New to 2 Story Homes

Piney

Greetings--

We're in the process of locating a new 2 story home in the Houston area (read HOU-HUMID !! here ). Several of the interesting homes are <10 yrs old. They all only have 1 AC unit with the thermostat upstairs.

Im curious-- I'd always heard that with a decent sized (3000+ sq ft) 2 story house, one should have 2 units-- one up and one down.

Cost notwithstanding--Im soliciting comments on the pluses and minuses of
Only one unit
Addiing an upstairs unit


Thanks==

MechanicalDVR

Having two seperate systems in a two story home is always the best idea. The control issue and creature comfort are the best reasons for having multiple zones.

dmaceld

Since you live in Houston check out this web site. http://www.centralcityair.com/index2.htm

There's a short discussion of 2 story houses in the CCA library. This guy can tell you everything you need to know about a/c in Houston.

pjpjpjpj

There are no minuses to having more AC units except cost (both first-cost and costs of energy bills!). Heck, the best situation would be to have separate AC units for every single room in the house.... but obviously that's not feasible.

I agree with MechanicalDVR. And as an owner of a two-story house with only one unit, I wish I had two!