What's wrong with the house I just moved into in regards to the AC?

Question

Something is not right. Right now, we have the AC on and upstairs it's like a sauna and downstairs is like a freezer. Did the people who built the house do something wrong or what?

Answer 1

Depending how old the house is, the upstairs may not have AC venting. Alot of the older homes gave central air on the first floor but not on the second. Even it you have vents on the second floor that dont mean the ducting has been assembled for it.

If the ducting does connect to the upstairs vents its possible it may have also disconnected. Remember heat rises.

Answer 2

Hello, heat rises... usually with a 2 story, there are two parts to the unit for upstairs and downstairs and sometimes there are two separate units for each floor.  How many sq feet is the house?

Answer 3

are all thje vents open to the upstaires.i would call in a repair man if i was you.something is not working right.

Answer 4

This could be due to a poor design of the system. If the thermostat and return air are both downstairs, the unit will not properly cool the upstairs. There may also be a need of additional insulation in the attic. Attic ventilation would also help reduce the upstairs temp. For the best cooling up and downstairs a separate unit for each level would do the trick.

Answer 5

HVAC Tech.:  Do you have more than one system? Split levels usually do. From here we could guess forever. Perhaps the up-stairs system is not turned on, it quit, a breaker is kicked, not enough info to make a judgement on!!!!

Answer 6

Your house is just badly ducted. I see it all the time. First, your not actually feeling a suana in your house. the moister content is higher than normal because the ac is on. stay in the basement if your that hot.

Answer 7

In addition to the above comments, if you have an open floor plan, open stairwell to the upstairs, your second floor will be hotter in the summer than the first floor.  Heat rises.

If it is practical, closing off the staircase may help keep some of that cool air upstairs if the air conditioner is set up to supply the second floor.

Answer 8

Have you checked to make sure the vents are open upstairs?  Can you feel the air blowing through the upstairs vents when the a/c is on?  Have you checked to make sure the upstairs doesn't have a separate a/c unit?  Have you checked to see if the attic is insulated well?  

Rat's nests, loose insulation, or something else could be caught in the vents preventing proper air flow upstairs.  

Check the windows for any sign that the previous owners kept a window unit in one or some of the rooms.  They may have had a problem with it too.  Or, possibly, was the upstairs added on?  Is there even any venting upstairs?

Answer 9

Nobody here will be able to diagnose the problem.

The problem(s) could be simple, could be anything..

You are just going to have to call in an HVAC expert to see what is going on.

A lot of two story houses have this problem...that is why it is recommended to have separate systems for each floor.  

I live in a very nice neighborhood with 10 year old houses.. some of the people with two story homes have window A/C units on the upstairs.  I think it brings down the neighborhood, but I can sympathize with them as I hate a hot house with a passion.

The cool air coming from your system has to travel farther to get to the upstairs...so it has more time to warm up.  However, if you are getting that sauna feeling up there, it does sound like you have a ducting problem.  Maybe you don't have a proper return up there...or maybe the ducts going to upstairs are in the attic and not well insulated... just too many possibilities.

You gotta call someone.  I would recommend you call someone that exclusively works on your brand of system.  Even though any decent tech could diagnose the ducting problem...it is still always better to have someone who knows your specific brand of system in and out.  Plus they will have the parts to fix, if it does turn out to be something in the unit.

Good luck.

Answer 10

I hate to say this is all too typical for the newer open design of homes. Heat rises.

It could also be the home is more designed for heat than cool. For the same reason that heat rises they need fewer vents upstairs for heating. The reverse is true for cooling.

Try running the fan all the time to even the temps out in the house. You can close some vents downstairs to push it upstairs but not so many you ice up the evaporator when cooling.

It very common for me to see people add a window unit in bedrooms upstairs to deal with it. That also can lower your overall costs by not running the central as much in the evening.

Also be aware that if you have the cooling off all day it will take hours before the house cools down and the temperatures even out.

Good  Luck.

Answer 11

There are many resons why this can happen.

  T-stat location? if it is downstairs it will turn off when the downstairs reaches the right temp. and the upstairs is still hot.

  you could have a improper air balance. you need more air moving upstairs in the summer and more downstairs in the winter. with a damper proporly placed in the system you could adjust it for the diffrent seasons