Recirculation of air

[Ignoramus3756]

We have a three story (plus also basement) house.

During hot weather, the upper floors are very considerably warmer than the bottom floors. That's because, drumroll, hot air tends to rise up.

The issue, in my mind, is that air does not circulate sufficiently. It would seem to me that the answer is to somehow suck air from the third floor into where it is picked up by A/C for cooling, or just to improve the speed of air circulation in general.

Are there any standard approaches to analyzing this problem. I would prefer to fully understand the issues involves before making a decision to hire any outside help.

thanks

i

[m Ransley]

If you dont have a 3rd floor return you wont cool with the AC. Have one put in.

[Ignoramus3756]

I will check what I have. I do have some sort of opening on 3rd floor, not sure of its p urpose, but I will check.

i

[m Ransley]

I had extra returns put in, in summer I try to close down a bit the first floor return, it helps.

[Bubba]

The standard aproach is to start working at a hvac company as an apprentice. Study hard and work your way up earning your apprentice liscense, journeymen, masters, refrigeration certification and NATE testing. Suck in about 10 to 20 yrs of this and you will soon understand why it "isnt rocket science". Either that or pay someone qualified to understand your problems. You can PayPal me $99 per simple question, $150 per involved question and $250 per technical question. Please, only one question per fee. :-) Bubba

[Not]

[HeyBub]

For sure check. It could be a laudry chute.

[no one that you know]

[Ignoramus3756]

Surely, there is no substitute for experience. On the other hand, it is helpful to understand "the issues" before talking to professionals. As you know, some of them are not looking after my interests, they only want to sell expensive goods and services. So when talking to such professionals, it helps to know what one needs and what one does not need.

Example, a few years ago lightning took out our A/C. I asked this newsgroup, messed around with a multimeter to realize that a particular board was at fault (speed controller, IIRC). I invited a "professional", and asked him to check things out before making recommendations. He promptly suggested to replace pretty much all electronics. I asked him what is the basis for his conclusion, he mumbled some nonsense, and it was clear that he was a liar or unqualified.

Then we invited another A/C guy, who replaced the board that I knew was bad, (he confirmed what I said) and the A/C is working to date at

1/3 the cost of what the first "professional" would cost.

So, yes, it does help to ask questions.

i

[Don Young]

The easiest thing to try first is to switch your thermostat fan control from AUTO to ON. This will run the circulating fan continously and can make a large difference.

Don Young

[Ignoramus3756]

Unfortunately, it is already set this way. I will try to verify whether the ON setting is, in fact, working (easiest to do on a cool morning). Maybe the issue is that I set it to ON, but it is not in fact ON.

i

[~^Johnny^~]

All joking aside, it si good o get some training in the field. Somepoeple can learn in six months, others take years. Aptitudes vary greatly. Desire helps, as it is a driving force (motivation), but it isn't enough, alone, without aptitude and a degree of hands-on experience. Just sitting in a classroom for two yearswon't cut it. Apprenticeship training can be excellent, DEPENDING on WHO you are working alongsind and who you are working under. Some fig trees bear little or no fruit.

So it is in any field.

10 or 20 years? No way. Unless the trainee is dumb as a box of nails.

[Bubba]

10 or 20 years meaning:.................... you will always learn something new almost everyday. It never stops. If one thinks they know it all, they are full of _ _ _ _ . Bubba

[Bubba]

[no one that you know]

[no one that you know]

[Murdentech]

You have a typical problem in a vertical dwelling. Try running the fan "on" for continuous circulation, make sure to keep the filter clean. Close a few vents in the lower floor/s in cooling season and the opposite in heating season... otherwise, you are probably in need of additional return ductwork on the upper floors.

[daytona]

Look into installing a power roof vent with t-stat..has help many a people

[Stormin Mormon]

I was on an install a couple years back. We were working in a rather hot attic, and they had a powered roof vent installed as part of the job. We got it wired in, musta made twenty degrees difference in the attic temp.

[Travis Jordan]

Energy studies show that if the home has a properly insulated attic the installation of a power vent will not decrease air conditioning energy cost enough to pay for the operation of the power vent fan.