My home a/c is not cooling down the upstairs .?

Question

my downstairs cools off anough but my upstairs just doesnt cool down enough to shut off

Answer 1

It's really hard to get that cool air upstairs, even in brand new houses with energy efficient ACs ~ we solved the problem by installing ceiling fans in each of the rooms, and set the blades to pull the cool air upstairs. Works liked a charm :)

Answer 2

upstairs is much harder to cool since heat rises, the only way we could remedy this in our house was to put an exlarge vent and an extra air return in our upsairs part of the house. Works very well now

Answer 3

the problem you are having is that the furnace is having a harder time pushing the air the longer distance to the upstairs. ( very common in newer homes.) they run all the upstairs vents off of one 3 1/2 wide duct inside the wall chase. then they use 5 or 6 inch pipe to the individual rooms. the proper is that the 3 1/2 inch trunk cannot handle the volume of air necessary to cool the upstairs. in line assist fans work well. but usually you have to cut the drywall out in the garage and install them with a control line run back to the furnace. try closing most of the vents on the main floor and if possible installing a ceiling fan in the stairway or the foyer( since these areas typically have vaulted or grand ceilings. the only other option is to try to add additional return air ducts on the upper floor to help pull warmer air from the rooms. you might be able to move one of the existing return air grills on the second level to the ceiling instead of at floor level. this will help return the warm air from upstairs to the furnace instead of the cool air found at the bottom. also another thing to try is to install an attic fan. not whole house fan attic fan. cool your attic and it helps the keep the heat off the ceiling in the 2nd floor. just fell the ceiling on the upper levels. it can get hot and affect the whole house.

Answer 4

Hi,

get a tech in to check the gas pressure & liquid level and thermostat. obviously clean the filter.

not much else you can do.

good luck

Answer 5

The most common reason for temeprature differential in different areas of the house is a poorly designed A/C system. What I mean by that is the locations of the returns, thermostats, and vents.  Obviously heat rises, the top floor will always be the warmest but that shouldn't be the case if the A/C is on and functioning. It could be a problem (as stated above) with freon levels or with the air handler itself, or it could just be a matter of leaving all the rooms open upstairs so all the cold air coming from the vents can spread equally throughout the whole top floor. Definately call a tech out and research it further.

Answer 6

Heat rises and cold goes to the bottom.

Now lets work with these facts.

With enough fans you can force the air to do what you want however the heat from the motors offsets the cooling.

Perhaps you could hang a heavy drape across the top of the stairs to slow down the return of the cold air.  Or perhaps a half door.  There has to be some sort of barrier to stop the cold air from running straight to the lower level.

If you take a thermometer and set it at thermostat level (approx. 60 inches)  and then check it at 2 feet or lower you will find a difference in temperature.  Then check it at the ceiling you will also find a different temp.  Ceiling fans can correct this differential temp at one level but not from the upper floor to the lower floor.

Answer 7

Before calling for expensive repairs, try closing off most of the vents in the downstairs part of the house.  This will force more cold air up and out through the upstairs vents, thus cooling the upstairs.  Most of your cold air is blowing out into your downstairs, so by the time the air reaches the upper portion of your house, there's not enough pressure to cool off the upstairs.  This is why ceiling fans are also very helpful, as an earlier answerer suggested.

Think of your air ducting system like a garden hose....if you put holes near the beginning of the hose (vents coming from your a/c to the downstairs), you're going to have less water pressure and therefore a lower flow from the end of the hose (the upstairs vents).  The same thing is happening with the cold air flow in your house.  The closer a vent is to the blower for the cooling unit, the more air will flow from that vent.

Experiment with different settings on your vents until you find what's comfortable for you and your family.  If you find out you still can't cool your upstairs, then it's time to call a professional who can actually make adjustments to your ducting system that will optimize the air flow in your house.