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ggtygfug1 · Jun 22, 2009, 07:29 PM

I live in the state of FL and in the summer months my 2nd floor in my home gets so hot it takes hrs to cool down. The air runs all day and never turns off. Can some one give me some advice on how to cool it down a little quicker? I have been told to get an attic fan, upgrade my insulation in the attic or even get a bigger air condenser so my system runs better. Please help!!

justcurious55 · Jun 22, 2009, 07:42 PM

Take the advice you've been given...
Hot air rises. I've been in a lot of two story homes. It's always hotter upstairs. Running fans and opening windows when it cools at night helps some but that's really only at night.

Fr_Chuck · Jun 22, 2009, 07:46 PM

Yes, all the air from down stairs ( hot air) will come up stairs before it is gone. ** somewhat anyway***

Also how many air vents do you have upstairs, do you have a separate unit for upstairs. How is the air ducts ran upstairs, and are they insulated.
What type of attic insulation do you have.

twinkiedooter · Jun 22, 2009, 07:48 PM

If you are in Florida chances are your second story will always be hot unless the roof and attic area is properly insulated. Have you tried painting the roof white? Sometimes that helps tremendously just changing the color of the roof to white. And also the insulation in the walls and ceilings on the second floor need to be addressed. Also do you have older windows? Those need to be checked for leaks. Also do you have reflective window film on the windows? You would be shocked to know how much heat a window can let in that is not covered with reflective film. I lived in South Florida and on the windows that faced west I actually had two layers of reflective film on and that made a huge difference in the room being cool. There are many tricks with windows that you are probably not aware of. You also need to have reflective drapes that you close in the daytime to keep the light and heat out of the room if you don't want to go the reflective film route. Also you need to properly caulk around the windows inside and outside to keep the outside air from coming in when the a/c is turned on. You would be surprised at how much hot air gets into your home as the a/c fan is very powerful and sucks in a lot of outside air into your home. You can also look into some energy efficient windows as well.

wmproop · Jun 22, 2009, 08:11 PM

All the above advice is good. Has anyone did a manual J workup to be sure the a/c system is big enough? Do you have only one ac cooling both floors? Its possible you might need another ac added for the top floor. Has the freon been checked to insure that your system is doing all it can/should be doing?

ggtygfug1 · Jun 23, 2009, 03:45 AM

Thanks for great ideas so far. The house is only 6 years old so my window are new and caulked OK. I think the insulation is r19 if that sounds correct and for my ac unit I have a 4 ton air handler and a 3 1/2 ton condenser. I just had AC repair guy at the house last week and he added in some Freon and advised that I should go to a bigger condenser such as a 4 ton. Will this help? My house is just about 2100 sq feet. I thought about a 2nd unit for upstairs but wanted to see if there was a cheaper solution before spending that much money.

wmproop · Jun 23, 2009, 06:24 PM

Has this been a problem for all the 6 years you have been there?

ggtygfug1 · Jun 23, 2009, 06:46 PM

Yes It has

wmproop · Jun 23, 2009, 07:08 PM

Do you have enough return? Is there a return in the upstairs area? Are the supply ducts to the upstairs big enough / or are there enough supply vents?

ggtygfug1 · Jun 23, 2009, 11:40 PM

How do I know what enough is? Right now the one I have is 18x24 and it is located at the top half way up my steps on the wall. I also had another 12x12 put in last year in my sons bedroom that is upstairs as well. I don't know the exact size of the supply vents but they don't look to small. They seem to be the average size and I have one in each bed room and closet...