Uneven Heating & Cooling A Common Issue For Homeowners

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A common problem for homeowners is uneven heating and cooling.

Your basement is cold and the bedrooms are hot. So, what's the solution?

"Situations where the upstairs, it's hard to keep cool in the summer or warm in the winter. It's a very common issue," says Angie Hicks, of Angie's List.

It's a frequent scenario, one room in your house feels great and the other is uncomfortable.

"To cool the house, we literally had to have it snowing on the first floor for us to sleep comfortably on the second floor," said homeowner Stephanie Veenis.

She turned to the professionals for help with her temperature problems and some of the fixes were easy, like closing vents.

"We always recommend you close the register in the room with the thermostat," Eric Klous, of Titan HVAC, says.

And experts say you should make sure the fan is in the "on" position on your thermostat.

"What that does in your house is that keeps the rooms a little more even temperature because you are continuously circulating the air throughout the house, so it's mixing all the air between the upstairs and the downstairs," adds Dave Mejean, a HVAC contractor.

Have your ductwork inspected. Improperly sized or leaky ducts are often the culprits of uneven heating and cooling. Consider a zoning system, which runs about $3,000.

"What the electronic zone system has in it, it's pretty much we are adding another thermostat to the second floor and we are putting automatic dampers in it," says Mejean. "So, when the second floor calls for heating or cooling all the registers there get all the air and the downstairs turn off."

Another more expensive option is putting in a second system, which runs about $7,000.

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