Need advice please!

[cashcow]

We just purchased a home in Florida. The house is two stories, built in 1933, wood frame colonial style. The house is approximately 2200 square feet with 1226 downstairs and 950 upstairs. There is an attic and crawl space.

Downstairs is cooled by a 3 ton Trane heat pump package unit. The upstairs unit is a straight A/C 2 ton Tempstar. The air handler for the 2 ton unit is located in the attic.

The upstairs of the house feels damp and also has a musty smell. Actually the smell is throughout the house, but is most noticeable upstairs. I have observed a small amount of mold/mildew growing on the inside of two cedar closet doors that are located in the hall upstairs. The closets are very small and get no air circulation when the doors are closed. They have a very strong musty smell to them. The cedar ceilings in the closets also feel damp at times if the doors are left closed. If you leave the closets closed for a day and then open them you can "feel" the humid air inside. There are no a/c vents in the cedar closets.

After reading a few posts on the site I went to Radio Shack and purchased a hygrometer. I have recorded humidity readings in the 67% range (during the day) in the upstairs bedrooms.

Our home inspection indicated the upstairs unit had a temperature differential of only 10 degrees. My initial reaction is that the unit upstairs is undersized and not pulling enough moisture out of the air. I am assuming that the damp conditions upstairs are causing the musty smell in the house.

I don't know where to start. OPINIONS PLEASE!!! on how to deal with the humidity and the smell.

Thanks!!!

[dash]

10° temp difference,indicates the system is not cooling or dehumidifing properly,if the temps were taken at the inlet and outlet of the indoor unit.

If at the grilles/registers,then it could reflect duct leaks or lack of insulation.

Where did you check temps??

[cashcow]

The home inspector took the temperatures, but I'm fairly certain they were taken at the inlet/outlet of the unit. The humidity I checked myself with a hygrometer from Radio Shack.

This is directly from his report:

"The home is equipped with a 2003 3-ton electric, forced air heat pump system on the first floor and on the second floor a 2-ton straight cool electric air conditioning condenser unit, and electric (resistance type) heat strips.

The air conditioning appeared to be operating properly at the time of the inspection for the 1st floor 3 ton heat pup unit. In the A/C mode the supply air was 54.2 „a return air was 73.2„a. The suction and liquid lines appeared to have the proper temperatures. The condensation line was discharging moisture. The system is equipped with disconnects.

** The second floor 2-ton unit had a temperature differential of only 10 degrees."

One point I forget to mention: Once we moved in I checked the filters and found the downstairs unit running with NO filter in the return and the upstairs had an 18x18 pleated filter (it¡¦s a 20x20 return mind you) that was clogged solid and installed backwards!

[dash]

Originally posted by cashcow
The home inspector took the temperatures, but I'm fairly certain they were taken at the inlet/outlet of the unit. The humidity I checked myself with a hygrometer from Radio Shack.

This is directly from his report:

"The home is equipped with a 2003 3-ton electric, forced air heat pump system on the first floor and on the second floor a 2-ton straight cool electric air conditioning condenser unit, and electric (resistance type) heat strips.

The air conditioning appeared to be operating properly at the time of the inspection for the 1st floor 3 ton heat pup unit. In the A/C mode the supply air was 54.2 „a return air was 73.2„a. The suction and liquid lines appeared to have the proper temperatures. The condensation line was discharging moisture. The system is equipped with disconnects.

** The second floor 2-ton unit had a temperature differential of only 10 degrees."

One point I forget to mention: Once we moved in I checked the filters and found the downstairs unit running with NO filter in the return and the upstairs had an 18x18 pleated filter (it¡¦s a 20x20 return mind you) that was clogged solid and installed backwards!


Well as your report shows,the down stairs was cooling much better than the up stairs.

Something is wrong.You need to call a Pro,or get more info on temoeratures,etc..

Posting this in the residential section will get you a lot more responses.