Portable air conditioners?

[3nglishteacher]

Can anyone comment on whether this would be economical in my situation?

We have a new Cape, 2 br upstairs for kids. Son will be gone this summer and daughter keeps her door shut but likes her room cold! (Doesn't even have heat vents open in her room during this snowy winter) So whatever money I've saved heating her space this winter is about to evaporate this summer, I fear.

I had thought to purchase a portable AC thingy from WalMart just for her room instead of having the heat pump work the entire upstairs? Or should I just close off unused room and allow heat pump to cool foyer, bathroom and her bedroom? We were not able to afford a very high SEER rated pump .... 14, I think.

I had also considered an attic fan to pull heat out during the day and "help" out the HVAC system. Tip top of house gets full sun from dawn to near dusk in summer, so alot of trapped heat -- only have roof vents to exhaust it.

Any ideas on best way to save $$ on my upstairs this summer?

Karen

 

[SKR8PN]

An attic fan will go a long way to help in keeping the house cooler. The window AC unit, I think will depend on how much she runs it. If she let's it run 24/7, it could make your electric bill a little pricey.
You also don't mention where in the country you live. If your in Texas, it may be cheaper to ship the daughter to Alaska for the summer.

 

[3nglishteacher]

We're in central VA, very humid summers!

 

[Wildsky]

We have a freestanding portable air con, we boughti t when we lived in San Diego.
The poor thing really struggles to cool a room, it did help but it never really got the room COLD, and our room in San Diego was pretty small. We used it here in Nebraska once or twice and same thing it just struggled to get the room cooled off enough - we found it much more efficient to run the whole house air con for shorter periods of time, than to have that thing running all day.

We close off rooms that we don't use, vents closed and doors closed.

 

[3nglishteacher]

Thank you - that's exactly what I needed to hear. Her bedroom is huge and she'd have that thing on constantly.

I'll just close off son's room when he leaves and buy daughter a big fan to keep air moving.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Maybe a ceiling fan in her room would help, although she might think she's suffering too much.
I'm not really good at over heating as it occasionally gets to a hundred here in the summer but as it only lasts for a week or two, I usually open all the windows at night,put a fan into a window to draw cooler air into the house then close the windows and drapes first thing in the morning. A ceiling fan keeps it from feeling stuff with all the windows closed.

 

[Farmfresh]

I built solar shades for the exterior of my house last summer where the sun shines directly into the windows. What a difference it makes! Far better than trying to use shades on the inside of the house you stop the heat BEFORE it gets in.

They are made with 70% solar block fabric from FarmTek and plastic wood like they use on decks. They have galvanized corner pieces. Should last a long time and were fairly cheap to make.

 

[xpc]

Can anyone comment on whether this would be economical in my situation?

We have a new Cape, 2 br upstairs for kids. Son will be gone this summer and daughter keeps her door shut but likes her room cold! (Doesn't even have heat vents open in her room during this snowy winter) So whatever money I've saved heating her space this winter is about to evaporate this summer, I fear.

I had thought to purchase a portable AC thingy from WalMart just for her room instead of having the heat pump work the entire upstairs? Or should I just close off unused room and allow heat pump to cool foyer, bathroom and her bedroom? We were not able to afford a very high SEER rated pump .... 14, I think.

I had also considered an attic fan to pull heat out during the day and "help" out the HVAC system. Tip top of house gets full sun from dawn to near dusk in summer, so alot of trapped heat -- only have roof vents to exhaust it.

Any ideas on best way to save $$ on my upstairs this summer?

Karen

I owned a cape cod in Wisconsin with a 30' x 15' upstairs finished room, the teenage boy liked it cold up there, I even put in a duct booster fan from the AC to push more cold air up but he ran that little window unit 24/7 and cost me about $60 extra a month in electricity, spot cooling is cheaper than trying to run a big central heat pump even at seer 14 - my solution was to build a nice room in the basement and move him down there, at least until they can pay for themselves in reciprocation fees.

If your cape has access to the roof deck and knee walls then a few hundred in insulation will make a world of difference - mine was all rocked in. Remember all the heat from the lower level is rising up there and will be a task to keep it cool. If you have roof area above or around it then a gable (or ridge) vent (not both) along with soffit vents will help. An unconditioned attic should follow the outside temps by about ten degrees, if not then forced venting may be needed.

Give more info on the layout and attic venting plus any info on your heat/cool runs including cold air returns would be helpful.

Also as Farmfresh mentioned how big and what direction are any windows facing?

 

[Farmfresh]

My too hot teen also aggravated the problem with his GEEK toys. His two computers put out mega heat! I managed to keep him just uncomfortable enough that he moved out into the house next door where he pays his OWN electric bills. Sometimes when they lose YOU win!

 

[kcsunshine]

I agree. My daughter stayed hot all the time. She ran a room AC at all times. Now she's on her own and has learned to "make do". Saves a fortune in winter cause she uses little to no heat.