Originally Posted by Laz (Post 8801240)

shouldn't all outside AC units have a little roof over then to keep the sun off?


seems to me that having the sun beat directly down on unit would make it work harder.

Originally Posted by DaFace (Post 7768749)

So here's a question for you HVAC gurus:

My house has a main floor, an upper floor, and a finished basement. The furnace and everything is located in the basement. As is probably a pretty common problem, it's a giant pain in the ass to cool the upper floor; the main floor is fine; and the basement turns into a walk-in freezer if I leave the vents open.

The big issue aside from the whole "heat rises" thing is that the amount of air coming out of the vents in the basement is MUCH higher in the basement than the main floor and much higher on the main floor than the upper floor.

So I guess my question is just whether there are "best practices" to make the most of this. My guess is that the underlying issue isn't an easy fix. But I've been shutting the vents all the way off in the basement since it stays cool on its own. Is that a bad thing based on what you guys have been saying?

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 7768758)

That's the same issue as differences from room-to-room which I touched on in the last paragraph. Open the vents, and leave the thermostat on the "Fan On" setting for a couple days and see if it makes a difference.

Originally Posted by Bearcat (Post 9749037)

Thanks for the tips (two years later)... that's pretty much my issue. I closed a vent in the basement, and as it's been discussed in this thread, it didn't make a difference upstairs. Last night it took about 3 hours to knock off 5 degrees upstairs, all while it was 20 degrees cooler in the basement.

Stupid n00b question... I've thought about running the attic fan (or 'whole house fan' as apparently non-Midwesterners call it) early in the morning when it's in the 60s to cool off the house a few degrees, but it looks like that might not help much overall due to moisture/humidity levels.

Is there any value in running it at any time during the summer, possibly to help pull up the cool air from the basement? I've seen a lot of conflicting information online... I tried it last night and there was a noticeable difference in airflow coming up from the basement, but I've only had the AC on a couple of days, so I haven't had much time to experiment. I've read in some places that it's not a good idea, you'll be sucking conditioned air out of the house, etc... and I've read in other places that running it for 20 minutes before turning on the AC can be beneficial... and another site said you can run it with the AC on, dependent on a few factors like air returns, etc.

The seller paid for a home warranty, which at first glance covers seasonal maintenance, so I'll probably just go that route sometime soon, since I don't believe anyone lived there for a while and it could probably use it... but, I'll check out the info in the OP this afternoon, too.

Originally Posted by jiveturkey (Post 9749081)

So closing my basement vents is a bad idea? I've been it for years without even thinking about it.

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 9749349)

Heh, it depends on who you ask. One of my instructors when I was going to school was adamant that you are better off leaving them all open, but I still shut off the ones in my basement as well. It's freaking cool enough down there with them shut, I'll freeze my ass off if I open them.

Originally Posted by AustinChief (Post 9749425)

The whole "don't close vents" thing makes no sense to me. So, by that logic, I shouldn't install a room to room zoning system with dampers in the lines because it is effectively the same thing. Shouldn't someone tell the dozens of manufacturers out there about this? http://www.forwardthinking.honeywell..._products.html

Originally Posted by Bowser (Post 9749441)

The neighbors ****ing dog keeps jumping the fence and digging behind my AC unit. The thing now sits at like a 25 degree angle.

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 9749449)

I don't know anything about that but I'm assuming it's some type of system that constantly monitors temperatures and adjusts airflow to each room accordingly, which isn't quite the same thing as closing a vent for an entire summer.

Originally Posted by AustinChief (Post 9749469)

Yeah, it basically is just a bunch of dampers in the ducts that open and close based on each room's temp. Which to me seems like it's the same as someone manually opening/closing registers. I just don't see why one is an accepted practice and the other is not. I have no clue if zoning is actually is a good idea... but I can't see any way that it could be ok and the other less technical method is not.

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 9749839)

That type of system is capable of making constant adjustments, most people aren't going to **** with their vents several times a day. They either leave them shut or open.

Plus, I'm guessing that system is costly, whereas using the blower to constantly move air is not.