Cape style house: reducing 2nd floor heat

I have a cape style home with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a hallway up stairs. About 2 years ago I installed a gable fan but unfortunately, it does not do much. I have the fan on one side and an opening on the other side.

If I do not turn the central air on during a warm day say 80 degrees, the upstairs generally reaches 95-100+ with the gable fan running.

I am trying to figure out a way to keep the upstairs cooler without having to gut the drywall, install baffles, re-drywall and tyvek the kneewalls. Is there anything else i can do to try and keep the temps down? Can a ridge vent help? I have read that they dont do much

I have also thought about installing a gable fan on each side of the house inside the neewall and put a gable opening on the other side in each kneewall. Can that help?

 

I'll be honest with an apology if I offend. You are looking for an inexpensive solution to the way they originally built your home (and mine). Today we know better but that doesn't help existing owners. Those slopes need to be 14" deep with 12" of insulation and 2" of baffled air gap for ventilation. Even if you were willing to do the drywall gut job you might not want to lose the head room.

Your options boil down to a complete makeover or doing the best you can without meeting codes.

I would need to see some pictures to make a best possible recommendation. In general you want ventilation air to flow from the lowest possible point (the soffits) up below the roof to a vented attic space, gable or ridge vents.

The kneewalls (if you have side attics) will need insulation and air blocking as well.

Bud