Central Air....?

Question

Just moved into a townhouse..we live in the South so its extremely warm here..the air conditioning freezes the downstairs..but upstairs its still a heatwave! Vents are open and u can feel the air but it doesnt cool off the upstairs at all..any ideas before i contact the leasing office?

Answer 1

Remember, hot airt rises and cold air doesnt. Central AC? See where your cold air returns are, make sure there not blocked or the vents for teh cold air returns arent shut off (happins). If thats all fine, close 50% of the vents to force more cold air to the second floor. You may find that you might have to close all but one vent on the first floor to cool the second floor. Reason being, the sun is above you, it heats your roof (the second floor) you will need to force more cool air to the second floor. And roof vents? Never saw one that made a differance. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

This is not uncommon, especially in rentals. The builders skimped on the insulation in the ceiling and the duct work that moves air to the rooms is badly designed.

You can get some temporary relief with closing the downstairs registers but you can expect little effect from doing this. Some people will put fans in the upstairs registers to help pull the air out but the ducts are probably not large enough to handle the additional airflow.

Live with the shortcomings or find a better place to live are about your only options.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

closing some if not all the registers on the lower level and making a test run is probably the simplest and best approach. also attempting to manage the temperature above ( attic fan or vents) is a good idea. if you do not get the results you are looking for (assuming your ac unit is of sufficient BTU) another item to consider is the flue within the duct. some are automatic (make sure it is functioning properly) and some are manual. very often interior renovations do not take into account ac vents when rooms are added or enlarged. perhaps the flue can be manipulated to enhance the flow proportion upper verses lower.

Answer 4

Try shutting some of the downstairs vents that will allow more air to go upstairs.

Answer 5

well, since heat rises, I would close off some downstairs vents and turn a fan on low and try to move some air upstairs

Answer 6

Close the downstairs vents and run the a/c just to the upstairs. I do this in my split level home all the time. It helps.

Answer 7

Small window units (for bedrooms) are dirt cheap. Running a window unit in each bedroom may be cheaper than trying to cool both floors by using the central A/C. Second floors are notorious for failing to cool down. If you're leasing, your complaints will probably fall on deaf ears, because correcting such a problem can get very expensive. Good luck.

Answer 8

try using fans to blow the air upstairs, i have this problem in the winter where the downstairs is really cold and upstairs is hot as hell, or try closing all your vents downstairs and opening all of them all the way upstairs. or maby you dont have central maby you only have ac in the downstairs ive seen that before try asking your naighbors what they do also.

Answer 9

Check the filter in the upstairs duct return. If this is dirty and needs to be replaced, it will prevent the proper air flow, resulting in warmer air and less air flow.

Answer 10

Close the vents down stares. It will force the cool air up and cool the up stares and cool the down stares when the cool air falls.