How can I evenly cool a two story house with central air?

Question

I recently purchased a home that is two stories. It’s not really that old and well built but the down stairs is about 10 degrees cooler than up-stairs. That would be fine but I sleep up-stairs and it’s miserable at night.

Looking for cheep, easy, do-it-yourself ways to balance out the temp so when the thermostat says 68 it’s 68 all throughout the house. Also it’s fairly well shaded during the hot hours of the day. Thermostat is located down stairs.

Answer 1

There is no easy fix.

The ducting for the upper floor is probably adequate for heating as less heat is needed for the upper floor.

The problem for cooling is that the upstairs would require more airflow than it needs in heating.

You could close off vents in the lower floor but this may restrict airflow across the cooling coil and cause it too ice over.

Only a qualified HVAC person could do this and guaranty you wont have a problem and most likely the ducts were designed for heating airflows and not cooling which require a larger duct.

Zoning the system with zone dampers may be the answer but typically costs $1000.00 just for the 2 - zone dampers, bypass duct and zoning module plus labor and possibly ductwork changes.

You said cheap way so i am going to suggest you just supplement the cooling needed by adding a portable unit or window unit.

Answer 2

Close some of the vents downstairs and open the ones upstairs. Cold air will fall, so if you open the stair doors, the downstairs should cool.

Answer 3

Keep the down-stairs vents closed this will force more cool air up.  The down-stairs will still be cool.  Heat will always travel up.  

Or you could get a window unit for the up-stairs and only use it at night.

Good luck

Answer 4

A portable,floor standing a.c. unit would be your quickest and safest solution to your dilema. I mention safety 'cause, to increase the air-flow ,of the entire house, will de-crease your time to get-out, in the event of a fire! I hope that you understand that sleeping on the above floor , means that you must take extra pre-cautions to successfully escape a fire. My first thought is to install a fire-rated door at the top of the stairway. My second thought is to install and maintain very loud fire alarms. My third thought is to have an emergency evacuation plan in place. Fire can strike at ANY MOMENT! Please take the time to plan an escape. Many second-floor escape solutions are on the market.