Heat regulation - 2 story house

[bhowle]

This seems as good a place as any to ask this question, so here goes -

We have a well insulated 2 story house - the first floor is always a bit chilly and the upstairs is usually way too hot. We tried closing the registers on the second floor, but it's still too hot.

Anyone have a solution to this problem?

-bob

[Sand Flat Bob]

This is a typical problem of a 2 story house. The best way is to take care of the problem when building it. Zone it in two zones, one upstairs and one down stairs. Also the two must be isolated, meaning no open stairs etc. Just remember that heat rises and if you can stop this, your problem will be smaller.

Bob

[Ross]

Are there not balancing dampers on the ductwork off the main trunk? Closing registers isn't very effective.

[suitcase_sally]

How to solve your problem would relate to what type of heat you have. I have hot water heat. Three zones - one downstairs and two upstairs.

[rambler]

So what do you have for heat? Ducted hot air we can guess, but what kinda furnace? Do you have cold air return - some don't.

What kind of house? Any rooms or additions, second story add-ons? Full basement, no basement, where is the furnace located?

Biggest one - do you have an open stair or can you shut off the stairs with a door? And are you using that door? Not much you can do with an open stair, the heat will always rise & the bottom floor will always be drafty from the coller air pouring down the stairs - period.

--->Paul

[Wolf mom]

I couldn't close off the stairwell so I dropped a fan from the ceiling above the landing. It was always on low, summer & winter. That seemed to work along with keeping the upstairs doors shut. Yes, there's plenty of head room.
That's about the cheapest thing I know to do that worked.

[primal1]

I have the same problem here so I hung thick curtain down the banister of the stairs and another at the foot of the stairway, helps a lot.

[Jenn]

separate heating systems- artificial heating/cooling we run the other floor much less and let the heat rise or cool air fall and it often works out. run fans nearest stairs. In fall and spring we chimney the heat out (or more rarely in- on some sunny mornings) with open windows around the stairs and a fan exhausting upstairs if the air movement on its own isn't enough.

[perennial]

You would really have to give so much more information. Also i highly suggest going to hvac-talk.com

We have been having a heating saga - 3 months long on our brand new 2 zoned geo thermal unit. Hubby has done so much work on it because installer won't admit they screwed up. We've almost got it figured out/balanced and what process.

My big question/comment would be concerning dampers - in ductwork at vents AND do you have a proper return upstairs?

[ailsaek]

We tried duct taping the vents closed upstairs. That was nice for a while. I swear if I ever get to build my own house, I just won't heat the upstairs at all.