Q: Here we go again, another summer with it cooking upstairs and cold downstairs. What’s a girl to do?
A: First off, let’s all appreciate physics and the buoyancy of warm air. Where would we be without hot air balloons? The “chimney effect” is that same principle of warm air rising and taking with it the products of combustion. Stepping back a bit (like looking at our beautiful planet from space), the suns bathing warmth creates the energy that drives our weather. There are the down sides however inside one’s home where the unlucky stiffs on the top floor suffer and/or move to lower levels and perhaps into the crawl space if you really want some comfort (and don’t mind spiders). What goes up must come down, and this is especially true with colder air as it becomes heavier heading to the basement (potential meat locker). While any experienced HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) designer would like to think they can outsmart basic physics, they have another thing coming.
Multi-level homes are challenging to condition consistently between floors not just due to the physical properties of air, but limitations in the general construction of the building, and how said heating and cooling system act upon it. Believe it or not, the budget for heating and cooling (and please don’t forget ventilation) is never enough. Of all the line items on any new build or remodel, it is rare that the budget is sufficient to afford much beyond the basics. I’ve gotten used to this after 39 years of this treatment but it’s probably universal as any sub-contractor or builder feels the pinch. What is a little different in our industry, would be the fact that most heating and cooling systems are buried in the structure and if not properly designed and installed from the start, oh boy.
Back to the question. Despite the ingrained discrepancies, no one will freeze to death or instantaneously combust, but are you comfortable? There are whole industries in our line of business devoted to solving, or at least improving floor-to-floor comfort. Zoning is a term that applies to much of the hydronic world (that’s boiler speak) and can also be a solution for ducted systems. Adjusting and/or cycling the heating or cooling delivered to each level or sections of each level creates “zones” where everyone is happy, everyone is free. While this sounds simple, the complexities of pulling it off requires reasonable ducting and piping infrastructure that generally doesn’t exist in most homes, that’s where we compromise. One solid fact that cannot be compromised, would be with any multi-level home equipped with a duct system, you must have some reasonable amount of return air on the upper level. Back to the top of the article, warm buoyant air will stay upstairs without a real good reason to do otherwise. It’s very common in our mostly heating biased ducting designs to save the money and effort and just forgoe a big return duct from the top floor. Initially a money saver, but not a comfort maker.
That’s where AirWorks can help by presenting some solutions that are tried and true. These can be of course ducted solutions by adding a zoning system, if applicable. Sometimes the actual equipment is the problem using old technology that has been outdated years ago. We can re-duct homes if needed although not as fun as you may think. And then there are any number (wait for it) ductless systems that are all the rage. We promote them and install them constantly because they put quiet, comfortable heating and cooling right where you need it, NO compromises.
Have a great Mother’s Day and give us a call at AirWorks for your heating and cooling solutions, (406) 630-4170
