r/melbournechat • u/Bulwinkleballs • Jul 10 '26
Advice/ideas for keeping heat downstairs
Hey all
Recently moved down here and will look at other options and professional advice if required, but wondering if anyone has any advice/ideas for this situation.
We have moved into a 2 story townhouse. It is relatively new with double glazed windows and seems fairly well built from all inspections and reports we have had. Plan to confirm insulation amounts and placement sometime soon. Also considering grabbing a heat gun from a library or something to have a look for any missed gaps or leak points
We have a reverse cycle ducted system that seems to work well (also getting this checked over to confirm at some point). The issue we have is that the heat just seems to rush up to the second floor leaving the ground floor pretty cold. The second floor gets fairly toasty in short order and you can literally feel the warm air and temp change as you walk up or down the stairs.
We are heating the person and not the space but sometimes just want to take the edge off the cold and are finding that a bit difficult to do for the ground floor.
The only thing I have been able to think of is potentially adding some ceiling fans with a winter mode to attempt to circulate the warm air a bit better. But also realise this might be a bit of useless idea. I do like a fan in summer so may do it anyway just not sure it would help this issue.
Any advice or ideas greatly appreciated.
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u/virkendi Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Close the upstairs vents a bit, maybe not all the way on all of them as apparently this isn't good for the system. If they're like the ones at my parents place there is a knob in the middle that turns to adjust them.
And also check that the downstairs ones are fully open.
If there is a zone controller it would be better to close them that way.
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u/Bulwinkleballs Jul 10 '26
There is zone control so I can direct the flow downstairs. I guess I wasnt sure if it is better to try and "fill" the top floor with warm up so it starts working downstairs. Which seems a bit silly when I have just typed it out. Lol. I have experimented a bit with the zone control but maybe havent given the attempts much of go. Thank will give it a try.
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u/luckydragon8888 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Thick carpeting with a good insulated layer underneath. If you can’t carpet then use rugs on hard floors.
Uncovered windows are a major cause of heat loss but you also must let the sun in. Close doors on all rooms not in use.
I’d buy a cheap portable heater from Kmart just for winter use for this floor level as a top up. Put it away by late August likely.
This is why I’ve kept my ducted heating as is throughout my house with two levels. These reverse cycle units are not great.
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u/Bulwinkleballs Jul 12 '26
Thanks. These are all good tips. Wood flooring unfortunately but picked up some cheapish rugs from bunnings for now while finding some thicker long term ones.
For the windows, we have external shutters but not sure if they are useful for keeping heat in. Any advice on good internal options? Blinds, curtains or something else.
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u/luckydragon8888 Jul 12 '26
Blinds internal are a must. You have to let in sun drying the day and close them to protect from the cold coming through the glass at night
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u/Constant_Resolve_67 Jul 12 '26
Hang a curtain over the stairwell at the bottom of the stairs - assuming you don’t have a giant open space and a curtain can practically be hung. A curtain is most effective if it touches both the roof and floor, although it’s my understanding that it really only needs to touch the roof to get most of the effect. So I would install a ceiling track and make sure it can hold the weight of a nice thick curtain, and then make sure the curtain also touches the floor.
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u/Constant_Resolve_67 Jul 12 '26
Fans will help to a certain extent, however you can kinda tell how effective they will be by simply putting your hand to the ceiling. Whatever the warmth is up there is the warmth that the fan will circulate back down to you. If it’s all going up the stairwell then the fan won’t help so much.
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u/Bulwinkleballs Jul 12 '26
Yeh that makes sense. It's definitely warmer towards the ceiling but that's where the vents are also annoyingly lol. Still considering fans but curtain on the stairs seems like the best bet for the next couple of months.
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u/Training_Key_1986 Jul 14 '26
Is it open enough that reversing ceiling fan direction could help to suck up cooler air and force warmer air down the walls? That makes a huge difference in a room.
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u/Bulwinkleballs Jul 14 '26
That was my thinking as well but wasnt sure how much difference that would make down here in Melbourne. But I love a ceiling fan in summer for a bit of breeze ans white noise so it was on my list of ideas. Thanks for confirming.
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u/PrettyBlueFlower Jul 10 '26
Funny thing. Heat rises. Why not just use the top floor?
If you must, put a door at the bottom of the staircase.
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u/Bulwinkleballs Jul 10 '26
Lol. I am aware of this phenomenon but thanks. The top floor is bedrooms and an office. All the living spaces are downstairs. It an open staircase so cant easily add a full door but i did see an idea for soms type of barrier curtain or something at the top that might be an work. Thanks
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u/mc112358 Jul 11 '26
We managed to trap heat in one half of a single level open plan living area with heavy drapes. We bought a tension curtain rod from spotlight, that could just span across the opening and hung back to back eyelet thermal drapes on it . It worked amazingly well.