[sharper11]

We have central air condition in our townhouse. The downstairs is very cool, but the upstairs is warm. On a hot night (80 or above) my wife and I are forced to sleep downstairs. Any ideas?

The vents upstairs are open. The second bedroom (furthest travel for the air) barely blows out air. I know it's typical for the upstairs to be warmer, but this seems a little extreme.

[RickJ]

Look close at your lines going to the upstairs to be sure that no "levers" are closed or only partially open. Also check those lines to be sure that there are no gaps where forced air comes out before it gets to those upstairs rooms.

Is this the first year that you have run into this problem?

How long have you lived there?

[sharper11]

First year here. Moved in November. -- I'll check what you have suggested. There is a big difference between downstairs and upstairs. :/

[sharper11]

Not to sound like a moron, but what do you mean by lines? (Assuming you mean the duct)

[RickJ]

Yes, start at the inside unit and follow the ducts that go to the upstairs.

If it's your first year there, then you may be finding that your a/c package is not strong enough to adequately cool the upstairs... but start with the simple stuff to be sure that no lines are turned off or have gaps. If you find gaps where air is blowing out (in the lines going to upstairs) seal them with foil duct tape.

[sharper11]

Awesome. It seems as though the airflow is OK to the upstairs accept for 1 room (The furthest travel for the air). And , I'm not quite sure, but that same room seems to have air blowing out of what looks like an intake (the cover is an intake cover) but there is not air blowing out of the vent cover (I'm just assuming someone put the wrong covers on). Thanks for your feedback RickJ! --- BTW, the attic is REALLY hot, I break a sweat immediately going up there. Should there be a vent in the attic?

[RickJ]

No, do NOT try to heat or cool your attic.

Let us know how it goes with getting some more flow to that room upstairs.

[sharper11]

Good to know :)

[sharper11]

I turned off ALL but 1 vent downstairs. Checked for a leak (no leaks from what I can tell). The Second bedroom (last with airflow) is in an odd location in the house. It is the only vent that does not come off "Metal Ducts", there is actually an Insulated / flexible / round (black) "duct" (not metal) extending from the metal duct through the attic and into the ceiling of that room. All other rooms upstairs have vents on the floor. (make sense why the room is getting poor airflow). --- It was done because of where the steps are positioned in relation to the Duct work. That bedroom is located overtop of metal ducts. (make sense). I flipped the switch to the ceiling fan upstairs so that it pull air up, last night seemed cooler, I'm hoping this balances the airflow. Unfortunately, I do not have money for a major change to the AC.

[RickJ]

Now you see why that room is not getting good flow. The line to it is very long, and the air that goes through it is getting "heated up" while it's going through the attic.

Typically the room with the longest run will get the least heat or cooling from the system... and then to boot you have the line getting warmed up or cooled down by being in the attic before it reaches the room.

All you can do is use ceiling fans well and partially close some of the other vents to try to force more air into the room where it's bad.

[sharper11]

Thanks for your advice Rick. In the future, I will be looking to upgrade the AC/Heat.. . When I have the means to finance it.

[shad3113]

Also u might try a vent fan in the attic in summer the hat air gets trapped up there with no where to go so that in turn makes the upstairs hotter I installed one and noticed a big difference