Losing heat up staircase / stratification issue

Our home has an open floorplan on the parlor level with an open staircase up to the second level. On cold days we have seen that the parlor feels cool despite the fact that the heat is pumping and the second level is super warm since the hot air rises. This is not helped by the fact that the developer installed some of the HVAC vents high up near the ceiling of the parlor so unsurprisingly the hot air stays up top near the 12′ ceilings before flowing up the staircase. After spending tons of time on the internet I see this is a common issue but I have not seen any solutions that we like. I have seen people curtain off the staircase or build a door but that is aesthetically not appealing to us. I have a powerful floor fan and if I point it up to the ceiling at high velocity I get decent air mixture on the parlor level and I could replicate this with a ceiling fan eventually. However I am wondering if there are any tips to limit the heat loss up the staircase and/or address the air stratification. Thanks in advance.

mrfrio

in Heating and Cooling 6 years and 6 months ago

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RobertGMarvin

in Heating and Cooling 6 years and 6 months ago

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I can’t imagine how you could limit the heat loss up the stairs while still keeping them open. I too have a sort of open floor plan [my 1899 house has a “free classic” layout with an [original]open stair way between the parlor and top floor. In addition we keep the door open between the ground and parlor floor. I’ve found that running our ceiling fans on low, set to reverse, helps somewhat with evening out heat distribution