Heh...ceiling fans...who would have thought? ;) (Maricopa: best, place)

[HX_Guy]

Yeah, 2x4.

[Wally Sconce]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Yeah, 2x4.

I don't understand why 2x6s aren't standard. They don't add that much to the cost in the long term, I know the payback in R value is a lot longer in this climate where you only have 80F temp swings vs 120 or 130 up north but the silence is golden. My house up north is 2X6 with r6 foam board (R25 total) on the outside plus triple glazed windows, r 50 in the attic. My glass units are 1.5 inches thick.

Silence is golden!

[gentlearts]

With the dry heat there, I bet a ceiling fan would be a magic cure. In most other parts of the country, like here in GA, it is so darn humid that the AC needs to pull the moisture out of the air.

[FloppyRunner]

I feel it's worth pointing out a few things about ceiling fans. They aren't miracle devices.

Don't leave the ceiling fans on if you're not there. Ceiling fans don't COOL anything. They make it FEEL cooler. If the air in a given space is still, your body warms the air around it, and it just stays there, excluding very minor natural convection. If the air in a given space is moving (read: if the ceiling fan is on), "fresh" air is continually flowing past your body, giving a cooler feel and forcing more thermal energy to leave your body, which is constantly producing it. It's essentially natural versus forced convection. Technically, ceiling fans actually HEAT rooms via motor inefficiencies, albeit to such a minor degree it's negligible.

[JanND]

Yep....I use ceiling fans....That can improve the temps in my house a lot. I even have one on my enclosed front porch....such a nice touch.
And, if you have reversible ceiling fans.....you reverse them for winter, (switch on side) and they help keep your home warmer.

[elcajones]

Lol ceiling fans do help. Meanwhile I'm figuring out how to air condition my patio for the summer lolol

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by elcajones

Lol ceiling fans do help. Meanwhile I'm figuring out how to air condition my patio for the summer lolol

Nasty bill that would be!

I'm guessing probably a portable swamp cooler on an open deck, even in summer with higher humidity would probably work very well as it's in an open area/outside where the humidity can't build up like it can in a house in the higher humidity season. And it would be cheap to run. I've been to some plant nurseries in the summer and one had a portable swamp cooler in a semi-open area where people worked and it felt nice and cool.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

I'm sure a big part that is hurting us is that we do not like the shades down during the day...feels too closed in and cave like. However all windows facing south do have shades down as they are all spare bedrooms that aren't in use. Really there are only two windows that get direct sun from the west, though they are big, would they make that big of a difference?

Would something like this work? Offers view but blocks glare/some heat?

Sheer View UV Blocking Solar Fabric Shade

We don't get quite as hot here, we probably run about 10 degrees cooler on average. I have the regular redi shades on two west facing windows and they work fairly well at helping with temperature control (winter and summer). I'm considering changing them out to the solar shades for the view. I don't like no having a view in my home office either.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by elcajones

Lol ceiling fans do help. Meanwhile I'm figuring out how to air condition my patio for the summer lolol

I had an evap cooler on my patio for years. It worked very well. It added a blush of redneck as well, which I enjoyed.

[KurtAZ]

We have them in every single room...well...not the bathrooms...but other than that, yes.