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Need to cool off room!

3463 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  mac in lakeside
Hello - My master br has a vaulted ceiling and the "nook"/shelf area up toward the ceiling. The air register/vent is tucked up near the ceiling on the wall in/above the shelf area. I've been in this house 2 years and wind up sleeping on the LR couch because the bedroom is SO much hotter than anywhere else in the house. How can I cool this room off? Is there an extension I can get to the register to carry the air lower toward the ceiling fan? I don't think the cool air is wasted since the register is tucked up so high and at the back of the shelf area. The cool air never gets utilized and brought down by the fan.

Any ideas? Should I just install a whole-house fan?

Thanks for any help!

Sweating in CA
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Get the AC checked by a Pro to make sure it has clean coils and enough freon etc. Also get him to check the airflow thru the vents in the house and see if some can be closed partly to force more air upstairs. Don't start doing that yourself because you may restrict the airflow too much and freezeup the furnace coil and damage the compressor. The tech can see if closing the vents causes a problem and make sure it is working properly.
Thanks for those suggestions! While my house is single story, there definitely is some kind of issue with that vent. The whole rest of the house is perfectly cooled, but the master bedroom is ridiculously warm. Having someone come check it out is a great idea. Thanks again!:thumbup:
Try find a long term reputable company. Tell them you have a problem and want a senior service technician so they don't send a newbie who we use to do the annual maintenance jobs.
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Hello - My master br has a vaulted ceiling and the "nook"/shelf area up toward the ceiling. The air register/vent is tucked up near the ceiling on the wall in/above the shelf area. I've been in this house 2 years and wind up sleeping on the LR couch because the bedroom is SO much hotter than anywhere else in the house. How can I cool this room off? Is there an extension I can get to the register to carry the air lower toward the ceiling fan? I don't think the cool air is wasted since the register is tucked up so high and at the back of the shelf area. The cool air never gets utilized and brought down by the fan.

Any ideas? Should I just install a whole-house fan?

Thanks for any help!

Sweating in CA
I would wonder if the duct going to that room were kinked or disconnected.

Is there a way to get an attic space to inspect the duct? How far away from the room is the furnace unit?

Has any remodeling been done?
No remodeling has been done, but you're right...I should check the duct first. There's an entrance to the crawl space about 10' away, so that shouldn't be a problem. The furnace unit is about 24' away.
Is there a return air grill in the room?
How big is this room? Are there large windows and do you have a lot of them? Seems if the rest of the house is cool the system just isn't balanced right and your not getting enough air.
What is a return grill? The vent for the heat/air is the only air vent in the room.

The room isn't too big...12x14ish. there are two windows that are long and tall...it's just that side of the house gets NO breeze, so the windows don't really help at all. I've actually thought of closing off 1 of the windows and adding french doors to a different wall to allow for more breeze, but I'm not sure how big of a project that is, or how expensive it would be.

Can you tell I'm totally lost? haha.
need to cool room

Is there any air coming out of this register and if so how much? Don't assume that there is air or enough cfm coming out. Unfortunately, when systems are installed, the venting is either undersized or pulled off of a trunk line that is either too small or already over loaded. Is the ducting in your attic 'insulated hard-duct' or is it flex duct, which builders use because it is quicker and cheaper to install. One of the things that most designers overlook is the physical capabilities of the ducting itself.
Hard-duct (metal) has twice the airflow capability than flex duct of the same size. It is unfortunately assumed that they are the same. Also, the ducting needs to be the proper size for the 'cubic feet' of the room. When you have a vaulted ceiling in a room, it adds an additional "conditioning requirement" to the air exchange load of that given space. Most A/C contractors only go by 'square feet' when calculating and not by 'cubic feet'. Also, if you have 'flex-duct' make sure that the runs are as straight and bend free as possible.
Question - do you have a return vent in this room separate from the main return, which is probable in a hallway or some other part of your home? Proper air cycling thru your HVAC system is the key to conditioning any and all of your home. If the return is too far away the vaulted ceiling, the vaulted ceiling space acts as a heat storage space, and unless this heat is removed, even upsizing your supply will not solve your problem.
Assuming (I hate this word) that the equipment was properly size for your home - either 400 sqft or 500 sqft per ton of cooling - (taking into account any and all vaulted spaces, proper duct sizing, windows and their size & location, insulation, etc.), installing a ceiling fan in your room may help with this problem, as it will help move the trapped heat load down and back to the return. (assuming, it is not to far away or blocked by doorways or turns in your floorplan.)
Unfortuneately, your situation is all too common, because many designers don't really have a full understanding of how important proper air exchange and flow thru a home makes a home comfortable and keeps any system, no matter what the SEER rating is, working properly at peak performace.
Hope you get this resolve soon!
mac in lakeside
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