Cold First Floor Hot Second Floor

All that hot air moves through your roof into the attic and ultimately into your top floor.

Cold first floor hot second floor.

During system operation while the ground floor of the home remains stubbornly chilly the upper level rooms become unpleasantly warm. Before you try this step first as a cooling specialist to evaluate your present. It seems like the force on the 2nd floor is really high and the lower floor force is low. My 2nd floor of my 12 year old house is really hot.

When the first floor reaches your target temperature it shuts off cooling or heating for the whole house regardless of whether the second floor has also reached that temperature. That means the system has to work harder to distribute cool air to the second floor. Keep in mind that heat rises. With a cold first floor or a warm second floor balance has to be restored in order to rectify the situation.

Physics is the challenge here because hot air rises and cold air sinks. Zoning systems allow you to control the temperature independently from a thermostat placed on each floor. Reducing the airflow to the first floor with also ensure longer cycle times as your thermostat is most likely on the first floor as well. If your hvac unit is on the first floor it has to push hot air out as cooler air enters a room.

I would appreciate any help. The goal obviously is to create air balance throughout the home year round so it is heated and cooled more evenly. I have a 12 year old house with a basement and a first and 2nd floor. So your upstairs has a natural tendency to be warmer than lower levels.

If the second floor of your home stays cold in the winter even when the first floor is toasty it may indicate that your home is improperly insulated or ventilated. There are a few factors that determine how hard your hvac unit has to work to cool your second floor. Longer cycle times mean more cool air is getting to the second floor. In the majority of homes it means making improvements to how the home is air sealed how it s insulated and how it s ventilated.

Two story homes often require more cool airflow to the second floor during the summertime and more warm airflow on the first floor in the wintertime. For 3 in theory this method should allow more places for the hot air to be moved out of a second floor but may also suffer from limitations due to your homes construction the limits of your present central air system and the location of the added vent ducts. Additionally for homes with vaulted ceilings much of that. I have even closed all of the vents on the 2nd floor and it is still hot.

Your roof absorbs a ton of heat from the sun unless you have a lot of shady tree cover. Slightly restricting airflow to your first floor will increase the volume of cool air to your second floor balancing out comfort.