HawthorneVillager.com

Ok...on to my next problem!

Our (energy star) house came with the air conditioner included. They finally got around to installing it last week (even though we closed April 4th). Since we are a 3 story townhouse we were not surprised to find the top floor a lot warmer than the other 2 floors. However, we did discover that many of the vents were closed or partially closed. We opened them all up and things improved.

However, yesterday I came home after work and the top floor was not cool at all. If fact the whole house was not exactly cool. The thermostat was reading 26 degrees even though we had it set to 22 degrees. When I phoned Applewood today, they told me that an air conditioner is only meant to lower the house temperature 8 degrees less than the temp outside. I also asked how many tonnes our AC is thinking that they have given us one too small for our house. According to them it is a 2 1/2 tonne even though there is nothing to confirm this on the AC.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Hey Woodclan,

Try to verify that you actually have a 2 1/2 ton unit.
We are getting our AC installed next weekend and we are geting a 2 1/2 ton unit, that unit will cover 2300 to 2700 sq/ft. Can you see the Make and Model # of the unit?

Our previous house was a 3 story townhome, and we ran into the same issue. What we ended up doing was blocking all the vents in the basement and partial vents on the first floor. This forced most of the cool air to the bedrooms.

Conrad

The air conditioner is a Carrier 24ABR which is 13 seer but comes in 1 1/2 to 5 tonne sizes. I was onlt told over the phone it is a 2 1/2 tonne, I can see nothiong to confirm or deny this on the AC itself. We have 1865 sq. feet over the 3 floors.

I got a Solar Star installed on my house and I believe it makes a world of difference.

At the moment I am complying data on how well or not the system is doing.

For example On May the 30th my 2nd floor temp was 28.0 deg and my attic temp was 47.5 deg @ 7pm, while the main floor was 24.2 and the high for the day was ~28 deg C

If you are interested check out the link http://www.hawthornevillager.com/phpbb/ ... Aenergy%2A

And if you are still interested call Mr Solar & Sun and please give me a reference ( Tim on Robson Cres. in Milton )


As for the Air conditioner, this is what I would do in your shoes.

1. Close all the vents on the main floor (maybe leave one open) Hot air rises, so your cold air that goes to the top floors should flow down.
Now you can do a couple of things here, do this in the evening so when sleeping you have the cool air upstairs while no one is downstairs or you can have this done all the time


2. Close some of the vents on the 2nd floor. (same as above)

3. Run your furnace fan 24/7

4. Open your cold air return in the basement .

5. Close the basement hot/cold air vents.

6. Run 3rd floor bathroom(s) vent fans to expell hot air.

7. Make sure winter cover is off the a/c unit (if not it is probably up in smoke now)


Tim

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