My upstairs is 6-7 degrees warmer than my downstairs naturally because heat rises. However my thermostat is located upstairs and is controlled by the temp upstairs making downstairs unfomfortable. I have my thermostat set at 72. Any solutions?
* Should I move my thermostat downstairs?
* Is there a sensor that I can place downstairs to control the thermostat?
* Can I have more than one thermostat?
* I have heard of something called zoning which allows you to keep one hvac unit. Any HVAC contractors know about this?
My house is 1577 sqft and I have propane powering the heater/furnace with an electric ac unit. The house is 3 years old. Thanks.
2007-01-26 09:25:37 · 7 answers · asked by H 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I live in Austin TX so I have no basement and no fireplace. I like the short term solutions so far, does anyone have any long term? Will zoning be more effecient in the long run?
2007-01-26 10:27:25 · update #1
heres some answers,
moving the stat downstairs wont do much good, it will just make the downstairs the right temp.
a remote sensor wont do much good for the same reason.
unless you zone your system, two stats wont help.
ive put in a bunch of zoned systems. the problem is, there isnt really a cheap way to retro fit a two story house to be zoned, unless there are two main trunks. most two story houses have one trunk in the ceiling of the lower floor that feeds the lower floor thru vents in the ceiling, and the upper floor thru vents in the floor.
it is possible (though very costly) to zone a one trunk system. there would have to be a zoning damper put on every branch run. the dampers can run from $100 - $400. the zoning controller can run around $500. id say you are looking at about $1000- $3000 to zone the house.
you can play with the registers some. try incrementally closing off the upper vents until you get the temps balanced. close them off about a quarter at a time and let the house balance out for a day. keep doing this till you get a good balance.
Possum, HVAC guy
2007-01-27 04:22:51 · answer #1 · answered by hillbilly named Possum 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a split level with the same problem. My wife doesn't want a door (would have to be built) to keep them seperate and more manageable.
What we chose to do is installed a propane VENTLESS insert in our fireplace downstairs. It has a remote thermostat. It heats virtually the whole house! Downstairs is 67 to 69, upstairs is 70 to 72. Bedrooms are cooler, as we like them. A back storage room gets down to 65, but who cares.
Being ventless, there is no flue to waste heat. Yes, you do have to crack a window for fresh air, but still way more efficient than my oil burner.
Zoning works. The vent adjustment "helps", but ultimately the heat will rise summer or winter. The adjustment just buys you a few more minutes of comfort - nothing long term like zoning. Baseboard heat downstairs would be great, but expensive. COils in the floor down there also, again expensive.
2007-01-26 09:38:14 · answer #2 · answered by KirksWorld 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you only have one unit, and wanna simple solution, now. Close your vents upstairs, and leave all the ones downstairs open. Like I said, simple solution now. And yes it does work. Aside from the obvious, it helps me keep my bedroom warm at night, and our kitchen, formal dining room, and oldest son's old room cool. Yeah, its cold, but the heat is now being transferred to the rest of the house.
Also if you have any one particular room where the air blows out much stronger than the rest, as in it is the shortest distance away from the furnace or AC, then close that room's vent as well.
2007-01-26 09:34:37 · answer #3 · answered by jeff the drunk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We had a 2 story was just like that... so we had a secon wint installed.. so we had 2 furnaces one of upstairs & once for down. I was wonderful! I don’t recall the cost of installing the second unit, but In the long run the cost of the second installation paid for itself… in the winter we kept the upstairs at 55 and the downstairs at 65... plus if one goes out you you’ll still have heat ;)
2007-01-26 11:18:13 · answer #4 · answered by string1dm 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Close up half the vents on the upstairs to half of the full opening... try that... if it works; great! If it doesn't, close ALL the upstairs vents to half open. Force the warm air to START in the basement and then rise up through the house... opposite in Summer with AC...
Good Luck!
2007-01-26 09:31:57 · answer #5 · answered by 6kidsANDalwaysFIXINGsomething 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can try to close off as many of the upstairs heat registers as possible--assuming you have forced air heat. This will keep the upstairs from heating up as much, which could keep your thermostat from turning off the heat too early.
2007-01-26 09:32:30 · answer #6 · answered by AslansKirk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well here on Earth we have an atmosphere to trap the temperature and insulate the planet. The moon on the other doesn't. I know that the dark side of the moon is extremely cold and you could freeze to death in hours or minutes if in a space suit. When its dark the dark side of all planets and moons is colder than the side facing the sun. The moon just has a huge difference because there is no atmosphere to insulate the heat from the sun.
2016-05-24 03:00:07 · answer #7 · answered by Sara 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋