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what would be the most cost effective way to keep a large room cool in the summer? I live in Phoenix and the one room feels warmer then all of the other rooms in the home during summer time. I think part of the problem (besides mass) is the room has a vaulted ceiling. The room in question is a family/kitchen/dining room. I keep all the windows covered with curtains or blinds. Some of the things I thought of was to install sun shades, replace the sliding glass door with something more efficient, install whirly bird vents in the attic, replace the door leading to the garage with something more efficient. Another option I was thinking about having the duct work tweaked to push more air into the two vents going to that room, however, airflow seems to be pretty decent in the room. Also getting a wall a/c unit is out of question.
how old are your windows? my parents had this problem with their house and central air. they replaced their windows and now the house is cooler and their bill is lower.
alternatively, ceiling fans do wonders. if too difficult to install, point a pedestal fan towards the ceiling and put another fan in the room.
also - what's underneath that room compared to other rooms?
Lots of glass on the east and west side of the house? Radiated heat is heating your house (in sunny and hot AZ). Plant shade trees. If you can stand the ugliness, set up some rolling outdoor shades and use them for a couple years until the trees get bigger. Indoor shades leave the room dark and still heat gets in; better to shade the outside of the windows. Double paned glass won't help much. Window film is not going to work with double paned glass because if too dark it will crack the glass. Better to get tinted glass (not cheap).
I live in phoenix too. Same problem, same room. Two vents trying to cool a large room with west windows and a vaulted ceiling. I had a guy come out and put 90% shade screens on the west windows... seems to have helped some.
It's definitely a case of the heat-gain overwhelming the AC capacity... next few months I'm gonna rent the blower from home depot and blow about 20 bags of the cellulose insulation in the attic. Last time I was up there, I was surprised at the minimal (just covering the joists) amount that was blown in by the builder.
Never fails... they don't build 'em like they used to, huh?
Insulation and air circulation in the attic are primary concern. Consider a solar attic fan rather than the "whirly bird" style. Roof color and reflectivity help keep attic temps. down but unless the attic is properly insulated it won't make a difference.
Window tinting (3M) can make a huge difference, IMO, so can room darkening shades.
Do you have a ceiling fan or two in the vaulted room and are they rotating the correct direction by drawing the cooler air from the floor up rather than pushing the hot ceiling air down?
I have one ceiling fan in the living area. However that only helps if your sitting on the couch.
I only have two small "accent" windows facing west, I was thinking about putting suns screens on all the windows in this room.
Part of the problem is as soon as you enter the room you notice the higher temperature in the room. You can just tell the difference. There is about 5-8 inches of insulation in the attic. However, no attic fans that I know of up there. This is a block house, single pane windows (original)
Do the insulation first. Cheapest and most likely to make a difference.
I went in a friend's house this summer and was surprised at how cool it was. I asked him, and he said he had "this much" insulation in the attic. As he said, "this much" he held his palm out at waist level. No joke. That's what I'm doing to mine.
yeah. i have a house built in the 30s. the windows are 2 years old. the house maintains a cool temperature when it's cool because of these windows i think.
going to be redoing the roof soon, when we do, we're choosing the lighter color to help with the finished attic's temp. also, going to make sure the insulation is good up there and add a whole-house-fan. once that project is done, see how it is, and if still not happy with temps throughout the summer, might consider A/C but don't think it's necessary.
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