Heating a hard to heat room
I live in a 1960’s traditional style home in northeast Ohio that has a bedroom over the garage. As we all know and some of us have experienced first hand, this is a very hard room to heat in the winter and keep cool in the summer.
Basically, only one wall is adjacent to a heated space. The other three walls, ceiling,and floor are adjacent to unconditioned (heated or cooled space). I have meticulously insulated the ceiling with R-38 insulation, and the one wall that is adjacent to an attic space. All the other walls and the floors are not accesible, without tearing down the walls or spraying in cellouse, fiberglass, or foam insulation.
We have heard of options of adding a gas vent free fireplace, heater or HVAC unit specifically for this space, but are looking for a more cost effective solution.
This room is at the very end of the longest duct run in the house. On top of that the duct has a bend in it to get around a steel I beam, which I am sure breaks the flow of some of the air flow to these rooms. I spoke to a structural engineer/contractor to ask the cost of replacing the beam to allow a straight duct run it would cost about $2,500.00 to engineer and to add new structure to allow a straight duct run.
When we purchased a new HVAC system it was sized properly to accomondate the size of this entire house. The contractor suggested creating a new transition of ductwork at the beam in the basement, adding a new return air duct to our first floor, and adding additional fans, all at the cost of $1,400.00. The new ductwork in the basement would seriously impact my already tight and low ceiling height workshop. We keep the door to this bedroom always open, so the return air duct seemed redundent.
I have heard of the option of adding individual fans into the existing ductwork that will boost the air flow to this room. Basically, you slip this fan into a section of the ductwork and add a controller that will turn on the fan when the blower on the existing system is running. It will then tun off when the blowers fan is off.
I would appreciate any feedback on whether I am wasting my money with this solution or if anyone has and better economical solutions for this room.
Replies
Check out the cost and operation of a motel style heatpump/ac.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thanks for the reply. I will look into this.
Are you saying that three walls and the floor are entirely uninsulated? If so, I really don't think there is any cost effective solution without ripping out the drywall (it's really not that hard), and then installing proper insulation, vapour barrier, and DW. After that, you may find that your heat/AC actually works.
Good luck,
Scott.
From what I have seen in the rest of the house, I expect their to be insulation in the other walls and the floor since they are considered outside walls.
I just know the insulation that I have been able to replace, is the original insulation from 1960's. The attic insulation which was a Kraft faced insulation stated something to the effect "Brand New Owens Corning Insulation". The Insulation on the floor of the attic only appeared to be about 3 1/2" thick in the areas that were not compressed. I have replace all of the attic insulation with R-38 kraft faced fiberglass batts. The wall insulation appeared to be the same thickness as the attic insulation.
I am expecting, that maybe insulation sold in 1960 was all about 3 1/2" thick when energy was inexpensive. I may be wrong.
I think you'd be better spending the money on improving the insulation than on adding heat. If the end result in terms of comfort is the same, why not spend money that will save you money? For the cost of moving the ductwork, you could substantially upgrade at least the attic insulation.
At least as important as insulation is air sealing. Have you looked around for air leaks? For example, recessed lights, attic stairs and hatches, whole house fans and the like can leak huge amounts of air.
The most cost effective way is INSULATION. anything else burns up money!! Old customer asked me to cure this same problem with a room over the garage and at the end of the house. The heat would come on and stay on for the entire winter and still be cold. A/C would be on for the entire summer and still be very warm in there. I added 10" of fibre glass to the ceiling and refinished over (high ceiling) and halfway accross the heating shut off for the first time in many winters! This room is the "comfy" place to be now.
For your problem I would add 2 to 3 inches of foam to the walls and sheet rock over the top. Make sure to close up any gaps and seal around the sockets. This will save and pay back from day one!
You could use a motel type unit with heat and cooling built in but this will spend from day one and never pay back.