HVAC help

Willow

The builder installed the thermostate on a wall near the cold a/r which is in our living room with pretty much wall to wall windows and the backyard faces southwest. When it's sunny our t-stat can display 3-5 degrees warmer due to the intense heat from the windows. Yes we can close the curtains and we have been. The issue is that the b/rooms at the front of the house on the second floor are very cold. Say the Tstat is displaying 25C (with the sun hitting the room curtains closed) the b/rooms are at about 19-20C. We thought of flipping the tstat on the other side of the wall it is currently on, it would then be facing north and in the dinning room but would experience cooler air flows as the stairs coming to the 2nd floor are right near by. Any suggestions? keep it where it is or flip it on the other wall?

Thanks

rpf65

I would move it. We like to install theostats close to return air vents, if possible. Get better temp readings that way. We never want a thermostat to have sunlight hitting it. You're probably feeling that cooler air due to the heat load in the room where the thermostat is currently located at

miner

So you have one T-stat for a two story home? That design will not work properly. At least a zoned system with a T-stat for upstairs would be much better.

BlueMDPicker

Tent a piece of white paper over it and see if you get more accurate temp readings.

jflail2

miner wrote: »

So you have one T-stat for a two story home? That design will not work properly. At least a zoned system with a T-stat for upstairs would be much better.

That's exactly what I have. Pondering one of those Nests. Any idea if that can be set up as a zoned system?

rpf65

Re-read your post, and believe you have another issue.

A single thermostat will work in your situation, but it isn't ideal. You would want a single thermostat on the first floor in your area, but nowhere near any direct sunlight. That will through the reading off. You will never have the same temp on both levels of your home, the upstairs will be about 2 or 3C warmer than downstairs.

I would still suggest moving the thermostat. No sunlight on location, and away from an entry door.

The reason I'm reposting is a question about the front bedrooms. If these rooms are noticeably colder than the other rooms on the second floor, the thermostat isn't the issue. The issue is air flow.

Ideally we want every room to be within 2F of each other. Take into account that in your personal situation the difference in the 2 stories, and each room on an individual floor should be within 2F of each other. Very few people can feel a temp difference of 3F, so we go for 2.

If you have 2 rooms on the second floor, noticeable different than the other rooms on the same floor you need more than a t-stat moved. You will either have to add return air in the problem rooms, or have to add dampers to your ducting system, and balance. Not necessarily a zoning system, but mechanical dampers to more evenly distribute the air flow.

If your in a brand new home, contact the builder. Texas requires them to warranty the systems for 2 years, don't know about your area though.

pumpkinman

jflail2 wrote: »

That's exactly what I have. Pondering one of those Nests. Any idea if that can be set up as a zoned system?

Warm air or Hot water ??

jflail2

pumpkinman wrote: »

Warm air or Hot water ??

Feels as warm as I'd expect it to, but the unit outside is from the mid 80's when the house was built, so I'm sure a newer unit would blow warmer (and be more efficient/cheaper to run.) I just can't afford to replace that until August at the earliest, so I'm praying my ancient Trane runs till at least then...

Interested in a Nest, but I think my system would have to be split up into upstairs and downstairs for anything to work zoned, correct?

(Sorry, I shamefully know jack squat about heating and cooling systems.)

rpf65

Think if people are interested in Nest, should start a new thread.

They will work with pretty much any system of any age. Thermostats are just switches, some more complicated than others, with different capabilities.

Willow

rpf65 wrote: »

Re-read your post, and believe you have another issue.

A single thermostat will work in your situation, but it isn't ideal. You would want a single thermostat on the first floor in your area, but nowhere near any direct sunlight. That will through the reading off. You will never have the same temp on both levels of your home, the upstairs will be about 2 or 3C warmer than downstairs.

I would still suggest moving the thermostat. No sunlight on location, and away from an entry door.

The reason I'm reposting is a question about the front bedrooms. If these rooms are noticeably colder than the other rooms on the second floor, the thermostat isn't the issue. The issue is air flow.

Ideally we want every room to be within 2F of each other. Take into account that in your personal situation the difference in the 2 stories, and each room on an individual floor should be within 2F of each other. Very few people can feel a temp difference of 3F, so we go for 2.

If you have 2 rooms on the second floor, noticeable different than the other rooms on the same floor you need more than a t-stat moved. You will either have to add return air in the problem rooms, or have to add dampers to your ducting system, and balance. Not necessarily a zoning system, but mechanical dampers to more evenly distribute the air flow.

If your in a brand new home, contact the builder. Texas requires them to warranty the systems for 2 years, don't know about your area though.

The area where I would flip it is about 20feet away from the front door, would that work?
We know the room above the garage has poor "pressure" we've added a cyclone vent booster which seems to help a bit. The whole back of our house is pretty much window on the main floor, huge windows in the living room and patio door in the eat in kitchen with a half moon window above the sliding doors. Asd mentioned facing south west so it heats up. The bedroom next to the one above the garage gets lots of great airflow as does the 3rd bedrrom next to that one. The master gets blasted with air which at the back of the house we have 2 vents in the room, one in the walkin closet and one in the masterbath. We actually fully close one vent there all others in that room are almost closed as they get full force being two floor right above the furnace. The room above the garage is the furthest away from the furnace. It does sound like we need to recalibrate the vents again. Any tips on that?
As for the relocation of the tstat- as mentioned I've always thought it to be in the wrong place getting hit with heat from the sun. So I'll flip it. The home is 7 yrs old. Most houses up here only get one tstat located on the main floor. Every single room has a c/a return. I'm not sure what else I can do. I'm appreciative of all the tips and feedback everyone is providing.

jflail2

rpf65 wrote: »

Think if people are interested in Nest, should start a new thread.

They will work with pretty much any system of any age. Thermostats are just switches, some more complicated than others, with different capabilities.

Yup, you're right. Straight thread jack there. Sorry about that Willow.

Willow

jflail2 wrote: »

Yup, you're right. Straight thread jack there. Sorry about that Willow.

No worries, all good

rpf65

Sounds like air flow issues to me. Not a task I would recommend for somebody inexperienced. What needs to be done is to install dampers, pieces of sheet metal in the ducting, so that the air flow can be adjusted. The louvre sat the supply grill are more to divert air flow rather than control it.

Call a reputable Ac company, that has a written gaurentee for their work. Many times they will have to return for an adjustment, and you should not be charged for that. They will have to do all duct runs on affected floor, and possibly the main supply runs, or possibly all runs on other floor.

Willow

rpf65 wrote: »

Sounds like air flow issues to me. Not a task I would recommend for somebody inexperienced. What needs to be done is to install dampers, pieces of sheet metal in the ducting, so that the air flow can be adjusted. The louvre sat the supply grill are more to divert air flow rather than control it.

Call a reputable Ac company, that has a written gaurentee for their work. Many times they will have to return for an adjustment, and you should not be charged for that. They will have to do all duct runs on affected floor, and possibly the main supply runs, or possibly all runs on other floor.

Sorry,we do have dampers on all the vents.

rpf65

Then it's just a matter of adjusting them. Close all the doors, run your system for at least 10 minutes, take a temp reading in each romm and common area. Then start closing the damper with highest temp(heat) coolest(cool), and recheck the temp. It will take a while, but without some type of of special tool you can accomplish it this way.

JimKellyfan

1st, I would consider the lay out of the home. Also, if moving the thermostat, look how the wires are run. In attic or crawlspace or what ? How easy to move and where to move to ? On the layout, is it a ranch split level or cape cod or what ? We have a single level ranch, and ours is down the hallway just above air intake. I got a wi fi model that was on clearance at one of the big box stores. I don't have the wi fi hooked, don't care about it really. Too, I need that 5th wire run, the 24v supply line for the wi fi. No interest in doing that or paying someone, right now anyway. But, not knowing the lay out, or how hard it is (or not) to move it, sheltering it somehow from the sun, would be quickest and easiest way to tell if it helps. Also, what type of windows and roof and insulation or the lack thereof helps too. When we installed a new heat/ac unit, we went cheaper in efficiency. When we got new windows and green metal roof, we saved even more (400 in first 10/months) wOw....Shelter it and see temp differences / how often it is cycling. Before moving or buying a new thermostat, pull current one back a bit and see how many wires there are and what color are the wires, and what make and model thermostat you have now. Then go to various websites of one or two makers of thermostats and see what they got. I believe mine is the same name as a filter, from Home Depot on clearance a year or so ago, Filtrete. Only my wife knows how to work it, I wired it up and told her to learn it. Because, as we all know, it doesn't matter what we set it too, she'll change it anyway.

rpf65

It your tstat takes batteries, use the batteries. Will take the place of the common "c term" wire. Will work fine.

Layout of home isn't really necessary. The stat is a switch that senses temp, and that's it. Move a stat, and if everything is working correctly , may just have to raise or lower the to a little. So long as you remember that you don't mount it in direct sunlight, or exterior wall. Wires are colored coded, and usually match the term with the 1st letter of the color. Exception is the c term. We usually use a blue wire for that one.

jimsvm

Hi Willow, have you tried leaving the furnas fan run all the time?

jimsvm

There are thermostats that have remote sensors, you can leave it were it is and stick the sensor in the return duck to get an overall temp of the hole house, and have the system professionally air balanced. Not by a furnas guy. PM me for more assistance. Close by in Sudbury.