Heater question

[Gunslinger]

Now I understand the basic principles of HOT AIR RISING but my new house has a heating problem.  It only seems to heat the upstairs.

The heater in question is an electric heat pump type.  The thermostat is downstairs so the upstairs feels like a damn sauna and the downstairs remains and ambient.  Any idears?

[Ripper29]

Close some of your upstairs vents....let the hot air heat the lower floors and gently rise to your upper floors and wrap  you in its warm embrace

[Morpheus]

Maybe Ceiling fan at the top of the stairs or try closing off some of the heat vents upstairs.

[Toad]

Make sure the cold air returns are clear (run your shop vac hose down into them as far as they will go. I once found soda cans and all kinds of trash in a "new construction" return; might as well vac out  the heater vents too.) and the furnace filter isn't plugged up.

As someone said, it's a balancing act. You've got to close down the upstairs heater vents until they are basically in balance with the cold air return volume or maybe even a bit less.

[nuchpatrick]

This may sound odd, but A/C & Heat systems are balanced so you get proper airflow though out the home. Also could be simple as a crushed air duct.

If this is a new home, they did not balance it correctly. Could be simple as needing a return in the 1st story section of the home. A improperly installed central air system can cause big problems.. If your having problems now wait till summer comes.

I'm in the refrigeration business, as my new home was being build I caught several issues with the installation of my A/C system.

[Gunslinger]

interesting,

Toad where are the "cold air returns" located at?  Is that the vent right below the heater (wich is also upstairs btw)

Thanks for the info about the vents though, I'll try that.  This isn't a "new home" it's 5 years old but it is MY new home.  

[Mustaine]

what others have said... also some HVAC systems have flues in the lines you can open and close

i am guessing you dont have a basement, so you may not have access to the actual pipes, but it is something to check for.


the person made the comment about closind the upstairs registers, that can help but too much it can backfire, overheat the downstairs and never put "real" heat upstairs.

[Mustaine]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
Toad where are the "cold air returns" located at?  Is that the vent right below the heater (wich is also upstairs btw)

cold air returs are the much larger vents, usually in the main room on the main floor of the house.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Mustaine
cold air returs are the much larger vents, usually in the main room on the main floor of the house.

Gotcha, my heater/AC is upstairs near the bedrooms and there's a huge vent right below it, I havn't seen any downstairs but I havn't looked for them yet.

[Toad]

Your system should have "output" ductwork as well as "input" or "return" air system.

The return system will have a replaceable filter so that air coming back into the furnace (and ac) ducting will have some of the dust and trash removed.

Basically, in a small bedroom for example, there should be TWO vents. One blows out when the heater fan is on and the other allows the furnace fan to suck air back through the ducting and through the filter to be reused/recycled by the furnance and sent back out to the bedroom.

To get proper circulation and heating/cooling you have to balance these vents throughout the house. Hot air tends to rise, as you know, so generally the downstairs output vents are opened a bit more than the upstairs vents. The "blowing power" of the furnace pretty much equals the "sucking power" of the furnace but you have unequal length ducting between the heater and each room. Your trick is to get it blowing and sucking equally in each room. It's all just trial and error and fiddling with vents.

I see that we have professional HVAC guys advising you in this thread, so I'll just back out with my crude "homeowners knowledge". I'm sure they know more and can suggest more techniques than I.

But starting out with trash free ducting is a good first step.  

[Toad]

Hmmm... them there Tejas houses may not use a separate cold air return duct for each room. You may have an area return. Harder to balance those!

[NattyIced]

House I live in only has two retur. One right by the heating/air conditioning unit and the other in the living room. The only balance it has is by shutting off the vents nearest the unit to force more heating/cooling to the rest of the house.

[Mustaine]

Originally posted by Toad
Hmmm... them there Tejas houses may not use a separate cold air return duct for each room. You may have an area return. Harder to balance those!

yeah, it sounds like how they do it in apartments here in wisco.

if the HVAC system is in a "closet" in the upper part of the house, there probably is only 1 return right in that room.

there also may be one in the ceiling below or near below the system on the lower level.

but you are right. it is all about partially closing and opening all the vents around the house.

something you can do gunslinger is manually turn on the "fan" of the system at the thermostat, then just wander the house and play around.

[rpm]

You might check to see if you have 2 units. Some 2 story houses have seperate upstairs/downstairs units.

[Jackal1]

My dad and Mom had the same problem with anew house they built.
We moved the thermostat about halfway up the wall on the staircase and the probelm was solved.