Why is hotter upstairs

Read our guide on choosing the best air filter for your home. Assuming your ducts are reasonably accessible, a bit of targeted maintenance can mitigate problems of uneven heat without necessitating major new HVAC installations. Track down and repair any areas where the ducts are leaking , and cover them in insulation to help the treated air actually maintain its proper temperature until it reaches its destination. Of course, if you can't get at your ducts without tearing apart your walls, this exercise becomes much more challenging and invasive, but might still be worthwhile to avoid purchasing new HVAC equipment, not to mention the efficiency improvements and accompanying reductions in utility bills that repaired ductwork will provide.

Unfortunately, one reason that your house might be too hot upstairs and too cold downstairs is that your current HVAC equipment just isn't up to the job of providing a consistent air temperature throughout the building.

It could be that your furnace or air conditioner is getting old, or it might be the wrong size air conditioner for your house. Either way, consult with a professional before you purchase a replacement to ensure that your new equipment will keep your entire house at your preferred temperature. Zone control systems give you the power to create different temperature zones in your home, which would allow you to bump the thermostat up a few degrees downstairs, while dedicating less heat to the upstairs or more air conditioning in the summer.

That can help you even out any wild variations in temperatures you experience between floors. These systems can be retrofitted into existing duct networks using dampers and multiple thermostats, or you could also consider a ductless HVAC system, which would allow you to use individualized settings in every room that your system touches. More potential culprits for uneven temperatures lurk in the attic, particularly when you're running your air conditioner in the summer.

If the attic is not properly insulated , you could be leaking treated air upward, leaving your second floor hotter than you want it to be. Blocked soffit vents in the attic could be infringing on the ventilation and causing the space to heat up and lure away your treated air as well. If you shore up your insulation and clear any blockages in the vents, you'll improve the ability of your upper floors to retain cool air.

You may also consider installing attic fans to further cool your attic. Your second floor will naturally be warmer than the first, so there's no need to exacerbate the issue by creating more heat upstairs. Try not to leave any lights illuminated on the second floor when you aren't using the space, and limit the use of heat-generating appliances like hair dryers.

Also, make sure you use your window shades tactically to keep the sun from shining into the second floor and adding its own heat to the mix. So do space heaters. A ductless mini-split will cost more than a window unit or space heater, for example. But it will also run much quieter, will use far less energy i. It never makes things any better. You owe it to yourself and your family to at least have a conversation about what options are available to you. Much like these articles, we educate you on your options, then let you decide what will be the right fit.

If that sounds like a great way to turn this information into action, click the button below to get started. Good HVAC technicians need to have a mixture of education, training, people skills, and technological knowledge to be good at their job.

We take a closer look at the career. A typical air conditioner installation can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to complete. In some instances, this can take longer depending on the scope of the project. Ductless mini-splits can be an ideal solution to heating and cooling parts of a home. They create zoned comfort and are efficient. We examine reasons why homeowners might want this system. HVAC installers in Columbus, Ohio, need a mixture of education, training, people skills, and technological knowledge to be good at their job.

Schedule Service. Free Estimate. Problems and Solutions. Residential Sales Professional. But is the problem inevitable? And what causes it? And most importantly, can it be solved?

Are you ready to solve it in your home? Keep reading. Part I. Temperature and Sleep Study after study on sleep shows that temperature matters when it comes to being able to sleep. Comfort in Your Home As you might imagine, comfort is the other big negative. Part II. As a result, attics can get extremely hot, especially during the day. When heat builds up in your attic, it can flow down through the floor and into your living spaces below. Air handler issues.

This can happen when your air filter is clogged because it restricts airflow to your system. You can avoid this problem by both changing your filter and scheduling annual tune-ups to have your system cleaned. Air vents closed or blocked. If your air vents are closed or blocked by furniture or rugs in any of your upstairs rooms, heat can build up quickly. Then you can apply a few DIY strategies that will help distribute the cool air more evenly throughout your home.

A forced-air HVAC system begins at the thermostat. You set the thermostat to your desired cooling temperature, and when the temperature in the room rises above the setpoint, the AC unit kicks on to cool things down. Whenever your AC unit is running, it is drawing air in through return vents, cooling the air, and then forcing the air back out through the supply ducts and into the living space. When the temperature in the living space drops to the setpoint, the thermostat responds by shutting the AC down.

Cooler air settles into the lower areas of the house usually where the thermostat is located ; while heat from the outside begins to warm things up again. Because heat rises, the temperature on the second floor rises first, causing the second floor to feel warmer than the first floor.

Homeowners can perform a number of do-it-yourself adjustments to more evenly cool their homes and make them more energy efficient. A qualified technician can easily show you how. Adjust the dampers.