Saturday, June 1, 2013
Is it hot in here?
Is anyone else having an issue with a toasty second floor? We thought it was crazy to have a 3,000 sq ft house with only one unit for a/c, but our SR assured us that it would be fine "because its energy star." Yeah right!! I am just curious if there is something wrong with ours or whether we aren't the only ones with this problem. There is a significant change in temperature upstairs...it's going to be a long summer.
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I agree! Energy star!?? Yeah right!! The heat was never balanced properly in the winter! We have the air set on 72 which is working so far and I do not like it TOO COLD but comfortable. So the basement is freezing now and it freezing was when it was cold outside! We have 4500 sq feet for all three floors but don't understand why they did not give us two units. There is a venting system for each level which controls each floor but you must juggle with the levers and vents to get the heat/air distributed the way you want it which requires trial and error .
ReplyDeleteOur house is about 2700 sq feet and our AC is holding up very well...one good thing :)We have one unit.
ReplyDeleteI hope they get yours right soon!
Our upstairs does stay warmer, especially in the master bedroom since that door is always closed. Closing a couple of vents on the main floor (and basement) should help push more cool air upstairs or at least that seems to help us a little.
ReplyDeleteWe took the zone heating system. While we still have only one unit, we have thermostats on each floor. So we set all three levels of the house where we want them and it seems to work. Or do you have that, too, and still have issues?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I forgot to say, we do have two zones though. A thermastat in our master and one on the main floor....cool air falls so we were told if it's not cooling well to set the upstairs to what you want and turn off the downstairs zone and let the cool air fall and it will be more efficient. We heard that in our old home too.....BUT.....we have NOT had to do that, its been working very well, one thing I am super happy with.....I know when the AC guy was out here to fix it he did something with a lever or damper or something in the basement to make it blow harder...I dunno....
ReplyDeleteClosing off vents will definitely help to push air to where you need it to go. I imagine the house probably would benefit from zoned cooling but you can make it work! I'm not sure what type of window treatments you have and what direction your house faces the sun but if you work on closing doors, figuring out which vents you need open and which ones you don't that will help you some. Stay cool!!
ReplyDeleteTurning the vents is NOT a fun process but its necessary in a house with a single unit and a single zone. In the cooler months, the vents should be set more open on the first floor and more closed on the second floor, and vice-versa in the warmer months. As another poster stated, it does take some trial and error. There is also the possibility that your fan coil can be manually adjusted to direct more air flow to different sections of the house (even if you only have one handler and one thermostat, there are often two outlets from the air handler, one for the second floor and one for the lower floors).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brian, we did this and ours works very well!
ReplyDeleteI have the Ravenna as well and this is our first summer in it and I am with you, it is going to be a long summer. Despite asking about 2 units initially when we were building because our old home had the same issue we were told the exact same thing about it being energy star efficient and perfectly balanced. As soon as you hit the mid point of the stairs you can feel the heat and it is really drastically different. We have contacted Ryan to come back out and try to fix the issue, will let you know what happens.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any problems thus far.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the advice and for sharing your issues. I am glad to hear its not something wrong with just our house. For others experiencing the same problem, my husband closed the damper to the basement and we noticed a substantial improvement. It really helps having ceiling fans too!
ReplyDeleteI too am having issues finding a good setting to regulate the temperature between all 3 levels. The basement is freezing cold, the main level is ok, and the second level is muggy. It also amazes me that anytime I had a worker over "electrical, heating and air, etc" they would always ask where the second thermostat was... and I only have one. I started thinking, maybe we should have two. The HVAC guy that way here last time showed me where the damper was and how to switch in up and down, left and right. We were advised to close all of the vents in the basement to see if that would help, will try that this weekend.
ReplyDeleteyou need a dampner!!!
ReplyDeleteOk, slightly longer story. When building, we would come in and walk around. We noticed a substantial difference in temps from the first to the second. We told our PM who then had the HVAC company install a dampner in the duct above the furnace. This adjustable lever allows me to open/restrict the air flow to the second floor. Problem solved.
Then my neighbor complained of the same problem AFTER they moved in (before us). I told him what Ryan did to fix the issue and he made the call. Ryan came out and installed a dampner on his as well.
So make the phone call and see what you can get worked out.
Good Luck
I'm In a Rome with a finished basement and the second basement bedroom. We had major issues at first. We called Ryan until they got it right. Our last house was almost a third this size and we had dual zones so one unit in this house just seemed crazy! My mom lives in the basement so I knew from everyone else's freezing basement comments that I wouldn't give in until every floor was comfortable. I'm freaked out about dealing with the same issues once we turn the heat on. Hope you get it all figured out!
ReplyDeleteWe ended up making some adjustments to the dampers and some vents...helped tremendously.
ReplyDelete