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How to Fix Uneven Heating and Cooling in a Two-Story Home
Uneven heating and cooling in your home can be a really frustrating experience. But if you’re experiencing this, there are some steps you can take to resolve the problem and make your house a more comfortable place to be.
We’ll outline those, as well as the causes of uneven cooling and heating below. So let’s get started.
What causes uneven cooling and uneven heating in a home?
There are lots of different reasons why this problem can occur, including:
- Improper HVAC system size for your home
- Unsealed ductwork
- Too many closed supply registers
- Leaky doors, windows, and other problems with insulation
- Uneven interior heat gain and sun exposure
If you’re not sure what’s causing your uneven heating or cooling problem, it’s best to ask a professional. Northern Climate Control can help you answer this question definitively so that you can fix it and get back to enjoying your HVAC unit throughout your home.
How to fix uneven cooling and heating in a two-story home
Given that there are many reasons why uneven cooling and heating occur, it makes sense that there are a lot of potential fixes for the problems as well. We’ll cover the major ones in this section.
Try a zoning system
Zoning systems let you control the climate in each separate “zone” of your house. This makes it a lot easier to control your home’s temperature whenever it starts to feel uneven.
Uncover and resolve underlying problems
It’s possible that there’s a simple fix to your problem that you’re just not seeing. For example, you might need to:
- Make sure nothing is blocking supply or return vents in some of your rooms
- Fix an insulation issue in your attic
- Change the settings on your thermostat
Consider replacing your air conditioner if it’s more than 10 years old
Air conditioners are only built to last for about 10-15 years. So if yours is older than that and you’re having this issue, it could be a sign that it’s time to replace the unit.
Seal and insulate your ductwork
Sealing and insulating your ductwork improves the flow of air throughout your home. The net result of that improvement is that you should end up with fewer hot and cold spots in different rooms.
Make sure that no more than 1/5 of your supply registers are closed
Closing more than one-fifth of your supply registers can hamper airflow and create hot and cold spots in your home. You might be able to fix the problem by only closing some of the vents partway instead of all of the way.
Seal your windows and doors
Both warm and cold air can seep through windows and doors if they aren’t properly sealed. So fixing this problem might mean adding some new weatherstripping and caulk to these parts of your home.
Add insulation to your walls and ceiling
A lot of heat can escape through your walls and ceiling if they aren’t properly insulated. Attic insulation can be especially important for two-story homes.
Bring down interior heat gain during the day
Sometimes, an uneven climate in your home is a result of the way that you use it. For example, your kitchen might gain more heat in the day if you use the oven a lot. And that could make it tougher to cool down than a bedroom that receives no extra heat from your activities.
That means fixing your uneven climate might mean changing your habits – or at least coming up with a strategy for counteracting them like using a zoning system.
Northern Climate Control can help you fix your uneven home climate
Northern Climate Control offers comprehensive HVAC maintenance and repairs to residents of Littleton and the entire Denver Metro Area.
If you’re having trouble with uneven heating or cooling in your home, we can help you solve it.
