So my daughter is home from college for the summer, and her room is just too hot. We installed a ceiling fan but it's not near enough.

There is a design flaw in the air duct which keeps her room from getting enough flow, and despite a couple tries we can't seem to get it fixed. We tried a portable AC unit but it was weak and noisy, so that was a fail.

So my wife didn't want a window unit for a long time but now we're looking at that, but the window has a horizontal sliding window, meaning we'll have to cut and seal plexiglas for the part of the window not covered by the AC unit.

Has anyone found a less intrusive way to cool down a single room? I hate the idea of making the west side of my house look like a DYI project.


Thanks

Some of the portable ones do work well, but they need to be rated for the size of the room. Home Depot and Lowes have several models online. Maybe their rental departments would let you try pne out before buying. There are also companies who specialize in these that can be found online.

BU84BEAR said:

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Some of the portable ones do work well, but they need to be rated for the size of the room. Home Depot and Lowes have several models online. Maybe their rental departments would let you try pne out before buying. There are also companies who specialize in these that can be found online.

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Thanks!

Have you tried bringing out a HVAC company to diagnose and adjust the ducts? Might get a good deal as they can use the work right now and it's right before peak season.

BUMBA1 said:

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Have you tried bringing out a HVAC company to diagnose and adjust the ducts? Might get a good deal as they can use the work right now and it's right before peak season.

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Provided all the other factors are covered (like window leaks, adequate insulation on exterior wall, etc), and leaving just the fact that the room is underserved by the AC, the proper solution is to install dampers in the various duct runs and adjust them so that correct air flow is going to each room.

If those dampers aren't already installed, this won't be a cheap process. It also takes time and a lot of fiddling around in the attic to get it right.

BUMBA1 said:

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Have you tried bringing out a HVAC company to diagnose and adjust the ducts? Might get a good deal as they can use the work right now and it's right before peak season.

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Yes we did, two different companies. Both said the vents were poorly designed and the attic was not large enough to change them without 4-figure costs.

College student, huh? I had a similar situation back in the '70's. Solution: raise the windows all the way up, leave the lights off as much as possible, run the floor fan on high 24/7 and spend lots of time in the air-conditioned side of the house. Bonus feature: no flies, no cobwebs.

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There is a design flaw in the air duct which keeps her room from getting enough flow, and despite a couple tries we can't seem to get it fixed.

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That's a fixable issue. ducts are simply sheet metal, they can be built any way needed.

Find a different A/C guy.

Oldbear83 said:

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BUMBA1 said:

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Have you tried bringing out a HVAC company to diagnose and adjust the ducts? Might get a good deal as they can use the work right now and it's right before peak season.

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Yes we did, two different companies. Both said the vents were poorly designed and the attic was not large enough to change them without 4-figure costs.

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I'm in the wrong business

There are some air vents that have an inline fan that can boost the air flow for that vent. I do not know how effective they are. If you google "Are there air vents that have a fan assist". The products will display.

The flaw in any of these solutions is they will encourage the college student to stay at home.

Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

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The flaw in any of these solutions is they will encourage the college student to stay at home.

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The objective here is not to make the student want to live at home, it's to make it comfortable enough that she will feel like visiting her parents once in a while once she is on her own.

Sounds like you have a real problem. Just be certain it's not a problem in lifestyle. That is . . .

If your college daughter is anything like my 2 were, no matter how much I tried to explain to both of them that they HAD to keep their bedroom door cracked open ever so slightly (our older home did not have wall mounted return air flow vents) or ELSE they would NEVER get any cool air.

Most college kids are going to shut their bedroom doors for privacy when home with parents--regardless of a loving or not so much one with parents. And, if the one bedroom in question does NOT have a wall return air vent back into the rest of the house, and if the door to that bedroom remains closed, that room WILL NEVER be comfortably cooled or heated consistent with the airtemp in the rest of the house.

Finding a "cracked door" compromise of only a few inches of "ajar" airspace is all most home AC units would need for sufficient air return. The bedroom door does not have to be left wide open or anywhere close to that. Or, consider a onetime carpenter bill of cutting/installing a single airflow vent over the bedroom door. Will work wonders for the airtemp in the bedroom without added expense of AC unit and/or window reframing.

But like I said, you may be well ahead of this issue.