Cooling A Room

[dtengineering]

Well, it sounds like this one is well on its way to being solved. But why not throw in another option...

Growing up in northern BC, I had the exact opposite problem... my room was in the basement and it was too cold. Just to clarify... in the deepest, darkest, depths of winter we would have 1/4" or more of frost in some locations on the INSIDE of the house. (specifically a small location on the north side where the floor joists met the wall and the insulation was thin... it wasn't a complete igloo...) Unlike the multi-server set ups discussed here that might have helped warm the room, my Commodore 64 wasn't exactly dumping a lot of waste thermal energy.

Of course the issue wasn't that the room was too cold... the issue was that I was too cold (the room, really, didn't care what the temperature was).

The solution was to get a waterbed. It was always cozy warm when I went to bed, and not only would it keep me warm in winter, but it was cool in summer. The normal temperature for a waterbed is 28-30 degrees celsius, so unless your room exceeds that temperature on an average basis, you probably won't even need to cool the bed.... which you can do with just a bit of tap water if you need to.

It won't be much help when you're sitting in front of the computer on a hot afternoon, but at least it will help you sleep at night.

Stay cool,

Jason

P.S. Do you have a CRT monitor in your room? This would be a GREAT excuse to get an LCD... and Core2Duos are known for being energy efficient...


P.P.S. The winters in Dawson Creek (my hometown) have been, on average, much warmer over the past couple decades. Even back in the 80's I did a science fair project showing that the winters were warming and snowfall was reducing. Now, due to warm winters across northern BC the Mountain Pine Beetle (which needs three weeks below -30 degrees to kill it) is enjoying exponential growth, devastating huge areas of forest. Anyone who doubts global warming is welcome to drive through the centre of the province and check out all the red, dead trees. So I'm really pleased to see that everyone is suggesting energy/carbon efficient solutions here.

[Dick Linn]

I once had a brick house where the bedroom wall was exposed to the sun nearly all day. I would hose that side down in the late afternoon to cool it off. I was going to build an arbor and plant some vines on it, but I moved before that happened.

You already have good advice on airflow and insulation.

[Chris Fultz]

some simple steps -

be sure the air inlet has a clear path (no furniture, clothes, chairs, etc blocking the path.

be sure there is an air return path. if there is not a return in your room -
either keep the door open, or install a return.

if the air return is in the hallway (common) - add a vent above your door into the hall. this can be pretty simple - cut a hole in the drywall on both sides and just install grilles over the cut-outs. you can do this for less then $20.

for the cool air to come in, the warm air has to get out.

* this is why a lot of very old, high ceiling homes have small "windows" above the doors. these could be opened to allow air to circulate through all of the rooms, even with doors closed. i will remember what they are called at some point.