I recently bought my first home. It is a two story townhouse. I have never lived in a two-story home before and am a first time homeowner. The problem is that the heating and air conditiong work fine downstairs, but very little of it gets upstairs. The result is comfortable downstairs, very hot upstairs. I tried closing the vents downstairs to force the air up, but it really doesn't help that much at all. I have started sleeping on the living room sofa because it is so hot upstairs and I honestly can't afford to replace the furnace/cooling system. I wonder if cleaning the air ducts/vents will help improve the air circulation of heating and cooling? I asked the person who cleans my furnace every year and he said no.
2006-07-19 11:25:25 · 8 answers · asked by needs help 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Furnace-man is right. That would be a complete waste of money.
Your problem is (and I've run into it many times) an inadequate trunk line going to the upstairs rooms.
It is fixable, but generally requires a duct man that can handle sheetrock and framing, as well. Without doing a site investigation, I am speculating that this problem has been evident since the a/c system was first installed.
Real estate law generally requires the seller to disclose any latent defect that they are aware of.( you haven't stated that the home was previously owned by others, so I am making an assumption here) In order to confirm my suspicions, you need an a/c professional that specializes in air distribution and duct design to diagnose the problem and give you an estimate on the fix.
Then it is time to call the seller's agent, and tell them that you are dealing with a problem that has been evident long before you took possession, it is a problem that should have been disclosed, and you expect the buyer to cover the cost to remedy the latent defect.
Then....well, one step at a time.
2006-07-19 14:42:55 · answer #1 · answered by Elwood Blues 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, Your furnace guy was correct that will do little to improve your situation. I am using a downstairs ceiling fan running in a reversed direction, (blowing up), and that tends to help some.
Heat rises, so the upstairs will naturally be hotter then the downstairs. Close the downstairs vents to force the cool air upstairs and ceiling fans to circulate the air so the hot air can be removed. Hope that helps.
2006-07-19 18:45:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you get a home warranty when you bought your home? If not you should have. Most two story homes etc. have 2 units one for downstairs & one for upstairs, one unit doesn't do well. You could have leaking air ducts, that was a problem we had, some areas were cold others nothing, have the ducts checked for leaks.
2006-07-19 18:34:45 · answer #3 · answered by CYNTHIA R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will have very little help. There are alot of probable reasons that your upper floor is not being cooled properly. But i would first check if your a/c unit is working properly. Have a technician to check it. It maybe also that the cooling fins are dirty thereby not allowing the right amount of air to pass through thereby having lesser air in the upper floor. Lastly, have your duct checked, there may be leaks along the ducts.
2006-07-20 00:58:05 · answer #4 · answered by gergon 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless they are totally plugged the answer is no. If they are plugged what the heck plugged them.
Chances are your blower on the unit is not powerful enough to blow all the way upstairs. You should check with the ac man and see what he thinks. You may need to get a more powerful fan if possible but you may just need a new unit.
2006-07-19 18:30:28 · answer #5 · answered by IngeborgDot 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to let the heat out up stairs. Open a window, put a drawing fan in front of it and draw out the hot air. Open another window also to let air in. A ceiling fan helps circulate air. You may need insulation in the attic to keep hot out in the summer and heat in in the winter.
2006-07-19 18:31:13 · answer #6 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the first thing you have to check is if you have two trunk lines 1 for 2nd floor and one for 1st floor This might sound crazy but you might have a damper closed on your 2nd floor trunk line some people close it alittle during heating season and open it during the summer months it looks like a handle it should say open and closedand if they are both wide open try shutting the first floor trunk line a little bit
2006-07-23 00:11:21 · answer #7 · answered by jalsrtr 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO but you may have a collapsed duct between the two floors
2006-07-19 18:29:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋