard my husband and I discussing the heat issues and he showed us how to fix it. We just recently repositioned the vents and our 2nd story (we're in a TH) is now warm again!

Good luck!

 

We're also in a townhouse and adjusting the dampners works between the basement & upper floor (except for our master bedroom which is another issue) but the middle level is quite chilly Darn townhouses

 

What's up with your master bedroom? Ice cold in the winter and hot as heck in the summer? Are you in the M&S with the vaulted ceilings? My husband noticed today that where the heating ducts are is where the roof has melted the snow! Looks like the insulation is poor! We're hoping to get that fixed prior to our one year. I won't hold me breath!

 

I'm assuming that you have two heating/cooling zones (two furnaces and two air conditioners)?

If the return air grill for the lower zone is located at the lower level of you home then the only answer would appear to be installing a ceiling fan set to pull the hot air upwards and cause it to blow down the walls.

If the return air grill is located at the upper level (which is unlikely based on the few models I've seen) then set the air circulation fan for the lower level to the "ON" position rather than "AUTO" while you're in the lower zone.

hirsutus.