This content was created by Derek Cole. This content was uploaded by Derek Cole. This is a podcast episode titled "250. Upstairs Is Hotter" (recorded 2020-11-10). The excerpt is a single-speaker explanation about home heating/cooling dynamics—why upstairs tends to be warmer than downstairs, the impact of thermostat placement, attic and ductwork considerations, and practical solutions such as zoning a single HVAC system (or, less preferably, installing two units) to provide separate upstairs and downstairs temperature control.
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The problem with one unit covering both is that you have different demands upstairs than you have downstairs. So when you look at a house and think about it, heat rises, obviously, right? So when he rises upstairs typically would be warmer than downstairs. Right. So chances are I've seen this before. The thermostat is downstairs. You have a unit that runs the whole house up and down. So to get upstairs comfortable, you then have to make downstairs freezing. When I first got married, we lived in an apartment that was two stories but had one unit. So I mean, when you went downstairs at nighttime, it was like, you better put on like a big coat and everything because it can't happen. Because upstairs you have more of a load than you have downstairs. Downstairs heat rises. You also have the attic upstairs. So you have these forces you're going against. You have the attic, you have windows, you have upstairs heat rises. And downstairs, of course, cold air falls. And you don't have an attic downstairs. And the crawl space is not that much of a heat load compared to an attic. So it's different demand. So how you solve that problem is either two units or what we've done quite a few times, which is zoning. You make downstairs one zone, you make upstairs one zone. It's very simple. If you have a unit that covers up and downstairs right now, you can very simply make it a two zone system. That way you have a thermostat downstairs, you have a thermostat upstairs, you can keep it that temperature you want, you keep it that temperature you want, and it can make it work that way. So the challenge with some houses is that there is not that duck chase in the house for the duct to be run to have one unit for the whole home. But if you already have that, obviously that's available. But you just need to make it a zoning situation. I wouldn't get two units. I would just zone it upstairs, downstairs. And that will solve the problem. But until you do that, it is what it is. I mean, the thermostat downstairs, upstairs is warmer. In the summertime it's going to be. So you just going to have to freeze it out downstairs and get upstairs as comfortable as possible. Let the peace go. Let's.
