Improving Air Conditioning Efficiency By Reworking Ducts?
This is kinda long, but please bear with me as I really need some advice here. My house has a real problem in the summertime when the temp gets in the 90s and above. I called my Home Buyers Warranty people to get an A/C guy out to look at it, and he basically told me that the coolant level was OK but the units are spec'ed to only cool 15 degrees cooler than the outside temp. That means if its 95 outside, the coolest I could hope to get the house is 80. The house is a one-story ranch, with the blower/AC unit in the attic at one end of the house, the master bedroom at the other, and a bonus roof office over the garage adjacent to the master bedroom. In other words, if you look left to right at my house from a birds eye view....
Answer:
Here's a quick check you can make. The temperature differential of your A/C unit should be approximately 15-21 degrees across the evaporator. i.e. check a return vent and output vent as close to the evaporator blower as possible. If you have an adequate differential the A/C unit is probably doing the best it can. If that is the case there may be an easy answer. Try putting a high velocity window-type fan right next to the output vent nearest the area you want to cool. In effect, it will be sucking more air out of the system into the room. This often works as a quick and dirty (read temporary) solution to a poorly sized and/or zoned unit.