Any tips for keeping upstairs level of an old house warm?

Question

I am living in a fairly old, restored house. On the main level where the kitchen, dinig room, living room, and 2 of the 4 bedrooms are it is nice and warm all the time, and that is also where the thermostat is. Upstairs there are the 2 remaining bedrooms. What the problem is, is when the heat is turned high enough to keep the upstairs bedrooms at a reasonable temperature, then the downstairs is way too hot, and the heating bills are rediculous. So what I need is any sort of reasonably priced ideas for keeping heat in, or warming up just the upstairs level of the house. Please keep in mind we are a house full of students, with not alot of money to spare.

Answer 1

Yes, make sure you aren't losing heat out through the windows on the second floor. (Chances are it is not adequately insulated though--are the inside walls of the rooms cold? This is a good indication.) You can put plastic up to cover the windows as well as putting up heavy insulated curtains.

The very best way to get more heat to rise upstairs is to block a lot of the heat off from the main floor. That is to close the registers, and only allow ambient heat through in all the downstairs rooms. The amount of air blown by the furnace will not change. If less of it is going into the downstairs rooms, then more of it will go into the upstairs rooms.

Once you have the upstairs warmer than the downstairs, opening up the downstairs registers just a little bit for each room will help regulate the heat over the whole house to the same temperature.

Answer 2

My niece lives in a 2 story house and they have a furnace for both floors. It may be that when your house was restored they didn't install insulation. Most often if there is a lot of ventilation where the heat can go up, it will. However, if the doors are kept closed as most students would do. no heat goes up. I would imagine if you are housing students, there has to be some kind of city code, and it shouldn't be the responsibility of the students to heat the upstairs. Heat should be provided by the owner or renter of the building.

Answer 3

Insulating the attic would be a good first step. Check the windows for air leaks and seal them if possible. Heavy (or thermal) curtains can also block heat loss. Vent covers can be used downstairs to reduce the amount of heat going into those rooms, while the upstairs still gets a full dose.

Answer 4

Are there any VENTS upstairs? Some old houses don't have any. If not just make sure you have all the cracks in and around the windows sealed (calking may help) Put some heavy drapes at the windows this will also keep out drafts. ( Thrift store bargains)

BECAUSE YOU ARE STUDENTS I DO NOT RECOMMEND SPACE HEATERS. ( CLOTHES GET SCATTER AROUND AND BOOKS AND PAPERS. TOO MUCH OF A FIRE HAZARD.

I HAD A YOUNG STUDENT FRIEND THAT DIED IN A FIRE BECAUSE CLOTHES WERE TOO CLOSE.

If you are still cold though after the above I would strongly recommend a DOWN COMFORTER they keep you warm and toasty in sub zero weather ( just pretend you're camping out).

Answer 5

If you have forced air heat you can buy a small fan at a hardware store that can attach to the vent to suck more heat into the room. About $20

Answer 6

Install a few vents from the ceiling of the lower floor through to the floor of the upper floor. They wouldn't have to be very large (a few 4" circular vents and dryer exhaust tube would do - real cheap at the Depot)

Answer 7

the quickest fix is to buy oil filled electric radiators for the bd. rms. that are cold,about 100$. make sure they have safety shut offs, most do.very efficient.

Answer 8

Good old fashioned insulation... The fiber glass kind!