Today's Technology And You

Today's
TECHNOLOGY AND YOU

Chilly or stuffy: Your misfit room

Q: My daughter's bedroom and our living room always seem chilly in the winter and hot and stuffy in the summer. What can we do to make all the rooms comfortable without pushing up our utility bills?— A.K.

A: Almost every house with a central heating and air-conditioning system has a room or two that are never comfortable. Most people waste energy by setting their thermostats higher (or lower in the summer) to compensate.

There are several products to increase the amount of heated or cooled air going to each room— inexpensive do-it-yourself booster fans (in-duct and register mounted) and register deflectors for better air distribution.

Before purchasing a booster fan, make sure that the dampers in the ducts leading to the problem rooms are fully open. The open setting is usually with the handle parallel to the duct, but not always. Check the force of the air flow from the room register to determine the open position.

A small 250 cfm (cubic feet per minute) register booster fan is effective year-round. The enclosed fan is placed over any floor register or it can mount to a wall register. It plugs into a common 120-volt outlet and uses only 30 watts of electricity (costs about 2 cents per day.)

A built-in sensor and electronic brain measure and compare the temperature of the furnace air and the room air. By turning an adjustment screw, you set the room temperature at which the booster fan automatically comes on.

When it senses the room is too chilly in the winter, the booster fan starts when the furnace comes on. When air-conditioning, set the switch to the cooling mode. If the room does not cool down, the fan starts automatically.

There are several do-it-yourself designs of in-duct booster fans to fit round or rectangular ducts. The round fans come mounted in a short piece of duct. Just cut out a section of the existing duct and slip the fan in place.

These are often wired directly to the furnace blower so they come on when it starts. Efficient variable-speed duct fans can be wired to a thermostat or humidistat to automatically control the speed for precise comfort control.

Improving air distribution with an inexpensive register deflector often helps. One design, Extend-a-vent, is flat and can extend out three feet from the register. This is ideal for under a sofa or under drapery that blocks the register's air flow.

Another deflector design, especially for air-conditioning, is tapered at the outlet. This increases the cool air velocity to force it upward. Complete do-it-yourself kits to add another heating duct are also available.

Write for Utility Bills Update No, 811 listing manufacturers of automatic register and in-duct booster fans, register deflectors, add-a-duct kits, cfm air flow capacities, price, and installation/operating instructions. Please include $2.00 (with checks payable to Jim Dulley) and a business-size SASE, sent to Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708.

Q: I'm tired of my old shower curtain and I am considering installing a glass shower door instead, Is there any advantage of an expensive shower door over a curtain?—H.J.

A: There actually is an energy advantage of a shower door instead of a curtain, especially if you use an energy saving low-flow shower head. The water droplets from a low flow shower head are very fine. They can cool down before they reach your body, sometimes requiring hotter water.

A shower door seals out more air currents (caused by the warm water) than a curtain does. This allows you to shower in cooler water and save energy.

James Dulley is a mechanical engineer who writes on a wide variety of energy and utility topics. His column appears in a large number of daily newspapers.

10 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • APRIL 1996