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Heating & Air Conditioning

Help!! Upstairs too hot, Basement freezing

15 years ago

During our remodel this past fall, we put in a new Rheem 90+ modulating furnace and 3.5 ton 16 SEER AC unit. We live near Washington DC and our house is about 3000 sq. ft finished including the basement. But now that it has gotten warmer, we are finding that the upstairs/bedroom level of the house is too hot and it's not even June yet! The thermostat is located on the main level, which is comfortable when set at 72 degrees, but the basement is freezing (we have closed off the vents down there) while the upstairs level is hovering around 78 degrees. We have baseboard vents throughout our 1940's colonial and our attic is unfinished, but we just had it reinsulated. What is the best way to fix this problem? We are thinking we need a 2nd system just for the upstairs and then run new ducts from the attic into each bedroom's ceiling (so the cold air drops). The HVAC company who put our new system in is coming out on Monday to look at everything, but they suggested either a "mini-split" system or adding another air handler. Can anyone tell me what these are exactly and what might be the best option for our situation? Also is the mini-split system like a zone syatem?

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (3)

zl700
15 years ago
Since you have a furnace with a variable speed motor that the fan speed can be selected to run a chosen RPM separate from the HT/CL speeds, have you tried turning the fan switch on to circulate the air in the house to blend the rooms? DC variable speed fans use very little energy compared to a standard furnace blower.

That along with rebalancing the air flow to the rooms to send none to basement, some to first floor rooms and a lot to the upstairs.

In an old house I had years ago, I had to change the damper settings on the ducts and registers twice a year to address the major season changes and all was comfortable.

I also added a return register to my finished basement area to draw the cooler moist return air without adding any supply air to basement, except in the winter.
ryanhughes
15 years ago
They could possibly install dampers. If you have the 2-stage 16 SEER Rheem, I can tell you it's not 3.5 tons. They only make them in full ton sizes. Was the unit sized properly? As zl700 said, running the fan on low should help. How is the airflow upstairs? How about the return air? A mini-split is just a unit that sits on the wall. It may not be very appealing to you. An air handler is a coil and a blower. Maybe they were suggesting that you install a heat pump or extra A/C. I don't recommend this really if you already have ductwork running upstairs and sized (or didn't...) the unit for the whole house. Let us know what the contractor finds.
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Follow-up: I was fishing some CAT-5 through the basement ceiling, when I noticed that there was a damper in the south branch of the ductwork. Whoever finished the basement 10 years ago built a hallway beneath the damper with no way to access the damper directly. Even worse, the wingnut holding the damper handle in place was slack, so that the handle was hanging straight down (+45Â° = 100% open, -45Â° = 0% open, with 0Â°, or straight downÂ = '50%' open). If I did my sine/cosines correctly, '50%' open really translates 29% of maximum airflow. I found a pole, pushed the lever to 100% open, and tightened the wingnut by poking at it with the pole (I'm accessing the ductwork by standing on a stool in an unfinished basement closet that allows me to view the gap between the basement ceiling and 1st story floor. The damper was 4 feet away). The airflow to the upstairs master bedroom has noticeably increased and parts of the downstairs are less stuffy. It was an overcast day in the low 70s today, so it's too early too see if opening the damper completely cured things. Either way, it's hard to believe that the previous owners lived with this for 10 years.
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PRO
CJ Mechanical of North jersey llc.
15 years ago
Rheem mod furnace is the best.I have installed many of them.as well as the 2 stage condenser. I would first and formost add return in the basement LOW near the floor . this will make it much more comfortable in the winter and summer.if you have exposed duct in the basement then have it INSULATED and sealed of air leaks.2nd floor return air high on wall or in ceiling large enough?supply registers airflow enough?1st floor supplys near thermostat close off.
do you have the proper thermostat that communicates with the mod?if you dont have enough airflow to the 2nd floor ,have them adjust airflow on furnace control bord to 1400 cfm. was this furnace added to old ductwork?its a shame to have something so nice installed but just may need ductwork adjustments

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