cooling down a 2 story house (Howe: credit, water heater, buy)

[Paka]

Look into the Heatbloc-75...it has made a HUGE difference in our home.

HeatBLOC-75 - High-Efficiency Attic Heat Barrier

It is effective enough it qualifies for a CPS rebate! We can really feel the difference upstairs since we did this, and we have had an attic fan all along.

[banker]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

Lil rayg has a heat problem...


Maybe turn down that oven a notch?

I always told myself, when I build a house out in the country, I'm going to make a really nice patio for the gas grill and do my cooking outside during the summers so the heat stays out of the house. It's the reason BBQ is so important in Texas...back in the day we had no A/C so us Texans did our cooking outdoors so the heat stays out. Look at the construction of old Texas homes built in the early 1900s...vaulted ceilings.

If the system is ducted properly the system should be able to compensate for cooking in your kitchen in the summer.

[banker]

Originally Posted by Paka

Look into the Heatbloc-75...it has made a HUGE difference in our home.

HeatBLOC-75 - High-Efficiency Attic Heat Barrier

It is effective enough it qualifies for a CPS rebate! We can really feel the difference upstairs since we did this, and we have had an attic fan all along.

My parents are having this put into their older home. Great idea. Keeping as much heat out of your attic will reduce stress on your A/C system since most people's ducts run through their hot attic.

I am surprised at how many builders don't offer radiant barrier when building. This is a no brainer when you are building your house - it was a $250 upgrade for my home and we have had very low bills in the summer months. Pulte in particular doesn't offer this as an option. If you are building - make sure to choose a builder that offers as many energy efficient upgrades as possible - it factors into the long term cost/value of the house. Having a radiant barrier sprayed in after the fact is expensive. My parents home single story (2,700 square feet plus 500 square foot garage) home is going to cost nearly $3,000 to have this after market radiant barrier sprayed in. Do it at construction! It will save you money down the road.

[banker]

Originally Posted by cwh

We have 2 story house with 2 thermostats. There is no air return upstairs, and that makes it a bit hard to regulate temp upstairs in the summer.

By two thermostats I assume you mean you have two zones? That is a nice feature (I have a zoned house and love it) but I am surprised the builder went to the trouble of adding zones but didn't duct the house properly for return air. If you are still under your builder warranty - I would see if they would get the A/C contractor to come out and add one for the second floor - preferably one in the ceiling. My builder was great working with me on making sure the house was ducted properly. We have a large ceiling mounted return air register in the center of the house on the main floor (2,700 square feet), one in the master bedroom (also on the main floor) and one in the bonus bedroom/bath that is on the second level (400 square feet). All are located in the ceiling and work extremely well. We have no issue heating or cooling the second floor. The only down size is that we have three different filter sizes to buy/replace. It is worth it to have a comfortable house year round.

Builders should realize that in the south - you need to have the return air at the ceiling because during most of the year we are attempting to cool our house which requires pulling the hot air (which is at the ceiling) out of the house and replacing it with cool air.

[cwh]

Originally Posted by banker

By two thermostats I assume you mean you have two zones? That is a nice feature (I have a zoned house and love it) but I am surprised the builder went to the trouble of adding zones but didn't duct the house properly for return air. If you are still under your builder warranty - I would see if they would get the A/C contractor to come out and add one for the second floor - preferably one in the ceiling. My builder was great working with me on making sure the house was ducted properly. We have a large ceiling mounted return air register in the center of the house on the main floor (2,700 square feet), one in the master bedroom (also on the main floor) and one in the bonus bedroom/bath that is on the second level (400 square feet). All are located in the ceiling and work extremely well. We have no issue heating or cooling the second floor. The only down size is that we have three different filter sizes to buy/replace. It is worth it to have a comfortable house year round.

Builders should realize that in the south - you need to have the return air at the ceiling because during most of the year we are attempting to cool our house which requires pulling the hot air (which is at the ceiling) out of the house and replacing it with cool air.

The zoning was a retorfit after we moved in. It took care of the huge temp differerence between upstairs and down. However, the heat get trapped near the thermostats, which mean the temp on the thermostat has to be adjusted to the temp outside.

[cwh]

Originally Posted by Paka

Look into the Heatbloc-75...it has made a HUGE difference in our home.

HeatBLOC-75 - High-Efficiency Attic Heat Barrier

It is effective enough it qualifies for a CPS rebate! We can really feel the difference upstairs since we did this, and we have had an attic fan all along.

Does it affect the use of cell phones? That has been on concerb about such products.

[Spock's Beard]

basic science: hot air rises, cold air falls.

Cooling down multi-level structures always works best when the cool air is pumped up to the highest level. But a lot of air conditioning systems with the ventilation at the bottom floor as well as the top, they lose a lot of the cool air on the ground floor before it reaches the top floor, and due to the hot air rising, the top floor feels warmer.

During the summer, try closing or reducing the flow from lower-floor vents to get more of the cool air going on the upper floor.

[WilGar]

Originally Posted by cwh

Does it affect the use of cell phones? That has been on concerb about such products.

The answer is MAYBE.

My house is pier and beam construction. The beams are metal I-Beams.

My Nokia works fine, my wife's last phone did not[she had to go to the window], her I phone works fine. It seems the problem is cell phone specific and not necessarily the attic product.

[pobre]

Installing solar screens on your windows, especially the ones that face the west and south will go a long way, too.

[banker]

Originally Posted by Spock's Beard

basic science: hot air rises, cold air falls.

Cooling down multi-level structures always works best when the cool air is pumped up to the highest level. But a lot of air conditioning systems with the ventilation at the bottom floor as well as the top, they lose a lot of the cool air on the ground floor before it reaches the top floor, and due to the hot air rising, the top floor feels warmer.

During the summer, try closing or reducing the flow from lower-floor vents to get more of the cool air going on the upper floor.

Which is why having a return air register in the ceiling on each floor will help to pull that hot air (that as science says - will rise) out of the house and more efficiently replace it will conditioned air.

Spending the money to add a return air duct in the ceiling of the second floor would be worth every dime spent.