It's too warm here on second floor...suggestions for keeping cooler ?

Question

In the past I've always lived in single story homes. This past summer I moved to a two story condo here in California.

I very much like my new place...yet, when the temperature is set to a comfortable setting for downstairs...it's too warm upstairs upstairs as the heat rises.

Any suggestions to keeping both upstairs and downstairs comfortable. Keeping upstairs cooler ?
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My condo is heated and cooled by an electrical system. One unit blows cold or hot air through connected air vents that are near the ceiling.

First time I've had my own home...was married many years....now peacefully divorced and still figuring some stuff out like car care, house repair...yet doing fine and happy...just trying to keep my upstairs cooler without effecting downstairs air comfort.

If I added a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs in the hallway...would that push the warm air back down. Where should ceiling fan go? In each upstairs bedroom or in the hallway ?
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Answer 1

We had the same problem. We finally closed the downstairs vents, to force more air into the upstairs. We also put a ceiling fan and make sure that you have the air going up instead of blowing the hot air down.

Answer 2

Find out if there are any drawings on the heating system available for your home, from the previous owner or maybe homeowner association. The drawings will show how the air flows, and if it is zoned, or if there are dampers. If you are lucky, there will be dampers in the ducts or at the supply air grilles. A damper is a flat piece of metal that partially or completely blocks the inside of the duct, to restrict the air flow. Partially close the dampers to the upstairs, which will force the warm air to the downstairs. If you do not have any dampers, have a HVAC contractor install new supply air grilles that have dampers in the grille. You can then adjust the flow of air to each room. During the winter, you can restrict the air going upstairs, forcing it downstairs. This will not only increase your comfort level, it will save you money on your heating bill. Fans might help a little, because they will force the heat down toward the floor.

Answer 3

I fail to see first of all what you would accomplish. There are many "programs" out there that really do nothing but to make people aware of the problem with GW. and 1/2 the people might listen to you and 1/2 would immediately become your enemies. Why you might ask ? Because upon closer examination, the GW crowd is losing steam. They've had too many discredited and lying scientists and experts tauting the cause, but failed to actually prove it exists as a real problem. You have people that are looking through the paradygm that this is "abnormal" all based on their paultry 20 or 30 years on this earth and observations. Meanwhile we've been learning as we go and the data keeps coming in. Like the polar bears are not drowning, their population has quadripled since the 50's and 75% of them live in Canada. They do'nt belong on the endangered species list. We learned that no one can decide if the ice caps are melting or not, one groups says they are, one group has proof they aren't. But they did find sub oceanic volcanoes under the ice caps....a little fact supressed by the media and the eco freaks. We learned that hurricane frequency and strength is not dependant on hot weather, yet that's an old line eco freaks are still trying to say. It all boils down to this...In life, you will have a chance to be a part of things, or you can bypass those things if they have no credibity, truth or feasibility. You can either be numb minded and fall for some con job, or you can use your brain, get invovled, find the truth and go by what the best data supports. That is where the "green" movement screwed up. They insulted the 1970's plus crowd who have been fighting pollution and air / water quality by forcing their agenda and saying it has to be done NOW. We've taken issue with pollution and slowly changed the way things are done over decades...and it didn't effect the stock market, or the price of corn and grains, it didn't oust people to use certain products or ban others. It didn't mess up the economy or force bad legislation. It didn't raise people's cost of living or invoke bad government programs, or raise taxes more than what they are already raised. The green movement also weren't picky about who thier allies are, and when you invite the whacko's that make no sense and are wrong on their facts...it makes you look bad and desperate. The time line also was pretty dumb since they wanted their way NOW and wanted everyone to be forced to do it NOW, adding to discontent, cost of living and stress in an already faultering economy. So, if you really want to make a change, i'd say invent something to take the place of a product that isn't enviormentally friendly. Create something that's been overlooked or is just as good as the old product, but better. Petitions and movements only have their place to rally the really stupid people of society that have nothing better to do than jump on a band wagon to find some fullfillment in their lives. But it rarely gets anything to actually change.

Answer 4

Hot air has a tendency to rise. So the upper level will always be warmer than the lower one. Ceiling fans in the bedrooms will help circulate the air and will make it seem cooler. I doubt if the fan in the stairway would have enough force to push the hot air down very far. Another thing that might help is to have your forced air fan on, to pull the air out from the upper level. Good luck

Answer 5

You don't say what kind of heat you have but it is probably forced hot air or heat pump in which case if it was done properly there should be dampers on the pipe runs off the main trunk. Find the second floor runs and cut them back a little.

Answer 6

Add ceiling fans.