How Do I Keep My Home's Second Floor Cool?

When summer heats up and your air conditioner is working hard all the time, it can be hard to cool a two-story house. But with a little know-how, you can keep everyone in your home happy. We've rounded up some tips for air conditioner use to help keep your home's different floors at a comfortable temperature.

1. Install an Attic Fan or Vent

Because hot air rises, it's more challenging to keep the second floor of a home cool than the first floor. Installing a fan or vent in the attic will go a long way towards keeping hot air moving up and out of your home and keep cool air circulating.

You can also install a thermostat that will turn on the fan when the attic reaches a set temperature. Having this feature will help to remove the hot air from the attic and the rest of the house. An attic fan or vent can do a lot to save money on your home's cooling costs.

2. Keep Your Doors Open

You may have heard that closing the doors of unused rooms will help circulate your AC and keep the rest of the home cooler. However, this is not actually the case.

Central air conditioning units are built to cool the entire home, not just some rooms. By closing the doors to unused rooms, hot air gets trapped and affects the performance of the air conditioner. Leave those doors open to keep air circulating throughout the house.

 3. Keep Blinds and Drapes Closed

If your thermostat is on the first floor, it will only react to the temperature on that level. Because of this, even as the upstairs gets warmer, the thermostat will not sense the increase in temperature because it is too far away.

Insulating your second-floor rooms from the sun's heat will help to combat that difference. Keep the shades drawn to stop sunlight from warming up your rooms. For windows that do not have coverings, consider thermal curtains. 

These types of insulated window treatments help insulate your home year-round by creating a barrier to prevent air from entering or leaving, which means cooler rooms in summer and warmer rooms in the winter. Window film is another option to keep the sun's heat at a minimum, and it can be applied to skylights as well.

4. Partially Close First-Floor Registers

Restricting the airflow on the first floor just a bit will help to increase the airflow on the second floor. Closing the first-floor registers by a little will help push the cool air up to the second floor where it's sorely needed. 

5. Turn the Fan From "Auto" to "On"

Using "on" instead of "auto" on your thermostat will keep air circulating throughout the home via the fan. Using the "on" setting will allow the entire house to stay cooler, whether or not the air conditioner is running.

6. Install Ceiling Fans

When used with air conditioners, ceiling fans will keep the cool air circulating in warmer upstairs rooms. Ceiling fans can be purchased at any home improvement store for as little as $50 but prices can go up to $1,400. Installing a ceiling fan costs around $245 on average.

While this isn't the cheapest project out there, the cost of buying and installing a ceiling fan can be recouped in savings on your electric bills during the warmer months.

7. Service Your Air Conditioner Before Summer Starts

The last thing you want to deal with on a scorching hot day is a malfunctioning air conditioner, whether you’re upstairs or down. HVAC technicians check the indoor and outdoor components of your unit, including the ducts to ensure they are clean and in good repair. 

Excess debris and dust affect air quality, and leaky ducts affect the overall efficiency of your air conditioner. Be sure to schedule an AC tune-up before sizzling temperatures arrive to ensure your air conditioner is ready when you need it.

8. Check Your Filters Regularly

Checking and replacing dirty AC filters are one of the simple air conditioning maintenance tips that will save you money and keep you cooler when you’re on the first or second story of your home. 

A dirty filter can get in the way of your air conditioner working efficiently. On a horizontal unit, you will find the filter on the air return side. If you have a vertical air conditioner, the filter will be located above or below the unit. Check your filters every month to keep them clean and well-functioning. Keep a stock of new filters on hand to replace the used ones as needed.

9. Keep Your Dryer and Oven Off During the Hottest Hours

Your dryer and oven add hot air to your home, which means that your air conditioner will have to work harder during the warmest time of the day. Limit your use of these appliances to early morning or evening if possible.

10. Trim the Plants and Grass Around Your Condenser

If your air conditioner is not cooling, it may be due to overgrowth around your condenser. Your air conditioner condenser cannot work at its peak capacity if plants or dirt and weeds restrict its airflow. There should be a clear area of 4 feet around the condenser for maximum output.

11. Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat

If your thermostat is programmable, consider installing a cost-effective smart thermostat to replace an outdated unit. Smart thermostats enable you to create a more sophisticated cooling schedule with temperature settings for every day of the week. 

But if your schedule changes, you can easily adjust the cooling schedule, so the air conditioning doesn't run as much when you're away for a few days and will be refreshingly cool when you arrive back home.

12. Install an Individual Air Conditioner

There are a few additional second-story house air conditioning tips you might want to consider to cool down bedrooms and other rooms upstairs. Window unit air conditioning units are relatively easy to install. They can effectively remove heat and provide a cool environment for sleeping, but you'll need a unit for each bedroom.

A mini-split air conditioning system is more streamlined and compact. It operates similar to central air conditioning, using an indoor and outdoor compressor but doesn't require ducts. You'll need a unit for each room you want to keep cool, like window air conditioners.

 Swamp coolers, also known as evaporated cooling, use a fan to recirculate the dry air in the room across a cool, wet pad and then distribute freshly dampened air into the room. If you live in a  hot and humid climate, swamp coolers would make the room feel hot and sticky instead of cool and refreshing.

13. Buy a Second Air Conditioner

If you have tried everything to improve the air conditioner performance on the second floor of your home, it may be time to investigate purchasing a second unit just for the upstairs.

A local air conditioner installation business can help set up a new system with its own thermostat to cool your two-story home separately from the downstairs. Or you can help offset the costs of a new air conditioning unit by saving on utility bills by cooling the downstairs only during the day and the upstairs at night if the bedrooms are on the second story. 

Program your smart thermostats on both floors to regulate the temperatures so you can have a cool and comfy first-floor living area and second-story perfect for sleeping.