What is the ideal thermostat setup for a 2 story home with upstairs and downstairs heaters and AC units?
To get the ideal is interesting because the heat going to the upstairs from below is not going to be regulated by the upper thermostat at all. To keep it 70 degrees downstairs, it may put out enough heat to make it 74 upstairs because the downstairs thermostat won't read the temp upstairs.What really happens is your downstairs unit does most of the work in the winter and your upstairs does most of the AC work in the summer. The unit not doing most of the work only does a lot of work if there is a temperature extreme, or the the thermostats are set very different. Having worked in HVAC, I have been asked this question several times.The location of the thermostats and air returns are important. The fact is that more temp data is needed for things like return air temperature and outside air temp to know how the house is temperature wise at any time.One way to really control It is to have doors between the upstairs and downstairs, but that is not a practical option for a lot of folks.If it were me and if it were a home with all the bedrooms upstairs, I would set the lower area at 68 and set the upstairs at 72 in the winter. I would do this only to avoid it getting too hot upstairs from the heat rising from the lower unit.One thing that might give a good idea to set the lower temp where you like it and shut the upper unit off and see how the temp settles out in both areas. I would do the reverse in the summer. Then you would know what a single unit is doing.Your unit set ups were based on a worst case scenario load. You won't always have that. Just work with it and find the best comfort settings for you.
Why is my downstairs hotter than upstairs?
If you have hot water radiator heat, if there is air in the system it will typically affect the highest floor first. Systematically bleed the air out of each radiator. If you have forced air heat, adjust which vents are open and closed. And check to see if there is a problem with not enough insulation or drafty windows.
It's so hot upstairs and cold downstairs?
When we have the a/c on it gets freezing cold downstairs but stays unbaribly hot upstairs. My dad said he can't afford for someone to come see why it'd always hot upstairs. But its gotten to the point where I can't breathe if I'm up there. (I have asthma) so I've been sleeping on the floor downstairs all summer. I tried closing all the vents downstairs but it hasn't helped. I open the windows upstairs and put a fan in it but it blows hot air. My back is starting to hurt from sleeping on the floor. My dad can't afford an air conditioner that goes in the window but I don't know what else to do besides continue to sleep on the floor. Anyone have any ideas to why it could be so hot upstairs?
Temperature difference between up/downstairs.?
heres some answers, moving the stat downstairs wont do much good, it will just make the downstairs the right temp. a remote sensor wont do much good for the same reason. unless you zone your system, two stats wont help. ive put in a bunch of zoned systems. the problem is, there isnt really a cheap way to retro fit a two story house to be zoned, unless there are two main trunks. most two story houses have one trunk in the ceiling of the lower floor that feeds the lower floor thru vents in the ceiling, and the upper floor thru vents in the floor. it is possible (though very costly) to zone a one trunk system. there would have to be a zoning damper put on every branch run. the dampers can run from $100 - $400. the zoning controller can run around $500. id say you are looking at about $1000- $3000 to zone the house. you can play with the registers some. try incrementally closing off the upper vents until you get the temps balanced. close them off about a quarter at a time and let the house balance out for a day. keep doing this till you get a good balance. Possum, HVAC guy
How can i cool the upstairs of my old house?
Install an attic fan on the roof, If you raise the windows on the shady side of the house in the morning and then at night and turn on the fan and leave the access open, you will cool the house faster and cheaper then AC, just use the AC between 3pm and 7pm, The Attic fan will suck the heat out and is a cheap quick fix easy to install. The really good ones are solar and you don't ever have to plug them in, and will save you lots of money on the not so extremely hot days. But for those days use the air and fan. Get a good one, you want something just short of pulling his topee off his head.
Do window air conditioners need any kind of support bracket?
I got a Frigidaire window unit air conditioner and it doesn't come with mounting brackets nor are there holes underneath the air conditioner to attach your own. The manual doesn't mention a need for this. Yet my old Friedrich came with brackets and everything. Is it really necessary to support the AC at all? Or should the window frame (metal up and down sliding window sort of thing) be able to support it all by itself? I'd rather not make my own ghetto-looking makeshift support if I don't have to. I'm just surprised the manual doesn't suggest any kind of support.
Which is better, a portable air conditioner or a window unit AC?
If you have a choice, a window unit will always be more efficient and give you a bigger bang for your buck.After the refrigerant is compressed to a liquid, the heat from that compression must be expelled to the outside by blowing air over the condenser fins. With a window unit (or a central or split system), the condenser fins and coils are already outside and are easily cooled with the exterior fan.A "portable" or free-standing unit has the condenser fins inside the unit inside your home. This is why these units have a flexible duct connecting to a panel to be installed in the window. The better units have two ducts, so that outside air is drawn into the unit via the first duct to cool the condenser and pumped back outside through the second duct. But I haven't seen one of these in a long time. Most units seem to have just one duct. This means that air from the room is being used to cool the condenser and being blown outside. You are literally using some of the room air you just cooled to reduce the temperature of the refrigerant and throwing it away. It's terribly inefficient compared to a window unit or central system. Also, since you are pumping some air out of the room, you are creating a negative pressure. To balance the pressure, that air must be replaced, otherwise you would create a vacuum inside. So some warm air from the outside is further encouraged to seep inside through poor window seals and so forth.Another disadvantage of a portable unit is that water from the room air that condenses on the evaporator coils must be collected and regularly disposed (otherwise your floor would get soaked). A window unit doesn't have this problem because the condensate can be drained outside.The only real benefit of a portable unit in my opinion is aesthetics. Some people just don't like those ugly metal boxes sticking out of their windows (or their landlord or HOA doesn't allow it).
What are the good and bad things about getting a condo?
I have lived in a condo my entire life and here's my list of pros and cons: PROs: - little outdoor maintenance, no mowing lawns, shoveling snow, etc. - Association is usually liable for large repairs, or repairs in common areas (plumbing inside walls, air ducts and furnace, etc.) - Usually a lower cost to purchase a condo than to purchase the same sized house in the same area, - easier to meet new neighbors - A lot of associations include most of you bills in the association fee ( water, heat, maintenance), so you don't have to send out as many bills every month CONs: - You may have some one living right next to you, under you or over you- they may be noisy to you or you (and the kids) may be noisy to them - You have to share common areas with other people who may not be a neat/courteous as you are - Condo associations may not always welcome pets - You have to abide by the rules set up for you by the association - Association fees may contain items that you don't feel you want or need (cable T.V., subscriptions to newspapers, fitness room, etc.) - You have little or no say in who is hired to do repairs and maintenance that the association is paying for.
What does auxiliary heat mean on Honeywell thermostats? How can I fix it from running on emergency or auxiliary?
"Auxiliary heat" means the secondary heating source. You have the thermostat set to keep your maximum temperature at a certain point, at which the device providing heat turns off. Your thermostat has two possible heat sources, a main and an auxiliary. It depends on how the unit was wired which heat source is which. For example, you may have off-peak electric as your main heat source, and a gas-fired furnace as your auxiliary, a wood boiler as your main and a heat pump as auxiliary, etc. Normally, the auxiliary will only engage if the main is not functioning, but there are a host of options. It may be set to auxiliary. You can get your thermostat's manual as a download from Honeywell. You need to do this and read the exact instructions for your exact model. Without that, an answer is a mere guess.