Combating Heat in Your Upstairs Bedrooms

Are the rooms in your home’s upstairs unbearably hot every summer, regardless of your thermostat settings? This is actually a common comfort issue we see at Home Energy Medics. While your HVAC or duct system can help contribute to stuffy upstairs in your home, it’s more than likely that poor insulation and air gaps are the main culprit.   

Our team of experts at Home Energy Medics can help you identify exactly what’s causing the problem and provide long-lasting solutions with our comprehensive home performance services. 

Why Your Upstairs is So Hot: Heat Rises

The phenomenon known as the stack effect can explain why your upstairs gets so hot in the summer. To put it simply, the difference in temperature and pressure between the warm outdoor air and the indoors causes hot air to force its way in through gaps in your attic. As warm air reaches the upper levels of your home, it will push cooler air down to your home’s basement or crawl space, where it escapes. In the winter, this process is reversed, resulting in a cold and drafty upstairs.

How to Keep Your Upstairs Cool

While your first instinct would be to blast your air conditioner when your upstairs gets too hot, that’s an inefficient solution that won’t bring much comfort—but will create higher energy bills. The best way to combat excessive heat in your home’s upstairs is to eliminate the gaps and cracks where warm air enters. 

Home Energy Medics can help solve the issue with air sealing and insulation upgrades. While air sealing works to seal off the gaps and cracks found in your attic, insulation will slow the transfer of heat between the living spaces of your home and the outdoors. The effectiveness of both services is amplified when they are combined, and you’ll see year round benefits in your home health and comfort, like:

• Lower heating & cooling costs

• Improved indoor air quality

• Pest control

• Better soundproofing

Start With an Energy Audit 

Before getting started with improving your home’s insulation, it’s important to understand exactly where it has inefficiencies. With an energy audit from our team of experts, we’ll perform an in-depth analysis to help you pinpoint areas that need improvement. 

Using a blower door test and infrared cameras, we can spot air leakage and get a sense of your insulation levels. From there, we’ll give you a detailed report that includes our recommendations for what improvements will have the most impact. 

Get Results With Building Science

Home Energy Medics uses building science to take the guesswork out of home improvements. We look at your entire home—and all of its systems—to evaluate performance in order to find long-lasting solutions. If your home’s upstairs just won’t stay cool this summer, trust our team to accurately diagnose the problem and implement solutions that work. 

We can even help you find and qualify for rebates and incentives, including federal tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act, EmPOWER Maryland rebates, and more!

Ready to get started? Schedule your energy audit today. Call 703-447-5379 or contact us online.