Waukesha County Home

Dear Jim: We have central air-condi- tioning, but have a problem keeping all the rooms evenly cool. Someone is always too hot or too cool. What are some simple methods to balance the temperatures throughout the house? — Jason F. Dear Jason: The problem you are expe- riencing is not uncommon even for the newest air-conditioning systems. Unless you install an expensive zone control sys- tem, your air conditioner can respond only to the temperature of the room where the wall thermostat is located. Numerous factors determine how much cooling, and therefore the temperature, various rooms throughout your house need. These include the number and orien- tation of the windows, whether it is on the first or second floor, the activity level in the room, the length of the duct leading to it, etc. Before attempting to balance the room temperatures, check all the joints in the duct system for leaks. Leaks keep the cool air from getting to the rooms which need it. You should have access to most ducts in the area around central blower unit. Wrap any leaky joints with black Gorilla or shiny aluminum duct tape. In fact, just wrap all the joints to be safe. The simplest, no-cost method to control the various room temperatures is to adjust the duct dampers. These are adjustable baf- fles near the indoor blower unit inside of the ducts leading to the individual rooms or groups of rooms. By closing one, more cooling air goes to other warmer rooms. Most duct systems have them. Look for a handle on the side of the duct. Typically, when the handle is lined up with the duct, the damper is wide open. Start by closing a damper halfway (turning the handle 45 degrees) in ducts leading to the rooms which are too cool and making sure the others are fully open. You will have to change the settings for winter heating. It takes an hour or so for the room tem- peratures to change. Check the rooms and readjust the dampers until you get the desired result. You may have to shut some almost completely, especially ones with short ducts on a lower floor. Don't close more than half of them or it may cause too much air flow resistance for good efficien- cy. If this method does not provide adequate temperature balancing, consider installing duct booster fans. These small fans mount in the ducts to the warm rooms and force more the air-conditioned air to them. These fans are sized to fit standard round and rectangular residential ducts. They can be controlled in different ways. The simplest ones sense when the main blower comes on and they run automatically at the same time. Others have their own thermo- stat to determine when they run. General- ly, it is best to have an experienced contrac- tor do the installation for you. Another simple do-it-yourself option is to install a register booster fan. This small rectangular fan mounts over the register cover in the room and is plugged into a standard electrical wall outlet. The small fan uses only about 30 watts of electricity. They are adjustable to come on only when more cooling or heating is needed in that room. The following companies offer booster fans: Aero-Flo Industries, 219-393-3555, www.aero-flo.com; Field Controls, 252-522- 3031, www.fieldcontrols.com; and Suncourt Manufacturing, 800-999-3267, www.sun- court.com; and register deflectors: Ameri- flow, 800-252-8467, www.ameriflowregis- ters.com; and Deflecto Corporation, 800- 428-4328, www.deflecto.com. Dear Jim: I do not want permanent win- dow film on a small kitchen window, but I want something to block the glare. How effective are cellular shades and can one easily be removed during winter to get more sun? — Carol D. Dear Carol: Translucent cellular shades are ideal for eliminating the glare from a window and the double-cell ones also add some insulation value for energy efficien- cy. Completely removing the shade allows more wintertime solar heat indoors. Look for cellular shades designed to be easy to snap in and out of the mounting brackets. Choose custom-sized ones with adhesive- backed brackets for quick installation. (Send inquiries to James Dulley, The Free- man, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com.) SEPTEMBER 2019 HOME 3 WAUKESHA'S LAKE COUNTRY Come Tour our Ranch-Style Model with a Finished Lower Level. TurnberryReserveCondo.com • 1,965 - 3,265 Square Feet • 2 or 3 Bedrooms • Main Floor Laundry • Granite Kitchen Counter • Vaulted Great Room Ceiling • 2 or 3 Baths • Master Bedroom Suite • Hardwood Floors 265599001 • SUNDAY 12:00 - 3:00 • Prices Starting at $439,900 Directions: I-94 to Hwy G (Meadowbrook Rd) then South to Northview Road to Turnberry Reserve Entrance. 2221 KAYLA DR., WAUKESHA Purchase by October 1st and receive a FREE washer/dryer. Only 5 Condo homes remain CALL TOM WOYAHN FOR INFORMATION 262-894-0868 JAMES DULLEY Balancing room temps with central air a common issue James Dulley Use the duct damper handle to control the amount of heated or cooled air to rooms. The summer and winter settings will be different. Field Controls This duct booster fan requires only a partial sec- tion of the duct to be removed for installation. Adjust duct dampers first

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