Our house is so hot in the evenings even when it's nice and cool outside. We open both windows in our bedroom to attempt to create a cross breeze, but no luck.
Why would it remain so stiffling hot when we have all the windows open?
Our house was built in the 70's, it's a white raised ranch. The finished basement downstairs is nice and cool, but the main level is hot.
I HATE to run the A/C all night when it's Cool OUTSIDE.
And now the A/C broke stopped being cold. Perhaps it needs freon? It's somewhat cool, but not cooling the house down anymore. It's one of those HUGE A/C's embedded in the living room wall.
Does anyone have advice for either of these quandries?
2007-07-08 20:37:05 · 13 answers · asked by Genie♥Angel 5 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The A/C's not really something you can service yourself; that's going to take a service call. But there are several things you can do about the evening heat issue.
The quickest/cheapest fix to cool the house off in the evening is window fans. These are thin fans designed to sit in a window, with a sliding panel that adjusts to fit most any window size. Don't get the cheap ($20-30) ones. I've tried them and they don't move any air. Plan on spending about $60 for one that actually works.
Next step is a whole-house fan. This is a BIG fan that's mounted in the attic and serves a dual function of drawing cool air into the house and blowing the hot air out of the attic. With the windows open, you'll literally feel a breeze flowing through the house when the whole-house fan is on. Basic units have single intake vent mounted somewhere centrally in the house. The down side with these is that you may not get equal venting throughout the house. Better units have ducts running to individual rooms. With the ducted units, you ensure that each room is drawing in cool air, and you can close your bedroom door and still have a breeze. A whole-house fan will run from $200-1,000, depending on size and type. A whole-house fan will typically pay for itself in A/C savings in a year or two.
Next is dealing with WHY your house is getting so hot. One easy fix is to put more insulation in the attic. My sister lives in an area where it's 90+ most of the summer, and she's got 2' of insulation in her attic. On the south and west sides of the house, you need something to shade the house - planting trees is a great long-term solution, but in the short term, can you installing a patio cover or awnings on those walls to reduce the sun exposure? Tall shrubs along a wall will help too. Depending on the size or your house, insulation might run $100-200. A simple shade cloth patio cover might run $100, on up to $1000+ for a wood structure. But anything you do to improve insulation will pay for itself in a year or two with reduced air conditioning costs.
Finally, if your house has central heating, you've got a mass of nice cool air in the basement and if you had a return vent down there, you could turn on the fan on your heater and it would suck in the cool air from the basement and distribute it all through the house. As long as your furnace blower isn't in the attic, this could a cheap, easy source of cool air throughout the day. Just be sure there's good air flow back into the basement -- ESPECIALLY if you have a gas-fired water heater down there.
2007-07-09 06:51:34 · answer #1 · answered by JeffeVerde 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You have a basement...then the principle of 'warm air rises' is at work, as well as the insulation your home provides helps to keep that warmer air in. The cross breeze attempt is also dependent on the wind direction and speed outside as well as air deflection factors, and again, there is that insulation factor...it's just not the same as been outside...I've been there, and sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I agree with the fan idea...create some air movement within the house and draw off some heat from the attic.
Regarding the AC...is it from the 70's too? If so, it's probably due to be replaced. Good luck!
2007-07-15 16:53:42 · answer #2 · answered by healthynormalamericangirl 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with attic insulation, an attic powerful extractor fan, window fans, and then a technician to repair your a/c.
But in the meantime, sleep in the basement. I did.
My sister lives in Norway, her house is built into a hillside, the main floor is upstairs, nice and warm during the sunny days. The bedrooms are downstairs, nice and cool, good for sleeping and easy to get out of the bedroom window when the snow is 3' high, school does not stop because of snow!!!!
2007-07-16 14:49:49 · answer #3 · answered by Tinribs 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot In House
2016-12-10 18:19:27 · answer #4 · answered by aneshansley 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Certainly an attic ventilating fan will work, and depending on the style of roof you can look at a gable mounted fan or a roof mounted fan.
As far as your AC. I trust the AC is not as old as the house. It could be a number of things. Low on Freon might be one of them, but do not always assume that that is the case. I would get it checked out by a service company that you trust. For more info, check this website.
2007-07-09 01:21:41 · answer #5 · answered by Jeff W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm no contractor but have had lots of experience as a Homeowner.
Sounds like your house is not properly insulated like it should be.
We updated and added insulation in the ceilings and walls. What a huge difference !
Get a couple of window fans. That will help immensely.
As far as the A/C, sounds like you need to call the pros.
2007-07-14 16:21:07 · answer #6 · answered by krissyderic 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
my house holds the heat, too. it just builds up starting about 4pm when the sun gets around to the unshaded side where there is also a sunporch attached. I put a fan in the upstairs bedroom window drawing out and open just one window downstairs at the back where it's cooler.
2007-07-08 22:15:50 · answer #7 · answered by sjdelp 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most houses built these days have a hot air duct on the bottom of a wall to be opened during colder months to suck out the cold air and replace with hot,on the top of the same wall you would have a cold air duct to do the opposite during warmer months.
2007-07-13 02:42:17 · answer #8 · answered by calablily 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You probably aren't getting air flow to the downstairs. Is it cooler upstairs? You can turn the fan on in your central air without turning on the AC.
2016-03-19 05:56:19 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
get an attic ventilater, your attic getsvery hot 140 degrees, so if you can get that heat out, it won't heat up your top floor, also get box fan and stick in window to pull out hot air and suck in cooler air. My attic ventilater broke and my house ( upstairs) gets hot too. An ac guy told me about benifits of attic ventilater
2007-07-09 00:43:42 · answer #10 · answered by trekkie706 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋