30 October 2015
 Categories: , Articles

Living in a two-story house has its benefits, but there are also issues you might have. One issue you might be dealing with is uneven temperatures on each floor of your home. This typically occurs in two-story homes when there is only one thermostat in the house. There are ways you can fix this problem, but you might need to hire a contractor that specializes in heating and air conditioning repair. Here are two things to understand about uneven temperatures in two-story homes.

Why This Occurs

When two-story homes are built today, the HVAC contractors typically install two zones. There is a zone to control the main floor and one to control the upper floor. In older homes, this is not always the case. Older two-story homes that have only one thermostat do not have two zones. They have one zone, which is used to control the heating and cooling in the entire home. This creates an issue for several reasons.

The first reason is because heat rises. If your thermostat is on your main floor, it will run during the winter until it reaches the desired temperature you have it set to. As this occurs, heat is forced into your home on both floors through the register vents or radiators. In addition, the heat forced into your main floor will naturally rise. Because of this, you will probably notice that the upstairs in your house is really hot, while the main floor might be too cold.

The second reason this happens is from drafts. If your one thermostat is not located in the right place, it might cause the furnace to run even more than it should. This can occur when a thermostat is located on an exterior wall or too close to a window or door. The result of this can be an even hotter upstairs in your home.

Ways To Fix The Problem

One option you could try for fixing this problem involves closing off the heat going to the upstairs rooms. If you have register vents in your home, go upstairs and close all of them. If you have radiators, close them if possible. If heat is not delivered to these rooms, the upstairs will stay cooler. Your furnace will still produce the same amount of heat, but all of the heat will then be pushed into the main floor. The upstairs will probably still be warm enough, though, simply because the heat from the main floor will still rise.

If this step does not help enough, you could consider relocating your thermostat. If the thermostat is not in an ideal location, an HVAC company like Winters Heating Cooling & Indoor Air Quality could move it. This step can be helpful, but only when a thermostat is not positioned properly in a house.

A third option you could consider is adding another thermostat and zone in your house. This option might be costly to do, but it would make a huge difference in the temperature in your house. Separating the upstairs from the downstairs would create two zones in your house, and you would then have the ability to control each one individually.

To do this, an HVAC contractor would have to complete three main steps. The first step is installing another thermostat on the main floor. The second step will involve installing dampers in the air ducts. In most cases, an HVAC company would also need to install a panel on the furnace to control the zones. This panel would be responsible for opening and closing the dampers in the air ducts.

Installing a second zone in your house will not only allow you to have a more comfortable temperature on each floor, but it will also help you save money on heating and cooling costs.

If you would like to learn more about this issue, contact a company that offers heating and air conditioning repairs today. They can help you come up with an ideal solution to make your home more comfortable to live in.