Not Cooling/Heating an Unused Room

[TX63CONV]

I recently constructed a 2 story house with an upstairs zone and a downstairs zone. Upstairs, there is an unfinished area that we are using for storage and a 4th bedroom that will probably never be used. In an effort to reduce my cooling costs, I am wondering if I can close the airflow at the plenum without any consequences. Should I be worried about pressure issues and will doing this really help?

Any other suggestions?

TIA

 

[mayday0017]

From what I understand it won't do much since your walls arn't insulated inside the house so the heat will still go through. It will even hold heat in the evening after the attic has cooled off since it has ridge vents and soffit and what not to cool it down. There are or can be effects from closing off the vent as well... Long story short, no good way to close off a couple rooms so you don't have to pay heating/cooling on them. At least that's what my research showed when I was looking at buying a 2 story house and decided against it.

 

[pragmatist]

Some will say yes it will reduce your energy costs while others will say it will have no effect. Until we can see an actual schematic, it's anyone's guess. Easiest thing is to simply try it both ways. It may not be scientific but I bet you'll see the difference.

 

[nehog]

At least in my case, it does make a difference. We shut off one or two unused bed rooms in the winter and let them cool. They get down into the 50s, and there is no interior wall insulation either. Personally I recommend it--it works for me.

 

[WVBrady]

You may have some condensation problems caused by the differential in temperature.

 

[nehog]

You may have some condensation problems caused by the differential in temperature.

At least in our case, this has never been a problem... But (big but?) we don't often open that door, so the moist warm air rarely gets into the closed off rooms.

 

[TX63CONV]

Thanks for all the responses. Being in TX, I am more concerned about cooling than heating (nat gas is cheap in the winter). I dont expect a dramatic effect as there is definitely circulation under the door etc. I plan to keep the blinds in these two rooms closed when not in use to reduce the solar load.

What I was really more concerned about is any kind of pressure issues that may harm my AC system--typical two condensor units outside and two heat pumps inside.