Hi! I live in a townhouse in Orlando and could use some advice on a hot closet on the topmost floor of my home.
The closet I'm concerned with is located next to the roofline and has neither a supply nor a return. Not unexpectedly, it gets really hot in there if the door is kept closed. So I'm looking for ways to keep the closet cool without having the contents on full display to the room.
Just a little more info: The A/C unit is zoned with a thermostat on each floor. For each bedroom and closet that has a supply vent, there is a passthrough grill installed above each doorway. I've been assuming those are the returns and that the stairwell acts as a return plenum.
1) Would installing a passthrough grill above the closet door provide enough venting to passively let the hot air escape while the door is closed? If not, would adding a fan to that grill help? (Reminder - no supply in the closet.)
2) The vent pipe for the clothes dryer also passes through that closet on its way to the roof. The closet provides access to a fan installed inline with the vent and that helps draw the hot air from the dryer to the roof. Would tying into this vent somehow be enough to cool the closet with the door closed? (Reminder - no supply in the closet.)
3) The supply registers for the top floor are all installed in the floor rather than the ceiling, and there happens to be a register just outside of the closet. Am I correct that tying into that duct would require pulling up the floor in that area?
4) I'm also considering removing the door entirely and installing swinging cafe doors instead (similar to old western saloon doors). This would leave a large air gap above and below the doors while preventing a good bit of the contents of the closet from being on display. Do you have any thoughts on how big the gaps should be at a minimum to really have good circulation of the conditioned air from the rest of the floor space into the closet? (I want to balance maximizing the gaps to make sure there is good circulation vs. maximizing the doors to make sure the contents are blocked from view. Also, when I leave the door fully open, the closet temperature is perfectly good.)
Any thoughts on these options or any other ideas would be appreciated!
Many thanks,
Sharon
P.S. I was on this board some years ago asking for help with the A/C at our last home. I think it was SW FL Dan who recommended John Badur at Wesson Air here in Orlando. John did a great job answering all of my questions, running the calculations, and helping us with replacing our two split systems, one of which was oversized. Since then, we've used Wesson for bi-annual maintenance both at that house and our new home. While our fellow townhouse neighbors are struggling with the very ugly mess of failed t-switches and overflowing condensate lines, our regular maintenance from Wesson makes me completely confident that our system is in great shape. So many thanks to Dan again, and all of you for your time, ideas, and recommendations!
The closet I'm concerned with is located next to the roofline and has neither a supply nor a return. Not unexpectedly, it gets really hot in there if the door is kept closed. So I'm looking for ways to keep the closet cool without having the contents on full display to the room.
Just a little more info: The A/C unit is zoned with a thermostat on each floor. For each bedroom and closet that has a supply vent, there is a passthrough grill installed above each doorway. I've been assuming those are the returns and that the stairwell acts as a return plenum.
1) Would installing a passthrough grill above the closet door provide enough venting to passively let the hot air escape while the door is closed? If not, would adding a fan to that grill help? (Reminder - no supply in the closet.)
2) The vent pipe for the clothes dryer also passes through that closet on its way to the roof. The closet provides access to a fan installed inline with the vent and that helps draw the hot air from the dryer to the roof. Would tying into this vent somehow be enough to cool the closet with the door closed? (Reminder - no supply in the closet.)
3) The supply registers for the top floor are all installed in the floor rather than the ceiling, and there happens to be a register just outside of the closet. Am I correct that tying into that duct would require pulling up the floor in that area?
4) I'm also considering removing the door entirely and installing swinging cafe doors instead (similar to old western saloon doors). This would leave a large air gap above and below the doors while preventing a good bit of the contents of the closet from being on display. Do you have any thoughts on how big the gaps should be at a minimum to really have good circulation of the conditioned air from the rest of the floor space into the closet? (I want to balance maximizing the gaps to make sure there is good circulation vs. maximizing the doors to make sure the contents are blocked from view. Also, when I leave the door fully open, the closet temperature is perfectly good.)
Any thoughts on these options or any other ideas would be appreciated!
Many thanks,
Sharon
P.S. I was on this board some years ago asking for help with the A/C at our last home. I think it was SW FL Dan who recommended John Badur at Wesson Air here in Orlando. John did a great job answering all of my questions, running the calculations, and helping us with replacing our two split systems, one of which was oversized. Since then, we've used Wesson for bi-annual maintenance both at that house and our new home. While our fellow townhouse neighbors are struggling with the very ugly mess of failed t-switches and overflowing condensate lines, our regular maintenance from Wesson makes me completely confident that our system is in great shape. So many thanks to Dan again, and all of you for your time, ideas, and recommendations!
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?2222097-Hot-Closet&goto=newpost
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