Two-Story Homes in Phoenix (rental, house, construction)

[LBear]

How bad is it to cool off the second floor with 2-story homes in Phoenix? I see that the 2-story home are getting popular but was wondering how bad is it to cool off the 2nd floor in the summer?

[aguafria]

We used to live in a two story home out here. We had two different air conditioning units (one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs) During the day I would just turn off the upstairs air and leave the downstairs one on. We saved a lot by doing that. And at night, it didn't take very long for the upstairs to cool down when we were going to bed.

[markas214]

People have posted their electricity use on here and square footage and pools seem to be a much greater factor. I was surprised that a second story didn't add much to the bill.

[imtaya2]

we have a 2 story home and 2 units. when we are upstairs we bring the temp up downstairs so the unit shuts down and reverse

[roundball]

We have one unit in our home. 2 of the upstairs bedrooms are over the garage. Unfortunately its not insulated very well/at all. They are both cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I would say between a 5* to 10* difference.

One of these days I'll get motivated and tear out the ceiling of the garage and add some insulation.

[Great Joy]

I agree that pools seem to be a much greater factor than a second story. We have a two story and when we compared our electricity bill with others with similar square footage (even one story homes) we found we had a lower bill. Our house faces north/south and we have 2X6 construction which also helps with the extra insulation.

[roadrunner1]

Is the higher electric bill on pools due to the pump running most of the time? I thought you had the pump on a timer.

[KK85297]

I think it totally depends on how well-constructed the home is and what the layout is.

We live in a cheaply-built newer construction rental home. The upstairs master bedroom pretty much never gets below 87 degrees in the middle of summer, no matter how much air you blast into it. We have had to rely on fans up there. The other bedrooms are "okay"- not as oppressively hot.

The home has only one A/C unit (probably why!) and in the summer our electric bill runs about $450 without a pool.

I have also met people who have better-built homes with 2 a/c units and have the master bedroom in a similar location with similar results. Our master is located directly at the front of the home, at the farthest point from the actual A/C unit out back.

Whatever the reason, it sucks to have a hot bedroom in the summer! Talk about a bad night's sleep!

[sierraAZ]

This thread looks like a good place to ask what I've been wondering. I have one unit, but two thermostats (on each floor). Does anybody know if it makes any difference as far as electricity usage goes if just one of them is on or not?

[Bungle]

My two story home has one A/C unit and the upstairs master bedroom is the coldest place in the house. When we're home our thermostat is set for 77 and our bill runs about $225 a month in the summer (no pool).