Transforming your house into an energy-efficient Healthy Home™
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July 23, 2021

Let’s paint a picture familiar to many homeowners here in Westchester, Putnam, and Fairfield counties: a family has a nice dinner together after a hot day full of activities, followed by a pleasant evening playing board games or enjoying an evening on the patio as the outside temperatures start to cool down. Then, as it comes time to “hit the hay” - and while all of the other rooms in the home have been perfectly comfortable, the second floor bedrooms feel like an inferno!

Why is it that the second floor rooms are so hot, and how can you cool the hottest room in the house? This home comfort issue falls squarely in Healthy Home Energy & Consulting’s wheelhouse — here is what you need to know about how to cool the upstairs of a two story home in a way that will improve the comfort (and decrease the energy costs) of your entire home. 

Why A Hot Second Floor is So Common

Have you heard the phrase “heat rises”? While all the heat on your second level might make sense when you think about heat rising, this isn’t quite the whole story.

This physics principle is more accurately described as: heat moves toward cooler temperatures. When your attic is not as sealed or insulated as it should be, and you are using your air conditioner to keep your home nice and cool, the heat from that day’s sun will do everything it can to reach the cool temperatures just underneath your roof. 

This means that heat will infiltrate through air gaps and holes, or through the actual construction materials of your home, heating up the attic as well as the living areas right underneath your attic — the bedrooms.

Cooling a Second Floor without AC

Even if you don’t use AC in your home or your second floor doesn’t currently allow for AC, there is a solution to reducing the heat buildup on your second floor and throughout the rest of your home: 

Properly insulating and air sealing vulnerable areas of your home will reduce the temperatures in your living space, increasing home comfort and reducing the need to run your air conditioner. 

By sealing up the holes in your house, air will no longer be able to move in and out of your home (with the exception of the occasional open door or window). By insulating the attic, crawl space/basement, and exterior walls of your home, you are preventing heat from transferring between your indoor living space and the outdoors.

In the summer, this means the existing cool air, or the air from your AC, stays inside where it belongs, and in the winter it means the heat from your furnace stays where it belongs, too!

Cool Your Rooms The Right Way

When things get sweaty here in Bedford, Chappaqua, Bedford, White Plains, Scarsdale, New Rochelle, Yonkers, or Mahopac, it is tempting to think it's time to upgrade the AC, or buy a secondary window unit to help keep everyone from sweating through their sheets each night.

The more sustainable solution lies in reducing the heat buildup in your home, not increasing your air conditioning power! With a Healthy Home Evaluation,  our team of Healthy Home Experts will give you the scoop on your home’s performance. We will then outline the upgrades that will improve the overall comfort of your home, the health of your indoor air, and reduce your energy consumption for years to come.

Cool your home the right way with Healthy Home Energy & Consulting. Call 914-242-9733 or get in touch here.

Think your home needs more AC?

We can tell you if that’s the right move!

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