Jim Rooney On The Level

Q. We have a four bedroom house. One of the bedrooms is located above our two car garage. It seems that this room gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than the other rooms on the same floor. I realize that it is above open space. Do you recommend in the summer keeping the windows open in the garage to help air out the heat in there? I’m not sure how to make that room more comfortable. Should I have my air conditioning unit checked for efficiency?

A. You should have both your heating and cooling system serviced and checked annually as a matter of good maintenance and to keep the system operating as efficiently as it was designed to be. But since you have the problem during both extreme seasons it might be more than the just the system. This summer certainly has been a test for any home’s cooling system, for sure.

I don’t know how old your house is but frequently the room framed over the garage was known as a “bonus” room when houses were built years ago and originally left unfinished. The heating and cooling lines to that room were usually a good distance from the source, normally located way down in the basement at the center or other end of the house. The underfloor area that is above the garage ceiling I’m sure has insulation in it as do the sidewalls. Upgrading insulation there would be hard to do but check the attic space above the room and if you can get more insulation up there, do it.

The windows are probably the same quality as what is in the rest of the house. If they are older windows they won’t be as efficient as newer Low-E type windows and you might consider an upgrade there. Leaving the garage windows open might help some but not when the thermometer is way up there.

There also may be two-- but it’s not unheard of that you may only have one-- supply air register in that room and no return air ducting, so the problem with that is one of air supply. If the rest of your house is being kept comfortable by your heating and cooling system then we can for the time being assume that the system is basically working as well as it can the way it’s configured. Efficiency, on the other hand, is a different consideration and has more to do with how much electricity goes into the system for what you are getting out of it. If your air-conditioner is over age 10 it may seem to work well but it’s really an old horse with respects to efficiency and you could do the math on a pay back period of installing a newer, high efficiency unit that won’t slowly eat you up with electric costs.

Talk to your HVAC service provider about installing a booster fan in the supply duct work to that room that only runs when the system is operating. A company called Fantech makes in-line ventilation fans that will fill the bill and not break the bank. That would be the simplest system add-on approach.

I have seen folks install a split system wall hung heat pump unit in problematic rooms to provide a separate and controllable heating and cooling source to augment a lagging main system. They have come a long way in improving that technology but be prepared to pay if you are tempted in that direction. The simplest way to boost the cooling in that room would be to add an inexpensive window A/C unit. Most folks don’t like the looks of those things sticking out of the side of the house but it beats sweating. Oil filled space heaters in winter work well too.

Keep the mail coming. If you've got a question, tip, or comment let me know. Write "On The Level," c/o The Capital, P.O. Box 3407, Annapolis, MD 21403 or e-mail me at jimrooney@jimrooneyonthelevel.com or inspektor@aol.com.