# Another A/C question - One room too hot in the house



## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

What can be done to better cool one room in the house that is regularly 5-7 degrees warmer than all the others? Our master bedroom is like a sauna. Even with the fan on high, it is miserable. The rest of the house is comfortable, though.


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## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

add a vent. or check for obstruction in the one you have.


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## spotsndots (May 20, 2005)

If you don't have a return air vent in there put one in as a start. Also, if you have adjustable louvers on the supply grilles in each of the other rooms you can adjust them to force more air into the master room. Assuming the sizing is correct it sounds like a balancing problem.


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## Galveston Yankee (May 24, 2004)

Jeff,

Your duct work coming from the box at the blower unit may have a damper that is not fully open.

Also, I put the reflective film on the inside of our windows and that made a big difference in the amount of heat coming through. Used stuff by GILA that we got at Home Depot.

Tom


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## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Another thing that goes overlooked a lot. Is it (bedroom) on the hot or maybe west side of the house ? All he other things too, vent not open or need to close vents in other rooms to increase flow in bedroom. Not just registers in bedroom but dampers in ducts or at plentum where ducts come out of plentum. Usually in the attic.

Charlie


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

spotsndots said:


> If you don't have a return air vent in there put one in as a start. Also, if you have adjustable louvers on the supply grilles in each of the other rooms you can adjust them to force more air into the master room. Assuming the sizing is correct it sounds like a balancing problem.


I don't think the return air vent is an option for this room. The way the roof is on this house, the cable guy could not get to any of the walls to drop a cable down them, so I doubt I could get an air vent in there. The master has its own gabled roof, and most of the space above it is not accessible from the rest of the attic.

Anyone here do duct work on the NE side? I have been thinking that a second air vent would help.

The bedroom has a large window (5'x3' or so) on both the east and west side of the house, and a couple smaller ones in the attached bathroom that face east and north. A good part of the reason the room is hot is because of the west-facing window, no doubt. We have 2" wood blinds that we keep closed in there, but I hadn't thought about putting solar screen or tint on the windows.


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## stargazer (May 24, 2004)

All else fails...add a small window unit.........


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

Anyone here have an opinion on portable A/C units like these?


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## Old Whaler (Sep 6, 2005)

Shaddy, my house always had hot and cold rooms. My daughter's room was always hot. The duct size was 6", so I removed it and put in a 8" and it's fine now. Our kitchen is farthest from the plenium and was always hot, so I replaced the 9" duct with 12" and it's great now. I also have solar screens on the east and west windows. Simple fix. When my A/C crapped out on me several years ago on the weekend, I borrowed a buddys portable A/C like your picture and we put it in the Master and was able to get it to 68F. I don't think they are too energy efficient though.


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## nixstix (Sep 8, 2005)

Shadman, I had the same exact problem ten years ago, the a/c repair guy told me the problem was the M. Bedroom was the furthest duct from the main unit, gave me an option of putting a "booster fan" in the duct to push the air. His price quote was a little too high, went out and got a 8K unit in master b/r and we absolutely love it. I remove it in the dead of winter and has worked out great so far, just an idea. Good Luck!


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## rockyraider (Feb 1, 2006)

The solar tint film from Home Depot does work and will filter out enough heat to make it worth the expense and time needed for the installation. One side of our house is almost all windows and gets the morning sun. It was almost unbearable until we installed the tint and it was noticably cooler. Good stuff, I'll replace it when it wears out in a few years. I think it would make a big difference, especially in conjunction with the wooden blinds that you already have in place.

Rockyraider


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## BEER4BAIT (Jun 24, 2005)

Could be one of many problems to poor design of home to leaking ducts etc. To start with I would have a energy star inspector presure test the duct work and the house. A laser thermometer would also tell tales when shooting the windows walls and ceiling. Then I would volume balance the house by adding jump ducts, lets face it if you blow into a coke bottle with a small hole in the other end not much air get circulated but double the size of the exit hole and air will flow smooth, can add all you want but if it don't flow it's no good. Also the closet is it heated and cooled? Any one problem can be overcome.


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## Barrett (Jun 6, 2005)

check the ducts first, sounds like an airflow balance problem


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## spotsndots (May 20, 2005)

ShadMan said:


> I don't think the return air vent is an option for this room. The way the roof is on this house, the cable guy could not get to any of the walls to drop a cable down them, so I doubt I could get an air vent in there. The master has its own gabled roof, and most of the space above it is not accessible from the rest of the attic.
> 
> *Anyone here do duct work on the NE side? I have been thinking that a second air vent would help.*
> 
> The bedroom has a large window (5'x3' or so) on both the east and west side of the house, and a couple smaller ones in the attached bathroom that face east and north. A good part of the reason the room is hot is because of the west-facing window, no doubt. We have 2" wood blinds that we keep closed in there, but I hadn't thought about putting solar screen or tint on the windows.


Hey I am a little confused. If you can't run a return duct into the room how are you going to add a second supply line? Are you planning or thinking of keeping the existing supply line and just tapping into it and leaving everything the same size and having 2 supply ducts?


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## stargazer (May 24, 2004)

Jeff

Vickie and I are thinking about getting one. I have found several on line some that heat also. The only thing is get the exhaust duct one. Some say they evaporate the condensation water but they have a small tray that needs to be emptied every day. As I understand the exhaust one are better as they vent hot air and most of the condensate out the window. 
Look here, this is the best price I have found http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/Portable+Air+Conditioners/N~45+1120


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

*Turn off*

the grow lights

Wes


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

I went ahead and bought a portable A/C unit for the short term, and I slept like a champ last night for the first time in months!  I'm PMing with one of our 2Cooler A/C guys who can hopefully get me fixed up with a more permanent solution.  Thanks for all of the help! 

:brew:


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## BritishSlave (Aug 17, 2004)

Check and make sure you have at least an inch between the bottom of the door to the floor, carpet, ect. That is your return air vent.


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## Outcast (May 20, 2004)

Which one did you buy Shadman??


ShadMan said:


> I went ahead and bought a portable A/C unit for the short term, and I slept like a champ last night for the first time in months!  I'm PMing with one of our 2Cooler A/C guys who can hopefully get me fixed up with a more permanent solution.  Thanks for all of the help!
> 
> :brew:


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

I bought this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7628686&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat72000050022&id=1130986343106


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## tinman (Apr 13, 2005)

If you want to increase your return air from one room, one way to do it is on any inside wall of the room (outside walls have insulation in them), find out if your studs are on 16 or 24 inch centers, go to Home Depot and buy 2 plain stamped faced grilles that attach flat on the wall with a fixed louvered face that will fit between two studs (example= studs on 24" centers, get 2 - 18 X 8, or 24 X8, or 18 X10, or whatever), at the bottom of your wall, right above the baseboard, cut a hole between the studs the size of one of the grilles and screw it on the wall, go in the next room between the same 2 studs at the top of the wall and cut another hole for the other grille and screw it on the wall. One low on one side of the wall and one high on the other side of the wall. Try to put it of a wall that has the most direct path to your main return air grille.
This is called a fransfer air grille. It gives you more R/A from one room than what you had. Putting one low and one high, keeps you from transfering noise too. Line of sight kills sound transferance. This will give you whatever your stud width is X 3 1/2" inside the wall. You can never have too much return air.
Cooler in Colorado, huh Shaddie?
Tinman


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## Capt. Greg Brewer (Jun 7, 2007)

*A/C Low Airflow*

In a lot cases where the a room with low supply air flow may be connected to serveral other branch ducts on the same curcuit. The bedroom duct could be disconnected from the branch and reconnected directly to the supply Plemum to correct the problem with out adding a new ceiling box and grill. In many cases the existing bedroom grill box and register is large enough to do the job. (Knowing the room size, grill size and existing duct size would help)

Greg Brewer

Quality Air 713-690-9021

www.becold.com


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## Mike in Friendswood (May 21, 2004)

What about a return vent in the ceiling. You could set it up, so that you could close that vent during the cooler months, so you don't lose heat. Just a thought.

Mike


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

I'm pretty sure it is a duct size issue. I believe it is a 6" duct that feeds the room, which is about 14'x14' with a 8'x5' closet. The master bathroom is about 8'x9' and also has a 6" duct going to it. The master bedroom has 3 exterior walls of the house and 1 interior wall that surround it. The interior wall has a bathroom on the other side, and the vanity cabinet in that bathroom takes up the entire wall, so a transfer vent will not work. 

The A/C in the house is oversized, and had the coils replaced last year. It blows nice and cold throughout the house, but I think it just needs a larger duct to the bedroom. I believe two new vents (guest bath and master bath - which had no vent originally) were added a couple years ago that are probably branched off the same duct.


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## Capt. Greg Brewer (Jun 7, 2007)

*Return Vent*

Adding a extra Return Air Vent may help some but will not cure your problem if there is no supply air to the room.

Check all duct work, dampers, dirty indoor coils and blowers first

A 6 inch duct does sound to small unless it is in one of the new energy star type homes, I would guess about 8 or 9 inch depending on the heat load for the 14 by 14 room

Quality Air


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## ShadMan (May 21, 2004)

LOL...this house is anything but EnergyStar.  It was built in '76.


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## Capt. Greg Brewer (Jun 7, 2007)

If you are trying to do it your self, take me some pictures of the duct system w sizes or draw me a sketch and I can help you with it.


or 

give you a price to repair


Thanks 

Greg


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