Hot 2nd second floor in the summer. Fix hot upstairs in your home for less than $100

Do you have a two story home and the second floor is hot in the summer. Fix the problem for less than $100.
Items needed
air damper for hvac duct or air damper with hvac duct
smart thermostat
duct tape
drywall saw or oscillating tool

[@corygibson6551]

Hello! I am a hvac technician, installing an air damper is a solution for some cases. That said, there are a few drawbacks with leaving the blower motor on auto continuously, firstly, it prevents the A coil from returning to a normal temperature and properly drain excess water, while also fanning out small particles of water throughout your ductwork, thus leading to mold... which can then spread throughout the house in time while also leaving the air quality a bit musty. This could be solved or minimalized by installing a Dehumidifier on the main supply. Also, unless specified, leaving a blower motor on "on" can significantly reduce the lifespan of the motor, the part is about $100-$150 dollars but unless you know how to install it yourself, it could cost between $800-$1200 for a professional to do it for you. A sure fire way to fix this problem is to have a zoning system installed, which allows you to have a thermostat upstairs and down. The drawback with that solution is cost and wear and tear on your condenser working more to keep your upstairs cool. Proper upstairs ventilation is imperative, you should have vents allowing hot air to escape into your attic in the summer while also having proper ventilation in your attic to allow it to breathe and prevent mold growth. And don't forget ceiling fans for circulation :) if I failed to elaborate on anything or if anybody has any questions feel free to ask away!

[@felixchien1664]

Based on some comments, it sounds like the old man was getting a frozen a evap coil. So then is it possible that the reason for leaving the blower on was to keep thise coils from freezing over? It otherwise sounds like the blower may not be moving enough air.

[@AerialLensVideo]

Thanks for the video, and Cory - thanks for the info! We are in a real quandary and need more info. We live in a 1920's old two story house with very poor insulation (and that simply cannot be changed - long story). Because of its age, there was no such thing as central AC, so that was added in the 1960's. Our gigantic problem is we have FLOOR OUTLETS and RETURNS ONLY on first floor! There is a couple of duct that go upstairs, but those are almost ineffective. Our AC bill is enormous, and yes the upstairs is HOT all summer. No chance for a zone sytem (another long story), so we were all set to find somekind of smart thermostat which would leave the fan on at least another 30 min each cycle. But now we are hesitant - Frost? Mold? Our big AC unit is outside of course, and the exchanger and insulated ductwork is in the half-basement. We are in hot-and-humid-summer South Carolina. The basement is freezing, first floor is cold, second floor is an oven. Just don't know what to do. Go ahead and add the fan time? Willing to experiment for sure. THANKS AGAIN Oldman and Cory!

[@f430ferrari5]

@@AerialLensVideoyou ever come up with a solution for your issue. I don’t have a basement but to resolve the second floor hot issue, I simply have a fairly powerful fan downstairs and point it upward to the second floor. A down stairs window is slightly open as well as an upstairs window. So cool air is brought in from downstairs and pushes the hot air out upstairs. Has worked out quite well.

[@AerialLensVideo]

@@f430ferrari5 Yes, in fact we found a decent solution. I did not mention this old house has a very large "house exhaust fan" at one end of the upstairs hallway (it is incredibly useful in Spring and Fall, but has a large plywood cover over it in Summer and Winter). Our solution to the Summer heat upstairs was to install a louvered temperature-controlled exhaust fan set at about 76 degrees into the plywood that covers the house fan. The other end of the hallway has a screened window which is open a few inches. This does quite an acceptable job on warm days, and causes no noticeable issues on cooler days when it's not running (because the louvers on the added 14-inch fan remain closed).

[@f430ferrari5]

@@AerialLensVideo thanks for sharing. Nice. 👍 What about your ice cold basement. Any solution. I’ve always wondered if it’s possible to pump/force hot air down through a duct at one end house into a low point vent (warm air) and then have another duct that forces cool air from the basement up into the attic at a fairly high point vent. I guess the issue would be too long of a duct. Perhaps circulating air from the basement to the 1st floor could help balance things out too. While I have a solution for summer, I don’t have one for winter. Upstairs is more cozy while downstairs is too cold. My vents are near the top/ceiling. I wish houses were designed to have some vents open by the floor in the winter and use the top vents in the summer. Open and close certain ducts. Perhaps too inefficient. Not sure.

[@DB57RB]

Great video. Dampers should be required by code for all HVAC branch runs after they come off the main trunk line.

[@TheMcGuireLife]

Hi, this is Jermey McGuire. I previously had a 15 year old 5 ton Lennox XC16 air conditioner from 2009, and a 4 ton Goodman air conditioner from 2018. The Lennox air conditioner previously cooled the upstairs, that air conditioner didn’t cool under 80.” It was hot and miserable for the past 2 summers here in south Texas, Upstairs stayed hot and muggy. The downstairs air conditioner didn’t cool well, I got 2 brand new Goodman air conditioners out in 4 days ago. Thank god I have a/c before the south Texas summer starts!! My upstairs thermostats at a cool 78!!!! I’d rather be cool and comfortable than burning up. It’s going to be a scorching summer here in south Texas.” I’m ready to tackle the heat my thanks to my 2 brand new air conditioners will be keeping me cool!! 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶

[@jackspencer8290]

A few things. In spite of it's name, duct tape should not be used on duct work. One should use either mastic or foil tape. You have a loft-like space, where cold air can pour over your balcony (shown behind/above you) into your lower space. So closing off ducts feeding the downstairs to make this happen will work in *your* space. But a lot of people don't have such a space. A stairwell alone won't cut it. But the main thing about your solution is that it misses what is probably the main reason for why you have such a glaring difference in temperature between your living-space levels, and that is the situation in your attic! Has your attic floor been air-sealed? Does the attic have adequate insulation? These are two totally separate things. Both of them heavily impact this issue. A hot attic pushes heat down into the living space. This matters just as much in a hot climate as in a cold one.

[@kennethallred2348]

Nice!!! Very helpful - thanks!

[@romeisbak]

thanks for the advice!

[@CCCC-tq8yo]

Solution is move

[@Dylanhtd]

My Mortgage payment is much lower than what many pay in rent.. so not moving.

[@gnarkill32]

I tried closing some vents and the evaporator froze

[@Dylanhtd]

1) set a/c to auto and fan to on 2) set thermostat higher 3) adjust dampers to allow more or less air My a/c always froze because it was constantly on, I set to on instead of auto. The thermostat set to 65, 1st floor cool, but upstairs hot. Now after dampers installed on 1st floor, dampers almost shut to restrict flow to downstairs. Thermostat, which is on 1st floor, set to 75, comfortable down stairs and cooller up stairs

[@strykerstryker6380]

Great job old man

[@Dylanhtd]

I lost some weight, then looked like an old turtle, but gained some weight back, no longer an old turtle.

[@lag3432]

Would closing the second floor doors help?

[@CCCC-tq8yo]

Ur electricity is 1000 a month lol

[@Dylanhtd]

$1000+ total electric bill for the summer season, 4 months

[@sharicereesespieces11]

Father God he talks sooo slow! Get to the points!!!! Sheeesh

[@phortunateejimone207]

😅😅😅😅😅

[@kevinngnova]

Don't watch then shhheeesh