Author Topic: Cold bedroom above garage  (Read 2113 times)

alpharomeo

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Cold bedroom above garage
« on: November 02, 2014, 08:11:25 PM »
Hey Guys,

I am trying to find some easy solutions to improve the temperature of a bedroom/bathroom which are over my garage.  In addition, they are both located on the north side of my house.  I live in Las Vegas so we aren't trying to battle harsh winters, but it does cool off at night during the winter and we were looking to utilize the room for my 6 month old son.  Just using a thermometer, the rooms are registering about 6-8 degrees cooler than my hallway just outside the rooms.  The room does feel a little drafty, but I cannot pinpoint the entry points.  I have looked in the attic and the insulation looks consistent with the rest of my house and didn't notice any gaps or missing areas.  I am interested in seeing if anyone has a good suggestions for me.

Thanks   

Greg

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Re: Cold bedroom above garage
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2014, 09:29:42 AM »
Typical air leakage areas are outlets and light boxes (wiring holes in them), around the windows (behind the trim) and where the walls meet the floor (behind the baseboard and carpet edge).  With the exception of the wall/floor joint, most of the leaks can be fixed with latex caulking.  I use white or off-white with light colored trim, or if I will paint anyway, and clear for many other areas where color matching will be difficult.

You can install gaskets behind switch plates and outlet plates, but this is not as effective as sealing the wire penetrations in the wire boxes themselves.  If you are comfortable with wiring, caulking the wire holes is a better solution.  If you're not, just use the gaskets.

If the bath fan is on a timer, you may be able to adjust the time it runs.  I might help to keep the doors to these spaces open during the day, and then close them at night.  A space heater is probably a good solution, I would recommend an oil-filled electric radiator over a heat/fan style for noise considerations for your 6 month old, unless the fan would be helpful for white noise.  Make sure the bedroom's and the home's smoke detectors are in good working order.

Since the rooms are over the garage, minimize the heat loss in the garage as well via similar air sealing and gasketing the vehicle door in the garage.

Lkxe

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Re: Cold bedroom above garage
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2014, 10:39:34 AM »
Based on our energy audit when we purchased this house, we caulked around outlets, vents and ceiling fixtures Used the foam insets for the outlets and plugged the open outlets with baby safety gear ( as Greg says) and We had the garage ceiling/bedroom floor packed with blown in insulation. I think it cost us about 800 dollars- it took a surprisingly large number of bags. The garage was insulated and dry walled under the house part but we finished the front and bought an insulated better sealing garage door.  I still think the bedroom is colder but with cathedral ceilings I think I am stuck. I might try plastic wrapping the windows this winter, since I don't think I am replacing them right now. Making sure the windows are locked seems like a silly thing but it helps too.