Duct Fan in return?

[mpire]

Ok, so its a 1 year old AC system. I upsized it from 2 tons to 2.5 tons. Its only 1000 square feet for the whole place. The middle bedroom has lots of computer monitors and 4 PCs in it. So it gets hot, especially when the afternoon sun hits the windows. (Windows are new vinyl double payne, LowE glass) And the walls are insulated, but its only 4 inch bat insulation.

I have installed a 10 inch duct into the room. And it works pretty good, but then the living room gets too cold. It gets pretty hot in my office.

So I put in an 8" return that takes the air from the hot side of the room and dumps it into the living room so the AC intake can take it back in. There just isn't room to put a return duct all the way to the AC intake. The idea was that if the door was closed there needed to be some pressure relief so the cold air could flow into the room.

I am considering putting an 8" duct booster fan to **** the air out of the return and **** the hot air out of the room.

The fans are relatively cheap, so would you think this would help?

Anyone ever tried putting a duct booster on a return?

 

[jlv03]

Are you the only one home working from the office during the day? If so, I'm thinking either adjusting the thermostat to run a bit cooler than the working hours. Or get a thermostat that takes remote sensors.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

How about a damper in the living room supply?

 

[LeonardY]

This was suggested by a friend who is an HVAC guy.
Remove the grill and see if the room changes. He said a lot of cheap grills don't have a good flow.
If it does help. Buy a better made grill.

 

[mpire]

Are you the only one home working from the office during the day? If so, I'm thinking either adjusting the thermostat to run a bit cooler than the working hours. Or get a thermostat that takes remote sensors.

Nope, someone much more sensitive to temperatures is working in the other room.

 

[mpire]

How about a damper in the living room supply?

I have tried that, it didn't have much of an effect.

 

[mpire]

This was suggested by a friend who is an HVAC guy.
Remove the grill and see if the room changes. He said a lot of cheap grills don't have a good flow.
If it does help. Buy a better made grill.

I'm off to Amazon to Explore!

 

[larry_g]

As long as you get the air moving it will help. Look into a cold air return door. These have grills in them and allow air to flow through a closed door, or cut a couple of inches off the existing door so air can flow into the hot room. What ever you do you must have a circulation path for air to move into and out of the room, preferably on opposite sides of the room.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Shiftless]

Would you consider a small window AC unit for that room?

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I have tried that, it didn't have much of an effect.

Put something over the LR vent that blocks 80-90 percent of it.

 

[starquestMM]

what percentage of time is the ac running? If its a low % maybe just turn the fan to "on" to circulate air. There are thermostats that can run the fan on a program.

 

[FredWanaker]

With all the vents open full and the doors open run the AC for a while then walk around the house to see what the temperatures feel like. If one room is cold close the duct a little. Also where is the thermostat? If it is in the coldest room the rest of the house will feel warm. Normally to balance a house out one has a main return that is near the furnace/AC, and a second return at the other end of the house so air is pulled from both parts of the house.

 

[mpire]

There is there is a return in the opposite side of the room, it just dumps back in the living room though, it doesn't go directly to the AC intake.

 

[FredWanaker]

then it isn't a return. It is just a tube between rooms.

 

[mpire]

s.

then it isn't a return. It is just a tube between rooms.

Yup, but the best I could do in this situation.

 

[fitter30]

As long as there a large heat load in one room vrs the rest of the house there is no good way to satisfy both areas. Mini split for the middle bedroom. As for a different grill some might redirect the air but won't solve the problem.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

As long as there a large heat load in one room vrs the rest of the house there is no good way to satisfy both areas. Mini split for the middle bedroom. As for a different grill some might redirect the air but won't solve the problem.

That's what we did at work for our server room. Put in a minisplit and called it good. It's been that way for about 15 years. No issues.

 

[FredWanaker]

There is there is a return in the opposite side of the room, it just dumps back in the living room though, it doesn't go directly to the AC intake.

is that any different than the hallways? I would think they would equalize pressures so little would flow in the tube unless you run that duct fan, which is just more electricity the PCO can sell you.