It's the heat *and* the humidity...

[geekette]

We got new windows last year and now our bedroom gets quite warm and humid at night.  Great in the winter, of course, but it's heating up now and causing lost sleep.  The ceiling fan helps, but not enough due to the humidity.

We need to keep the door closed (HEPA air filter in the room keeps allergies at bay).  But the loss of air circulation keeps the room a bit on the rain forest side of comfortable.  The rest of the house is cool enough, at least so far, that the A/C doesn't run overnight. 

I'm trying to figure a way to keep the room comfortable without breaking the bank.  We could run the HVAC fan all night (there's a good filter on that).  We could install a window a/c (ugly).  We could replace the HVAC and put in a zoned system (perhaps, and at great expense).

Any other ideas I'm missing? 

[TheThirstyStag]

A small window unit is likely your most cost-effective bet.   I lived in your neck of the woods for a while and totally understand the 5 months of rainforest-like humidity.  Yuck. 

[velocistar237]

It's kind of the Flowbee of HVAC solutions, but have you considered a bed fan? No idea how well they work.

At the expensive end of the spectrum lies the ductless mini-split.

[begood]

Have you tried just using a regular fan aimed at the bed? We don't have ceiling fans (yet another long story!), so I keep one of those round Vornado fans from Costco aimed right at my head in the summertime. It's amazing how much a little breeze helps!

[laka]

Could you just run a dehumidifier? Sometimes that's enough.

[velocistar237]

Could you just run a dehumidifier? Sometimes that's enough.

An A/C is just a dehumidifier that dumps the waste heat outside. A dehumidifier would warm the room up quite a bit.

We use a window A/C, but I don't like how loud it is.

[justajane]

We have central air but still have a window unit in our bedroom. It enables us to set the rest of the house higher at night. I know they are ugly, though. We were lucky that we were able to put it in a window on the side of the house instead of the front.

[MsPeacock]

Or a portable AC unit - http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-MN10CESWW-Portable-Conditioner-Control/dp/B00B2BTAV6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428693312&sr=8-1&keywords=portable+air+conditioning+units

Or something like that - slightly less ugly than a traditional window unit?

I find a box fan aimed at the bed cools me more than the ceiling fan - so a box fan, if you have a good way to place one might be the cheapest fix.

[justajane]

Window fans are also remarkably effective at bringing in cooler night air, but if your night air is not that much cooler, of course it doesn't help.

[1967mama]

I purchased this window fan two years ago for our very warm upstairs bedroom:

http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BWF0522M-Thin-Window-Fan/dp/B00BDS4M0W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1428696563&sr=8-3&keywords=window+fan

I'm so happy with it! Last year, I purchased 2 more for kid bedrooms.  If you turn it on an hour or two before bedtime and then close the bedroom door, its like walking into a fridge! It allows me to use the central a/c much, much less and at a higher temperature.

I bought mine at Walmart but I see that they are cheaper on Amazon ... grrr!

[Sibley]

Don't neglect the basic allergy remedies.
-shower at night if possible
-wash sheets regularly
-for the 24 hour allergy meds, take them before bed.
-don't skip days on allergy meds - it works best if it's in your system and stays there

[geekette]

That won't keep the cats off the bed ;-).

[innkeeper77]

My wife and I are both allergic to our cat- so we don't ever let her in our bedroom. She (the cat) hated it at first, as she used to sleep in my parents bed, but she has gotten used to it.  Do you just have cat allergies? If it's outdoot allergies, I can see why a window fan would be a poor choice.. can you rig up a filtration system on a window fan? (I would probably use multiple smaller and smaller filters so as to not clog them too quickly, and used oversized full furnace filters so you don't restrict the airflow too much.) - You could even have your HEPA filter as the last leg of the system before letting in the night air, though you could do the same with fancy furnace filters. Having a massive filter box probably isn't idea aesthetically though..

[geekette]

As the day we were born...

We've made a few changes, but since the weather has cooled, we're waiting to see how things go when it heats up again. At least the portable a/c unit would help without having to make screw holes in our new window frames.