Heat and Air Problem/Questions 2 Story Condo

10 years ago

I live in a 2 story condo with gas heat plus AC. This is one unit and is in the attic. There is no basement or crawl space. I also have a ventless gas fireplace on the first floor living room. I live in East Tennessee.
There is a winter summer damper which has no handle and I think it was labeled backwards. There are two intakes with filters one on each floor
Question:
Do you think HVAC was designed so the fireplace heats the downstairs?
Should there be more than one damper in the system?
Is there something I can do to improve this setup?
The problem is the upstairs gets real hot and the the heat keeps running in the night. Even when set to 68. The thermostat is downstairs.
I just flipped my damper to make less come out upstairs but the downstairs vent are not blowing hard still (heat rises is the problem I guess)
I have a ceiling fan downstairs and it should blow up in the winter is that correct?

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Comments (5)

mike37909
Original Author
10 years ago
After reading my post let me clarify. The intakes (returns?) are located in the ceilings of both stories.
klem1
10 years ago
" I just flipped my damper to make less come out upstairs but the downstairs vent are not blowing hard still."
Did you give it time to balance after changing damper?
Maybe the damper is desighned to increase/decrease air flow at return grills instead of discharge vents. If there is no change at either the damper may be broke and not changing position.
Is this your first winter in the condo? If not,did you notice this before? Is there a door that closes between upstairs and downstairs?
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tigerdunes
10 years ago
How long have you lived in condo?

How were comfort conditions in the summer on each floor?

I agree about the supply damper finding out if it is working properly. Also, the two returns' operation should be checked.

If you want to control the upstairs temperature better, you will need to have ductwork system thoroughly evaluated and possibly consider relocation of thermostat to upstairs or close hallway/steps.

The problem you describe is quite typical. How large is your condo? What size in BTU input/output is your gaspak on the heating?

IMO
udarrell
10 years ago
Maybe it should have been Zoned with TH on each level...

Size the duct system & filter areas using ACCA Manual D.

Duct system needs redesigning...do a load-calc to see if the equipment is Sized-Rght; print results as can't save results unless you use Snipping Tool..

Here is a link that might be useful: Free Whole House Load-Calc
mike37909
Original Author
10 years ago
I gave it time to balance, but the flow is just very weak to the downstairs vents. I am sure the damper controls the output not the input. I can tell a difference in the output when I change damper but not a huge difference. I am afraid it is either the damper is not working right, or since the the ductwork is so short to the upstairs output vents the upstairs always gets way more flow no matter the damper position. Comfort is fine in the summer with the AC on. Nice and cool upstairs. There is no door between up and down.
What I was thinking of doing is move thermostat for HVAC upstairs and get a thermostat for my ventless fireplace which is downstairs? What do you think?