re: Cold air returns vs hot air

So here's a question in long form:

My daughters room is on the SW corner of the house and seems to be hotter than the rest of the house. Three of the walls are exterior walls, south is brick, west and north are hardy plank.

The vent to the room is opened fully. Duct work splits into her room and the hall bath. I've opened the baffle to a 95%/5% ratio and the room is still hot.

Would it be better to have a return put in for her room only, or go trashy and get a window unit?

quote:

---

Would it be better to have a return put in for her room only, or go trashy and get a window unit?

---

I'm going with go trashy. I prefer window units to central in bedrooms because I can point that cold air right on my head in the summer. Ductless mini-split systems are also an option for zone heating and cooling or supplemental space capacity.

Can't say much on whether an additional return will help. It's certainly possible that there's poor return from that space preventing that air from being sent back to the air handler and properly conditioned. It's also possible that with the facing and exposure of that space, you just don't have the capability to send enough cooling into that space to keep up with the heat entering it in the middle of a summer afternoon. It's also possible that there's a problem with the duct itself (crushing, holes, degraded insulation, etc.) that is preventing the proper air flow from getting there. It's also possible that the house airflow is poorly balanced and just needs a professional to come out and rebalance everything.

Without knowing more, it's going to be almost impossible to pin down a cause on that one. shite, it might be a combination of things. Marginal ductwork to the space with marginally poor return with summer exposure on top of it might cause the problem, but having only two of the three factors may leave the system still able to acceptably cool the space.

quote:

---

How many windows and how large are they? Are they dual pane? I've pretty much given up on keeping a room in my house like that cool during the worst of the summer. I put pulldown shades on the windows and leave them closed for 4 months and it helps about 10 degrees. Also is there a ceiling fan? Both those options are much cheaper than putting a return or window unit in, and if it is only like that for 3-4 months you can remove a ceiling fan and put another light in if she wants.

---

One window, 3' x 6' dual paned. We have blinds on the window as well as a blackout curtain. I installed a ceiling fan right before she was born (1.5 years ago).

quote:

---

Can't say much on whether an additional return will help. It's certainly possible that there's poor return from that space preventing that air from being sent back to the air handler and properly conditioned. It's also possible that with the facing and exposure of that space, you just don't have the capability to send enough cooling into that space to keep up with the heat entering it in the middle of a summer afternoon. It's also possible that there's a problem with the duct itself (crushing, holes, degraded insulation, etc.) that is preventing the proper air flow from getting there. It's also possible that the house airflow is poorly balanced and just needs a professional to come out and rebalance everything.

---

The return for the handler is in the hallway about 10' from the door. We'll usually close the door when she sleeps, but even with it left open during the day, it always seems to be 5-10* hotter than the rest of the house. The house is < 4 years old and the duct work to her room is right above where you walk into the attic, its easily accessible for inspection and seems to be in as good of shape as it should be. Its not a terribly long run either of ducting either.

The other option I'm not ruling out would be to check into the ventilation of the attic. We have ridge vents only; thinking a turbine or three would also help.

Thanks for the help guys.