cold bedroom above garage

[peabodyn]

Our master bedroom suite was added on to the second floor years ago and is built on steel lolly columns with steel I-Beam construction. There is an exterior open space underneath the room. The room has exterior surfaces on 5 sides (floor, ceiling & 3 walls). While I have chalked and insulated virtually everything, the floor is cold. There is carpeting with padding on top of the plywood subfloor, no hardwood floor. If I ever empty the room and remove the carpet, I will pump in insulation or pulll up the plywood subfloor and insulate between the floor joists.

Don't know if this is an option for you.

Fortunately, the room is on a separate heating zone and as we are only in the room at night, I keep the thermostat at 60* during the day and keep the bedroom door closed to keep the cold air in the room.

[redrunner+2]

I have a Fujitsu ductless mini split in my master bedroom over the garage. The room was always hotter or cooler than the rest of the house but now it's perfect.

[th003g]

I have a split level and also have/had this issue with the bedroom over the garage. I recently had my house air sealed and cellulose insulation installed. My attic insulation went from an estimated R5 to R60. There was this old 2 inch thick fiberglass roll insulation randomly placed between the beams.

You can cut holes into the ceiling of the garage and blow in insulation that way, my cost to have this done was approx $2k for my 1 car garage ceiling.

Carpet will help your feet feel warmer when walking on the floor and may provide some negligible insulation.

The problem lies with the walls of the room, in my case, 3 of the 4 walls for my master are exposed to the exterior. You can investigate the possibility of adding blow in insulation for the walls. I haven't done this yet.

[10-23]

We have the exact same problem on a 1955 split. The bedroom above the garage is cold in the winter. We're not staying in the home much longer so we use a space heater (safely and sparingly) as a temporary fix.

[Mrpepelepeu]

Just FYI:

How Can You Air Seal These Joists Over the Garage? | Energy Vanguard

[pidge1114]

interesting thread to resurrect on a 90 degree day

[twingles]

Originally Posted by pidge1114

interesting thread to resurrect on a 90 degree day

Insulation helps keep a hot room cooler. I am planning on putting up some insulation in my garage and I'm hoping it helps in both seasons.

[martinx]

Originally Posted by LIHR

(1950's) not going to be fun because the garage ceiling is probably wire lath and plaster. only way to insulate is to remove ceiling completely OR go with blown in insulation which will eliminate removing ceiling. I'm always in the school of removing old ceiling because it gives you the opportunity to fix/repair, install, upgrade etc. elect, plumbing, old duct work, etc..

forced hot air? get rid of it, the absolute worst imo for many reasons. I bet it feels like the A/C is on when it first starts up

In a 1950's house heat will escape upward to the attic, around windows, through walls (which may not be insulated), and to a very lesser extent through the floor. So insulating the floor is the least efficient approach to this problem as heat rises; insulating the ceiling of the room is your best bet.


1) Check the attic to see if it has insulation. If you have fiberglass insulation You can then layer in a second course of fiberglass insulation right over the existing insulation and the joists. This type of insulation is so cheap you can do the whole house and get a great return on investment.

2) As mentioned forced hot air is not efficient because air does not hold heat the same way water does. So if you can afford to put in baseboard that would be a great solution.

3) Heat rises so I would not pay to have foam pumped into the wall. (they put holes in the house and the foam expands) You definitely don't want to do that until you have your electric upgraded.

4) You are better off with a house that is not tight because your air quality will be much better.


5) If the issue is a one room issue why not kill two birds with one stone; Install a split unit.


Panasonic 18,000 BTU Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioning and Heating System, Indoor and Outdoor Set with Wireless Remote (208/230V) <if it is a small room you don't need something this large.