What would be the best way to heat and cool a single room

[Kim in Appalachia]

We are finishing off an upstairs room in our house. At one time this room was a covered back porch. There is no way to extend the current duck work system into the room. To make the room useable we would need to provide heat and air. We're thinking of turning it into a bedroom for one of the boys.

 

What is the most efficient way to do heat and cool it? I know we could put electric baseboards in there, but they are so expensive to run. Is there a better system? We are looking at the split duck work (??) systems, but I don't know much about them, or if that's really our best option.

 

Anyone else do this?

[ksr5377]

We finished off the breezeway between our house and the garage as our schoolroom. After having the HVAC guy out it was determined that our furnace and AC unit probably wouldn't be adequate for the extra square footage, we ended up going with the baseboard heat and a window A/C unit. I would have preferred it to be together with the rest of the house, but it hasn't been that noticeable on our electric bill. If nothing else I'm happy with the added expense compared to the all the extra room we have now. We insulated well and put in good windows. We keep it around 67 in the winter and 76 in the summer.

[Freckles]

We had an addition on one of the houses we've lived in that wasn't connected to the original duct work. We used a window unit that provided heat and cooling. Now mind you, it doesn't get extremely cold in East Texas, but it does get hot. It worked great for us.

[Sun]

My first priority would be to install really good insulation on all the new exterior walls and in the ceiling. Without excellent insulation, you'll be fighting a losing battle on both heating and cooling. I'd also look at the windows and make sure that they are double paned. I'd probably make or buy some insulated window shades if you leave in a harsh climate or if the room gets a lot of sun. We had them in one house, and I really could not believe the difference they made. I'm thinking of making some for the upstairs rooms in this house.

 

Cooling will probably be your biggest issue. If you insulate well, you will benefit from some of the heat from the house below the new room. Cooling is always more difficult upstairs anyway, and if you don't have an attic over the new room, it will be more so. If you will have attic space above the new room, attic fans are very helpful to reduce the strain on the A/C.

 

You may well be restricted to baseboard heat and a wall A/C unit. They can be expensive if your electricity is high, but those ductless units are quite expensive as well, and they rely on electricity for cooling unless you get a heat pump (and I'm told those are of limited cooling use if you live in a very warm summer climate). Since you are adding a new room, I would look for an A/C unit that can be installed in the wall rather than in a window. We've had units like thesein upstairs rooms, and they work quite well. We love not having to take them out in the fall and not having half of a window occupied by an a/c unit. We built insulated covers for ours to minimize heat loss during the winter. You can get units that also provide heat, but if your winter climate is cold, I'd want a regular electric heater in the room.

[Erica in OR]

Agree with a previous poster that insulation needs to come first. A potential solution for the wintertime would be a portable electric oil-filled radiator heater. We have a wood stove that provides our primary heat, but the heat never really extends to our back two bedrooms. That's fine for us, but the babies' room needs the heat at night. So we turn on the heater about half an hour before bedtime and leave the door shut during the night to hold in the heat. Gives a nice, toasty room and hasn't given a big bump to our electric bill. Temps might get down to 20s or 30s in our area.

 

Erica in OR

[plansrme]

Google "hotel style heating unit." There is a more technical name for them, of course, but they are just what they sound like. We looked at a house once that had one in a finished former garage. It felt fine.

 

Terri

[fairfarmhand]

Google "hotel style heating unit." There is a more technical name for them, of course, but they are just what they sound like. We looked at a house once that had one in a finished former garage. It felt fine.

 

Terri

 

this is what we have in our bonus room. It works fine for both heating and cooling. It can be noisy though, which is annoying when we are watching TV.

[Kim in Appalachia]

Thanks everyone! I like the idea of the thing like a window unit, but in the wall. The room will be well insulated and the windows new, in fact it will be the best built room in the house. :) My dh was looking at the units like at hotels. We'll keep looking at our options. Thanks again.

[Alice]

It won’t cool it but we had a room with a heated floor in our old house and LOVED it. Everyone misses that floor.