Need advice on air conditioning dilemma

9 years ago

I have moved into a small 3 bedroom cottage on a cove, built in 2001. It has central heat/ac with forced hot air. The heat is gas, and the ac is electric. In the 2 years I have been here, the temperatures have always been problematic. The ac more so than the heat. There is a 15 degree difference between the basement and the second floor. If I want the bedrooms on the second floor to be in the mid 70s, I need to keep the first floor at 68, which puts the basement at about 60. There is my office, a guest room, laundry and full bath in the basement. Basically, there are two temperatures in my house - TOO HOT, and TOO COLD. I tried shutting off some of the vents, and promptly froze the whole system. The plumber who responded to my call quoted me a price of about $10,000 to fix the problem, have new heating and cooling systems, with zones, installed. OUCH! I have heard about the ductless systems and am wondering if anyone has any experience with these.

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Comments (4)

PRO
PPF.
9 years ago
Try several HVAC contractors. Ask each to identify the cause of the problem, and to provide their solution.

Ask if they are using Manual J, Manual S and Manual D calculations to make their recommendations.

Manual J calculates heating and cooling loads, Manual S is equipment selection and Manual D is duct design.

Ductless systems may be an option, but are not inexpensive.

In a multi floor home, in summer you want more cold air delivered to the upper floors, in winter, it's reversed -- more warm air to lower floors. Makes proper design of the HVAC installation difficult.
paulamig
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks so much, ppf. I am quite the novice at all of this.
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PRO
User
9 years ago
Ppf offers a great suggestion. You may benefit from an energy audit too, particularly a blower door test. The test can help find leaks in your building envelope as well as leaks in your duct system. If the conditioned air is escaping the ducting before it reaches the upper rooms, it will be cooler lower than upstairs.

You also may have an air return issue, where the air upstairs is not returning to the air conditioner to be recooled and recirculated. This can be caused by blocking vents that do not seem to be working when the ac is on.

Sometimes there are ducts with manual gates that have to be opened or closed depending on which season it is.

You can have an ac unit that is sized too big. This is possible since you mentioned the ac condenser froze when closing a few vents. The calculations Ppf described would help determine that.
ispoildogs
9 years ago
I had a similar temperature issue in my current house which was built in 1972. After a day of running the air conditioner the family room would be freezing and the bedroom above it felt like the air wasn't even on. I had an energy audit done as described by Closet Experts above and the biggest part of our solution was adding insulation in the attic and walls. We also installed additional weather stripping around a couple doors and added a strategically placed ceiling fan to assist air flow and we're much happier now. I highly recommend an energy audit in your case.