AboutHoward Livingston Expertise Can answer questions on electrical control circuits, power supply,airflow & distribution, electrical components,refrigerant problems,gas, electric & propane furnaces.No boiler or refrigerator or oil fired furnaces experience.Just HVAC questions please.
Experience 35 years experience in residential & light commercial repair & installation.
Question Dear Expert,
My wife has a problem with the bedroom temperature in the summer. She is complaining that our AC does not keep constant temp.: when it is blowing too hard, it is cold; when it stops it gets hot. She has problems sleeping, having constantly to pull the blanket on or off, waking up and not getting good rest. She sleeps far away from the floor register, but that did not help either. In the winter the problem does not seem as bad. Obviously, everybody has personal thermal sensitivity tolerance level, but I am trying to help her.
We live in Cincinnati, OH in a typical 22-year old 2-story house; the Master bedroom is on the second floor; the furnace is in the basement and the thermostat (I installed a nice digital one) is on the first floor. Three years ago we replaced the original system, having installed a Ducane 13 SEER, 3 ton, R22 furnace and AC unit. The installation seemed to be done very professionally, no complaints. The air temp. blowing from the registers is cold to specs. Obviously, the ductwork is original, as well as the floor registers.
What could be done? I’ve heard that two-stage furnaces are better, as well as the variable speed blower. Could our system be retrofitted with at least the blower? Or will it help? I was also contemplating an attic fan, but that is just a general home improvement; I am not sure if it would help this particular problem.
Any other ideas?
Thank you for the help.
Answer I would suggest a new thermostat, like a Honeywell gold round one from Home Depot or elsewhere. They are very accurate(+/- 1 deg) plus they have the best feature of all a 5 min time delay for power interruptions or each cycle. Best thing ever for protecting the compressor.Is your digital stat accurate ?? Now, a thermostat should be near the main return air to sense the avg house temperature. Is it ?? 2 stage furnaces just have a low & high gas input. Not a real advantage. Variable speed blowers are very expensive & are quiet but blow the same cfm. Attic fans sure save electricity only during certain times of the year. Also, try turning the fan to ON at night to equalize the airflow as the init cycles. If you have dasmpers on the supply registers maybe balance the airflow around the house for better temp control. Good luck, we MUST satisfy the wives.
