There are 2 rooms in my house that are much colder than the rest. Couldnt figyre out the problem until I realized these 2 rooms are directly over an unheated garage. Im looking for what options I have.Thank you in advance for all that reply. Ive had nothing but good experiences on this site
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
By considering things like energy-efficient mechanicals, window orientation, and renewable energy sources, homes can be evaluated to meet the energy codes. Here's what the IRC has to say.
Featured Video
Video: Build a Fireplace, Brick by BrickHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
I don't think being over a garage should effect it that much unless those rooms were not insulated properly or the heating ducts were improperly sized. Were these rooms add-ons or was the house designed this way?
Adam,
If your house has central heating, you should take a look at the air gap under the door to the rooms. If you dont have much of a gap, the air can't effectively get back to the return - therefore it has hard time flowing into the room.
A simple way to test this is crack the door about 1/2 an inch and see how warm the rooms gets. Also, look at these doors compared to rooms that are warm. If this is the case, remove hte door and take a bit off the bottom.
Good luck,
TTF
Where do you live?
Is there heat in those rooms?
What sort of heating system do you have? Does it supply those rooms in any way?
How did those rooms come to be finished? Maybe no insulation or original intent to heat..
it is hard to know what the answer is with absolutely no other information except that the rooms exist over a garage
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
there ic forced hor air heat in the whole house. I live in RI where it gets cold at night. These 2 rooms are the only ones that get really cold. There are heat ducts in htese 2 rooms but no return vents. They are in the hallway. Underneath is an unheated garage.the house was built in 1955, plaster walls and ceiling, really built well. Thanks for the replys everyone.
With the doors of these rooms open and the hot air heat supply on, would you judge the flow and temperature of air coming through the supply registers as about equal to that in the other warmer rooms of the house?
If the flow seems about equal but the temp is down, you likely have uninsulated ducts running through cold spaces. Solving that might be tough.
When the doors to these rooms are closed, can you sense the airflow from the register reducing? Without returns, if you have tight doors, you go way out of balance. Consider whacking an inch or more off the door bottoms.
Do a test cut up through your garage ceiling, to see if there is any insulation there. If there is none, get an insulation contractor in that uses dryblown denspac cellulose. Maybe he or she can figure a way to blow your cavities.
Sounds like these rooms are also furthest from the heater/fann, too--would that be correct? That will make low/bad/poor return air more of a problem. Which will only be worse if the rooms were just "added" to the existing ductwork without resizing the fan.
Hmm, is there an attic accees in either or both rooms? Could be the heat is "draining away" into the attic.
However, my number one suspect is that the thermostat is just too far away. It is possible, particulary in longer, multi-story houses, to have a stat location that is "too" central.
Ah, another question--can the rooms be heated? Or does it take a high enough stat setting to make it too toasty in the rest of the house?
If the rooms never get warm, either the cold air is not getting out, or the hot air is never reaching--this could be an important diagnostic for "us."Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
What kind of heating is being used to do those two rooms?
How old is the house?
Is the structure below all covered in sheetrock or paneling or something? In other words, what is going on below your floor joists?
Do you have more windows and exterior doors (patio doors) in these rooms than in the other upstairs rooms?
If you have a central heating plant (boiler, forced air unit), how far away is it as compared to the other upstairs rooms?
Rooms are right next to a room that is fine. These 2 rooms are the farthest away from the forced hot air unit. Not sure if there is insulation in the walls. Dont know why they wouldnt insulate the walls before they plastered.y
Therre could be secveral reasons why these bonus rooms would no tbe insulated, nine iof them good, but at the time...but insulation or no ( you can tell wtih a thermograph photo) The supply duct ios long and the return duct basiclyt non-existant
The first thing to do is choke down the supply registers in the rest of that zone, open them wide in the two roomws, and keep the door open to facilit5rate cold air flow to return
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!