Under ideal circumstances, central air conditioning will keep your entire home evenly cool. However, sometimes an area of your home may remain too warm and you need to find ways to cool it down. Consider these options for efficiently cooling down a room in your home.
Turn on Nearby Ventilation Fans
To circulate cool air around your home, your HVAC system creates positive pressure at the supply vents while creating negative pressure at the return vents. Ventilation fans around your home are designed to help vent hot and humid air. As they run, they also create negative pressure, drawing air from the space around the fan. If the room that’s too warm is near a bathroom or your kitchen, you can use a ventilation fan to help move warm air out and draw in cooler air from the rest of the house. If the room isn’t near an installed ventilation fan, you can place one in the window or use a box fan. Alternatively, there are smaller fans specifically designed for ventilation that can reverse the direction the fan spins to draw or vent air.
Close Window Blinds or Curtains
In many cases, the one room that has the propensity to be too warm faces south and has windows. Evaluate the blinds and curtains in the room to ensure they are thick enough to inhibit solar heating. Keep them closed when the sun is beating in on the room whenever possible. Consider upgrading the blinds or curtains if you continue to feel heat coming through the window with the blinds or curtains closed.
Use Fans
Fans don’t reduce the temperature in a room, but it will help make the room feel cooler. Air movement creates what’s called a wind chill effect. The faster the fan spins, the greater that effect becomes up to about 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a ceiling fan if the room has one, making sure that it’s spinning counterclockwise. If you don’t have a ceiling fan, use a pedestal, tabletop or box fan.
Leverage the Power of Ice
If the room inside is hot and you need some quick relief, consider getting a large bowl of ice and placing it in front of a table fan. The air that moves across the ice will cool and then move out into the room. It may not be enough to cool the entire room; however, it will provide some immediate relief for anyone sitting directly in front of the fan.
Install Zoning
While zoning won’t provide relief until it’s installed, a good long-term option is to install zoning in your HVAC system. Zoning uses additional sensors and thermostats to more tightly control the temperature in the zones you set up. It leverages dampers in the ducts to direct conditioned air to where it’s needed most. This will ensure that more cooled air is directed to the area that’s typically too warm while not cooling the rest of the house too much.
Manage Humidity Levels
Humidity can make the air feel warmer than it is and generally uncomfortable. Consider whether the room that’s too warm also has higher humidity in the house, which happens in kitchens, bathrooms or laundry rooms. If there’s excess humidity in those areas, consider adding dehumidifiers to the rooms. Be sure to use a hygrometer to ensure that you don’t remove too much moisture. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping indoor humidity between 30% and 50% relative.
Consider Ductless AC
If the area that’s too warm isn’t served by your central air conditioner, consider adding a ductless air handler. In ductless systems, the air handlers each have a circulating fan and evaporator coil and run to a single heat pump compressor outside. These install with relative ease, usually on an exterior wall so the refrigerant line can run through the wall and out to the condensing unit. This is an especially good option for additions and sunrooms.
Controlled Climate Services has been the go-to heating and cooling services provider for property owners around Kennesaw for more than 25 years. Our NATE-certified team specializes in heating and AC installation, maintenance and repair along with indoor air quality solutions, humidity control and ventilation options. Call to schedule a consultation with one of our cooling specialists to discuss how best to address an unusually warm area of your home.
