OT - Home hvac question

[Dmc707]

I live in a 2 story cape cod type homeplan (well, 1.5 story technically) with a big open living room and a tall ceiling

There are 2 AC systems, one for the top floor and a larger system for the main floor. Historically , since the bedrooms upstairs are rarely used i never turned on that AC -- but was thinking , - with the open living room ceiling and upper landing overlooking it -- am i effectively trying to cool down the upstairs which typically stays around 80-85 degrees and would the main system work more efficiently if i ran the upstairs AC unit a bit to keep the temp up there around, maybe 78 or so ?

Just pondering - what with the recent heat and the new reality of $4-500 electric bills

thanks in advance if anyone has any theories


Pic of living room to upper area - i wouldnt sweat it (no pun intended) if it was just the stairwell but the tall common ceiling had me thinking

 

[swampratt]

That is one of those do it and see.
But i have had the AC quit on me in our 2 story and we sleep upstairs where as you know it gets hot and humid.

At least ours is humid. Due to 2 full bathrooms up there that are used daily.

So without central air for a few days i installed a 5000 btu window unit upstairs
It cooled it off nicely up there and removed a lot of humidity and down stairs stayed pretty cool.

You ever tried just running the upper one?

 

[turkeyrun]

Heat rises


My buddy has the same style Floorplan.
Cant say it is more efficient / effective to not run the upstairs. He runs the upstairs set on 80°. Mainly because of the humidity in the Houston area and to keep the unit running, in case it is needed to cool. As recommended by the A/C installer.

Best thing to do, try it.
Contact your A/C man and see what he recommends.

IF using both units full time, I would think 1 large unit would be more efficient, but I have no experience.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

$500 electric bill ouch!

 

[Dmc707]

That is one of those do it and see.
-----

You ever tried just running the upper one?

Nothing ventured , nothing gained ! My master bedroom is on the main floor though - and i am thinking it would probably get pretty stuffy just running the top unit - but i hate the thought of running a 4 ton at full song just to keep one bedroom do-able

Best thing to do, try it.
Contact your A/C man and see what he recommends.

LOL - what a novel idea - calling an hvac pro - now that i think of it, i do have a guy i can call .
Sadly, the folks who installed it my units initially are one of those outfits that are looking to upsell at any given time - "Hey - no problem - thanks for the question, we can have a guy out there tomorrow or the next day, we'll bring filters and give you a whole home tune up while we're there -- its normally $289 but for you we'll do all this for $220 !"

$500 electric bill ouch!

Havent seen it that high this year yet, but i'm bracing myself - its only been what i would consider H-O-T Hot a handful of days so far -- when we start hitting triple digits , the dial on the meter starts spinning and OG&E gets real happy

 

[turkeyrun]

Nothing ventured , nothing gained ! My master bedroom is on the main floor though - and i am thinking it would probably get pretty stuffy just running the top unit - but i hate the thought of running a 4 ton at full song just to keep one bedroom do-able



LOL - what a novel idea - calling an hvac pro - now that i think of it, i do have a guy i can call .
Sadly, the folks who installed it my units initially are one of those outfits that are looking to upsell at any given time - "Hey - no problem - thanks for the question, we can have a guy out there tomorrow or the next day, we'll bring filters and give you a whole home tune up while we're there -- its normally $289 but for you we'll do all this for $220 !"





Havent seen it that high this year yet, but i'm bracing myself - its only been what i would consider H-O-T Hot a handful of days so far -- when we start hitting triple digits , the dial on the meter starts spinning and OG&E gets real happy

Upsell? Won't be using that company.
Schedule service? Asked a question, not to schedule service. Bye, won't calling again.

Just using the upstairs unit. It will run constantly, trying to keep up. Cost you much more $$$ than running both.

Only known truth is; it WILL get HOT, A/C will be running, it won't get cheaper, we hope A/C keeps working.

 

[SlugSlinger]

I live in a 2 story cape cod type homeplan (well, 1.5 story technically) with a big open living room and a tall ceiling

There are 2 AC systems, one for the top floor and a larger system for the main floor. Historically , since the bedrooms upstairs are rarely used i never turned on that AC -- but was thinking , - with the open living room ceiling and upper landing overlooking it -- am i effectively trying to cool down the upstairs which typically stays around 80-85 degrees and would the main system work more efficiently if i ran the upstairs AC unit a bit to keep the temp up there around, maybe 78 or so ?

Just pondering - what with the recent heat and the new reality of $4-500 electric bills

thanks in advance if anyone has any theories


Pic of living room to upper area - i wouldnt sweat it (no pun intended) if it was just the stairwell but the tall common ceiling had me thinking

View attachment 487638

It’s probably my phone, but is that dust I see on the return air register?
Can you shut the doors and close the registers in the bedrooms? Are there any vent registers in the open area? If you can block the bedrooms and get air to the open area, I would try that.

 

[Big House]

I live in a 2 story cape cod type homeplan (well, 1.5 story technically) with a big open living room and a tall ceiling

There are 2 AC systems, one for the top floor and a larger system for the main floor. Historically , since the bedrooms upstairs are rarely used i never turned on that AC -- but was thinking , - with the open living room ceiling and upper landing overlooking it -- am i effectively trying to cool down the upstairs which typically stays around 80-85 degrees and would the main system work more efficiently if i ran the upstairs AC unit a bit to keep the temp up there around, maybe 78 or so ?

Just pondering - what with the recent heat and the new reality of $4-500 electric bills

thanks in advance if anyone has any theories


Pic of living room to upper area - i wouldnt sweat it (no pun intended) if it was just the stairwell but the tall common ceiling had me thinking

View attachment 487638

It's redneck as heck but I place a 30" commercial fan at the foot of the stairs and shoot it up the staircase. Mine is walled on both sides and open like yours but it should perform the same way. Also, if you use the fan idea switch your ceiling fan to blow the air to the downstairs.

 

[Dmc707]

It’s probably my phone, but is that dust I see on the return air register?
Can you shut the doors and close the registers in the bedrooms?

It’s probably not your phone - I prefer to call that “deferred maintenance “ - I’ll hop up there and close the registers and try it - just don’t want too big of a humidity buildup

But yes I Could probably stand to clean everything and replace the filters. I live on top of a hill in the middle of an old hay field with little wind break - every day in the summer is a battle with Mother Nature - I have a robot vacuum that runs constantly at floor level