Rooms cold above garage

[ljezuit]

We have our two childrens bedrooms above our garage. In the winter the rooms are much colder than the rest of the house. I had an idea but wanted some professional opinions.

Both rooms have a cold air return near the ceiling (All berooms in the second floor have the returns in the ceiling and there are 4 downstairs, 2 near the floor and 2 near the ceilings).

I was wondering if it would be OK to cover these cold air returns in the childrens rooms in the winter. It seems to me like warm air is coming in via the floor register, but the air returns in the ceiling is just drawing it back in. I purchased the magnetic covers for the returns but am worried since it says that you should not cover cold air returns because it could damage the forced air system or cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Jay11J]

Do you know if you have insulation between the bedroom and garage? If not, get some in.

Are the ductworks exposed?

How many supply vents in the room itself?

How's the windows? Drafty? New?



As for return, it may help some what if you put a lower return vent towards the floor. Get a wall register (same size as the return vents above) with damper to open and close. Cut it into the wall towards the floor.

In the winter, just open this vent up to help pull the cold air off of the floor, then close it up in the summer to pull the hot air off the ceiling.

Don't cover them.. Otherwise, the system is going to lack air for return, and may over heat the system.

[hvac4u]

insulating the floor is going to be your best bet. i have seen them use blown in insulation when insulating after sheetrock

[marcusl]

Seal any air leaks in walls or celing first, then insulate any uninsulated spaces as hvac4u suggests, then insulate from top to bottom as chfite notes in the thread below.

More specifically, add insulation (and drywall) to the garage ceiling if there is none. Add unfaced R-25 over whatever is in the attic, it's the cheapest and biggest gain. Add insulated honeycombed shades to the windows, and replace the windows with double-paned if they are single-paned. Insulating and drywalling the garage walls makes a huge improvement. Everything you do helps, and I found that the steps above took my son's room from seeing your breath in winter to same warmth as rest of the house.

Read
http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=153407
for more info.

If your ducts run through the attic, reseal the joints with aluminum duct tape and wrap with 2" duct insulation to reduce heating bills a bit.

Good luck!

[noroomsforme]

I grew up with a garage under my bedroom the room was like a fridgerator I mean really cold. Thats one reason I'm against garages built in basements I prefer them be off to the side. You have to balance the system best done by a professional. OR try it yourself open the register supplys in cold spots and rooms furthest from furnace all the way. Close the living room and areas closest from furnance half way this increases pressure to push more volumn of air further down to rooms far from furnace. Plus you need to insulate the flooring under those bedrooms which could mean ripping down the garage drywall ceiling and redoing the insulation with a much higher r value. I have done this repair before it is involved but worth it. The house I did had no insulation above garage at all. I hate when contractors cut corners at other people expense. I filled floor joist area up completely with insulation at 10 inches worth more is better. It worked great made a world of difference and installed a humidifier to get that extra comfort they so much wanted.