it's too hot!

[ktgrok]

My upstairs is 82 degrees right now WITH the AC running! And it is 7pm! DH is going to change the filters tonight to see if that helps, but it's just SO hot out (heat advisory warnings) and SO humid that it's just not able to keep up. The downstairs is fine, but it has a newer unit, and of course all the hot air rises up the stairs/cool air falls down the stairs. I'm about ready to try to figure out a way to enclose the stair opening with plastic and velcro or something, to keep cooler air up there/hot air out, to see if it helps. 

 

[Forget-Me-Not]

We have a door at the bottom of our stairs and it really does make a difference in the temperature upstairs and down. Maybe a pressure mounted rod with a curtain? It would be easy to take down when you no longer need it. 

[kbutton]

10 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

of course all the hot air rises up the stairs/cool air falls down the stairs. I'm about ready to try to figure out a way to enclose the stair opening with plastic and velcro or something, to keep cooler air up there/hot air out, to see if it helps. 

We have a somewhat open stairwell, and it makes a huge difference to close all the bedroom doors day and night. 

[mommyoffive]

We just got back from FL and I am so cold here!!  Highs of only 81.  We have spent a bit over 3 months in Florida the last 2 summers and it was hot for a day and then we got used to it.  But we always rented a one-story house with a pool.  I live in a 2 story home and is so much different.  Down in FL we sent the thermostat to 77 and would be cold.  Here that temperature in my house is just too hot, but it is awful upstairs when downstairs it is 77, it so is not upstairs.  

Do you have fans?  

Can you just do a slumber party downstairs?  

[regentrude]

We only have one unit for the house, and if we keep the main floor at a comfortable temperature,  the upstairs is only usable except in the morning. Whoever normally sleeps there has to move downstairs.

Can you run fans? Install an attic fan? 

Edited August 7, 2023 by regentrude

[ktgrok]

So it sounds like my idea of enclosing the stair area is not crazy! I may get some cheap plastic from Ace hardware (they sell plastic to use as drop cloths) and use some painters tape to tape up the open area, and do overlapping sheets to make a door way! DH leaves early tomorrow for a conference so perfect time for me to experiment, lol. 

[prairiewindmomma]

How humid is it inside? Do you have one of those $8 hygrometers to measure it? When we lived somewhere with very humid summers we often ran a separate dehumidifier upstairs to keep the stickiness down. I tolerate a dry heat of <50% way better than I do a humid heat.

ETA: sometimes we were emptying two gallons a day out of the dehumidifier tank reservoir…a morning and evening dumping of the full reservoir tank. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by prairiewindmomma

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

How humid is it inside? Do you have one of those $8 hygrometers to measure it? When we lived somewhere with very humid summers we often ran a separate dehumidifier upstairs to keep the stickiness down. I tolerate a dry heat of <50% way better than I do a humid heat.

ETA: sometimes we were emptying two gallons a day out of the dehumidifier tank reservoir…a morning and evening dumping of the full reservoir tank. 

Hmm...I THINK we have a hygrometer around...maybe in DH's office. If not I'll order one, fun to check at least! And if it is high, I'll get a dehumidifier. 

[Bambam]

When lived in Houston in a house with a bunch of windows, we invested in the solar screens for the outside of the windows. It did not mess much with the natural lighting through the windows, but it did make a difference in our electric bill/coolness of the house. The house was not as attractive from outside because all the windows (at least in the daytime) had a blank/dark gray-ish look. 

[mommyoffive]

20 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

How humid is it inside? Do you have one of those $8 hygrometers to measure it? When we lived somewhere with very humid summers we often ran a separate dehumidifier upstairs to keep the stickiness down. I tolerate a dry heat of <50% way better than I do a humid heat.

ETA: sometimes we were emptying two gallons a day out of the dehumidifier tank reservoir…a morning and evening dumping of the full reservoir tank. 

I would think in FL this would help a TON.

[stephanier.1765]

I'm further north in Florida. Our humidity at 8pm is 69%. Now I'm curious too as to what it is during the heat of the day. Usually I ignore all the numbers they throw at me because they always amount to the same hot, very, very hot day after scorching day.

[ktgrok]

11 minutes ago, Bambam said:

When lived in Houston in a house with a bunch of windows, we invested in the solar screens for the outside of the windows. It did not mess much with the natural lighting through the windows, but it did make a difference in our electric bill/coolness of the house. The house was not as attractive from outside because all the windows (at least in the daytime) had a blank/dark gray-ish look. 

We have solar film on the inside of the windows, that reflects the light/heat back out, on the downstairs sliders (helped TREMENDOUSLY) and DH just put the same stuff on the east facing windows upstairs this weekend (our bedroom and DD6's bedroom). But it still needs to be put on the windows in the school room (3 windows there, that face west) and DH's office. 

2 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I'm further north in Florida. Our humidity at 8pm is 69%. Now I'm curious too as to what it is during the heat of the day. Usually I ignore all the numbers they throw at me because they always amount to the same hot, very, very hot day after scorching day.

I often joke that they don't need a daily weather report here in the summer. It's  "Hot and humid with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms" every single day for months on end. Just post it once and be done, lol. 

[fairfarmhand]

Humidity makes a huge difference. We live in muggy middle TN where the humidity over the last few weeks has been 85-95 percent. It’s miserable. 
 

we took a trip to Yellowstone and glacier national park over the last 2 weeks. It was 80-85 degrees but the humidity was like 25-30 percent. We were a bit warm but not uncomfortably so.

One night I checked the thermostat in the cabin and it was 83 inside. We were still able to go to bed and sleep just fine. No way we’d be able to do that in tn. 
 

we have a dehumidifier under the house in the crawl space because the humidity under there was warping our flooring. My dh can’t even manage to get the humidity down to 30 percent until winter under there and thafs with a 700 dollar dehumidifier. 

[ktgrok]

Humidity indoors right now (9:30pm) is 49%. I'm reading that 30-60% is normal? So not sure it would be helpful to get a dehumidifier? Temp is 81. 

Humidity outdoors is 70% right now, with temp of 87, heat index of 96. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by ktgrok

[fairfarmhand]

30 percent humidity would make a huge difference I think. 

[ktgrok]

Im going to put up foil on the windows tomorrow, if that isn’t enough will get dehumidifier! 

[katilac]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Im going to put up foil on the windows tomorrow, if that isn’t enough will get dehumidifier! 

Childhood memory unlocked 😄

[MEmama]

10 hours ago, Bambam said:

When lived in Houston in a house with a bunch of windows, we invested in the solar screens for the outside of the windows. It did not mess much with the natural lighting through the windows, but it did make a difference in our electric bill/coolness of the house. The house was not as attractive from outside because all the windows (at least in the daytime) had a blank/dark gray-ish look. 

I bought some privacy control static cling film for a couple of our western and south facing windows and it made an enormous difference. Our front door has full western exposure and allows a lot of heat into the house in late afternoon, but because the glass is frosted the film wasn't visible from the inside at all (ugly inside though, next year I'll do a better job). The other windows just look reflective from the outside (which was my original intention, to keep our neighbors from looking in during the day).

The film is inexpensive and has made a noticeable difference in the comfort of the house. One roll covers quite a number of windows and it's reusable. 

[Carrie12345]

I’m so sorry. Dh has been texting me with his FL weather updates. The water is 90*. I worry, because he’s having health issues he isn’t getting checked out and that heat definitely isn’t doing him any favors.

My sister lost power near Atlanta last night. While not AS hot as ds, still quite hot! So I’m worried about her, too.

As for dehumidifiers, I don’t see a point below 50-ish. Anything else is just more dumping work and electricity, imo.

[stephanier.1765]

I just checked our humidity. At 8:22 am, it is already 89%. Just wow!

[Pawz4me]

7 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I just checked our humidity. At 8:22 am, it is already 89%. Just wow!

Ours is 82 percent and it's the nicest morning we've had in a long time.

But humidity is normally the highest in the morning and goes down as the temperature increases. It's measured relative to temperature. (Longer explanation here, about halfway down.)

As far as outside temperature, dew point is (IMO) a better way to determine how nice or fugly it feels outside. Anything higher than 70 is nasty. Here's an explanation of why it's better than relative humidity.

 

[stephanier.1765]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

Ours is 82 percent and it's the nicest morning we've had in a long time.

But humidity is normally the highest in the morning and goes down as the temperature increases. It's measured relative to temperature. (Longer explanation here, about halfway down.)

As far as outside temperature, dew point is (IMO) a better way to determine how nice or fugly it feels outside. Anything higher than 70 is nasty. Here's an explanation of why it's better than relative humidity.

 

At the time, the dew point was 78. I just got back from running errands (10:30) and it felt like a sauna out there. I'm so ready for fall.

[Pawz4me]

52 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I'm so ready for fall.

Me, too!!!

[ktgrok]

Ok, put foil on the big window area in the school room that faces west. I'm about to watch videos on how to install the solar film we have. DH made it sound difficult, but I'm a smart person, lol. I'm sure I can figure it out? I'll start with the smaller window in the school room - we keep the blinds closed in there so if it looks bad oh well, lol. If it goes well I'll do the set of two windows that I just foiled over. I'm a LITTLE worried about the foil reflecting sun onto the porch roof below and burning the shingles? Is that a thing?

I put up thin plastic on the sides of the stairway at the bottom of the stairs, tried to do across the actual opening/doorway but it fell down. May go ahead and order a cheap tension rod and hang a sheet to see if it helps? I have some clip on rings I can use. I could tell right away when I put the plastic up that air was coming down the stairs. I have no easy way to put up anything at the entrance at the top of the stairs, as it is open, but along the hallway that runs along the stairwell there is a half wall with a post at each end and I can hang some plastic along that to keep that area from losing cool air at least.

I also turned down the downstairs to 76 instead of 77, so keep it cooler down there, so less hot air to rise?

But I do think it is more cool air running down than hot air rising, although I guess it is both? 

Oh, and I had a fan blowing INTO DD's room, as it is the hottest room (last on the AC "line" so gets the least forceful blowing cool air from the vent), and that didn't help at all. So changed it to blow OUT of her room, and that seems to be helping the air circulate in their better, maybe. She does have solar film on her window, but with so little cool air blowing in it is still an issue. All bedrooms have ceiling fans as well, that are running. 

The windows are original and crappy, which is a lot of it. 

Right now Im in my bedroom and with ceiling fan on it actually feels fine in there, and this is the side that faces the morning sun (but has solar film). 

[ktgrok]

I'm putting the film up now. Yup, those windows let in a LOT of heat! (and, shamefully, I found that one was not fully closed! Had a 1/2 inch gap almost that was letting in hot air!)

Even with the film on they are hot to the touch, but not as hot as before by any means. I'm wondering if thermal curtains on top of having the UV film on them would be smart. 

But with the foil I put up temporarily and then the solar film I'm getting up the upstairs was only 78 degrees, rather than 81 like yesterday. 

[lmrich]

FYI - thermal/black out curtains are wonderful,  but they do make the room  really dark; you might want to fall asleep. We got ours from Costco. 

[Melissa Louise]

Yes to the thermal curtains! They make a difference.

Of course, then you are living in gloom, which is its own interesting.

I am so scared of our summer, hearing about the northern hemisphere's. 

[Katy]

Yes to thermal curtains. And you could even take old comforters and nail them up behind the curtains. It will be pitch black but add a lot of insulation. 

I remember when I first got interested in homeschooling I fell down a vortex of semi-crunchy homestead homeschooling blogs and one of them had a series on insulting quilts she’d made for each window in their house. I was telling DH and he said yeah, he’d nailed two comforters over the blinds and behind the curtains in his last apartment because he worked nights. He never needed to turn the heat or AC on after he did that. The neighbor units kept his comfortable. 

[ktgrok]

So, never got over 80 on the themostat (separate thermometer read as high as 80/81) but that is definitely cooler than yesterday, and I had windows uncovered as I worked on them. Hoping tomorrow is even better, with them all covered before sun comes up. 

Will look into the curtains, although yes, the gloom sounds icky. On the other hand, my electric bill is beyond icky! And so is being sweaty!

[mommyoffive]

Are you going to replace the windows? 

With your dd's room you also might want to see how the walls are insulated.  We had a room like that which would be cold/hot because it had the least forceful air blowing into it and dh added insulation to the walls and it is SOOOOO much better.  I had looked at getting a vent that had a fan in it to boost the air coming in, but never did. 

[Wildcat]

Something else you can try is Reflectix. That's the name brand of the stuff used in car window shades. You know, the ones that look like puffy aluminum foil?  you can buy it in rolls of various lengths and widths and cut to shape, using foil tape to tape pieces together and it would be removable and reusable. 

I got a roll of the Reflectix and the foil tape at Home Depot -- you can find it  and the tape in the insulation aisle. Lowe's sells something similar under a different name. Amazon sells it, (and, of course, competitors) but my roll was half the price to simply buy it at HD, as was the roll of tape, so definitely compare prices if you decide to give this a try.

You would just use regular scissors to cut it to fit the window, leaving a bit extra on each side so you can push it into the window frames where it should hold itself in place.

RVers and even regular car/SUV owners use this all the time to make custom window shades and it occurred to me that it should work in houses, too, similar to the foil you are using now. This is also the stuff people use for DIY garage door insulation. 

A word of warning --- my roll of Reflectix had a HUGE instructional/info sticker on it and needed a lot of GooGone to get it off, so make sure to have some on hand if sticker paper/residue is something that bothers you. 

[dsmith]

We have one 2nd floor room that has the stairway to the attic, and all of the air gets sucked up there, or maybe pulled down, not sure. Anyway, this room is my son's hang out room and it was very hot even with the air conditioner. We initially hung a tension rod with a heavy sheet in the doorway, and that helped a lot. But the sheet gets wrapped around our legs going through the doorway. ( Our bedroom is in the attic, so we are up and down a lot.) I was going to purchase heavy blackout curtains, but I thought the same thing may happen. We finally purchased a vinyl accordion door for that doorway, and it's been awesome! I don't know if that's something that would work in your space or not, but it's nicer than the sheet was or heavy curtains would have been. 

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Are you going to replace the windows? 

With your dd's room you also might want to see how the walls are insulated.  We had a room like that which would be cold/hot because it had the least forceful air blowing into it and dh added insulation to the walls and it is SOOOOO much better.  I had looked at getting a vent that had a fan in it to boost the air coming in, but never did. 

I'm not sure if insulation can be blown in - I know the downstairs exterior walls are concete block construction, Not sure what the upstairs walls are, come to think of it. I'd assume not concrete block? So maybe insulation could be blown in from the attic above? I'll have to check. 

I'm intrigued by the idea of a vent with a fan...going to look into that!

[keirin]

We are also in Florida, and had a similar issue with our upstairs unit. However, when we had ac maintenance done, we found that we had low freon levels and a small leak in the coil in the air handler upstairs. We spent years topping off freon each year until we finally replaced the unit.

Might be worth checking your freon levels (if your unit is properly sized - that is another potential reason not to cool effectively).

[ktgrok]

7 minutes ago, keirin said:

We are also in Florida, and had a similar issue with our upstairs unit. However, when we had ac maintenance done, we found that we had low freon levels and a small leak in the coil in the air handler upstairs. We spent years topping off freon each year until we finally replaced the unit.

Might be worth checking your freon levels (if your unit is properly sized - that is another potential reason not to cool effectively).

It probably would be a good idea to have it checked, it is the older of the two units I'm pretty sure. I had the AC checked at the last house for the same issue, but it was fine. We were told that if it is cooling at least 20 degrees cooler than the outside air than it is probably running properly. It just can't be expected to do much more than that. 

Edited August 9, 2023 by ktgrok

[ktgrok]

So far, highest it has been upstairs is 78 degrees, which is 4 degrees cooler than the other day. Doesn't sound like a lot, but 78 is SO much better than 82!

And "feels like" temp outside is currently 110F, so compared to that 78 is pretty good. 

[keirin]

We were told the same thing (20 degrees cooler is what you can expect) at the time that ours was getting 82 upstairs at best (by the first company we asked), but once we got freon levels back up we were able to at least get 78 on that same unit. It wasn't that old though, really - 10 years about. I still hate that we had to replace it but I will say our new unit can get us to 74 no problem, so there is that. 😅