Hot upstairs, cold downstairs - http://www.hvacmechanic.com/ Forums

Original message

goodnuzz

71.105.42.41

"Hot upstairs, cold downstairs" , posted Sun 9 Nov 14:00

I have a 2 story house with forced air heat.
We are 7000 ft. above sea level with full blown winters and mild summers.
The lower level is always cold in the winter and upper level, always hot.
How can I balance the heat?
I was told of registers with individual thermostats on them, that open and close according to the temp. set, have you heard of them and will they work? What are they called?
Any other suggestions?

Replies:

Freon

74.243.124.127

"Re(1):Hot upstairs, cold downstairs" , posted Sun 9 Nov 15:50

Since hot air rises, much of your 1st floor heat is going upstairs. The answer is to increase the air flow to the downstairs and let the natural convection help with the upstairs. However you first need to do some homework.

Draw a complete picture of your duct system. Count all the supply registers (hot air out) in every room segregated by 1st and 2nd floor locations. Tell us the make and model number of the furnace.

The problem is that your furnace needs a certain amount of air flow through the furnace so it doesn't overheat. If you stop air flow to the upstairs registers, that may decrease the total air flow to where your furnace will overheat. The option is to then add some new supply registers to the 1st floor so the air flow is once again where it needs to be for your furnace to be happy.

Possibly you can increase the diameter of ducts feeding the 1st floor registers. Until you understand your duct system completely you won't get an good solution.