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Our second floor is always freezing. The furnace is located in basement, the first floor is a nice temperature but only a breathe of heat reaches up to the 2nd level. We live in a cape house so upstairs is only our master bedroom and bathroom. We have a knee wall storage alongside the attic.
A HVAC contractor recommend that we install another heating/cooling unit inside the knee wall storage with its own thermostat and this will cost me about $3500.
We are new homeowners and not sure if this is a common thing. Is the contractor just trying to get money from us? Will my utility bill doubles? Our month PSE&G bill already avg at $350. Am I better off running an electric heater upstairs and window A/C? We are planning to live in this house forever so we are also concerned about spending so much upfront and not get a return from our investment.
How is the insulation?
Capes are famous for being a bit more difficult to insulate. The floor between the kneewalls need to be insulated, as well as the kneewalls, 45 degree sloped ceiling and the top attic. You also need airflow from the soffitt and the peak if vented, so there many times is not enough room to get enough insulation in that sloped part and still have ventilation.
You may need to fur out the sloped part and add insulation.
Check the insulation before you spend money on new HVAC. Have the ductwork checked for balance. A cape should only need one furnace....but the ductwork has to be balanced correctly.
I agree with Frank, and will add that this sounds much more like a ductwork issue than anything else. If heat was coming up but the upstairs was still cold, I would put more emphasis on insulation.
BTW, since hot air rises and the upstairs is cold, be prepared for it to be an absolute oven in the summer.
It's common for the upstairs to be colder, no matter how good the insulation. I'm a huge advocate of all the insulation you can get, but physics are dictating the top will always be hotter in the summer, and colder in the winter.
I live in an area with many two story homes, and all of them come with two A/C systems, one for the top, one for the bottom. It's the only way you will get efficient temperature control, unless you have figured out how to defeat the law of physics...!
It won't cost double, because you only use one at a time. The unit on downstairs during the daytime hours, the upstairs unit on at night, or whatever your lifestyle dictates..
It's common for the upstairs to be colder, no matter how good the insulation. I'm a huge advocate of all the insulation you can get, but physics are dictating the top will always be hotter in the summer, and colder in the winter.
I live in an area with many two story homes, and all of them come with two A/C systems, one for the top, one for the bottom. It's the only way you will get efficient temperature control, unless you have figured out how to defeat the law of physics...!
It won't cost double, because you only use one at a time. The unit on downstairs during the daytime hours, the upstairs unit on at night, or whatever your lifestyle dictates..
What physics book are you using? All of mine says heat rises. Which would tend to back-up why even in houses with NO heat registers in the upstairs are still decent temps even in the coldest winters. I owned a house in Caribou, ME with no heat registers in the upstairs and it NEVER dropped below 65 in the upstairs even when it was -40+ outside.
If you are getting technical on us, then you are correct that heat energy itself does NOT rise. Heat is energy and doesn't have physical properties that would allow it to rise or sink. BUT, it does transfer that energy to air which expands when it is warm, therefore making it less dense than cool air. The warmer, less dense air will then "float" above the dense cool air, thus moving the heat energy upwards with it.
Must be a California thing, I've never seen a house in the North with dual heating/cooling systems, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. I've seen them for giant houses, but they were split side to side or front to back depending on the lay-out of the house.
I live in an area with many two story homes, and all of them come with two A/C systems, one for the top, one for the bottom. It's the only way you will get efficient temperature control, unless you have figured out how to defeat the law of physics...!
Well, I live in a two story house with one central A/C system in the attic. It cools evenly and effectively.
I also agree with Frank in that you first should check the insulation and air flow in the walls.
There should be zero airflow and insulation is probably nill or was pentrated. The 2nd floor should never be cold because hot air rises. Add sufficient insulation and close off all air holes that allow cold from going inside then change your windows to double insulated glass. Do the new windows first then max out the wall and ceiling insulation. Your Summers upstairs would be cooler if you add an A/C unit to the top floor.
I believe you might have a bigger return on investment by doing the insulation first, then windows later.
Usually you have about 50% heat loss from your attic areas, (up), and about 19% loss from your windows. Other factors could affect this.
I believe you might have a bigger return on investment by doing the insulation first, then windows later.
Usually you have about 50% heat loss from your attic areas, (up), and about 19% loss from your windows. Other factors could affect this.
Frank
Agreed! The roof/walls are a huge area, and once you stop or slow down the heat either escaping in the winter, or radiating through in the summer, the house will be much more even temp. Then do the windows.
Thanks everyone for your response. The HVAC guy came back and provide me with 3 quotes for 3 different brand system. The price for 2 tons Carrier unit to heat/cool 3 bedrooms and ductwork is $7800!!
I'm pretty sure the insulation in our bedroom attic is very light. In the kneewall, I can see some pink insulation and there are parts with no insulation at all. Our bedroom also has 4 sky lights and that could be the culprit for heat loss. The windows are new double-glass and I don't feel breeze coming through so those are good. The wall opposite kneewall is also sloped so the only way to check for insulation is to open up the walls.
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