Well, I just discovered this thread languishing out of date. And it is very interesting. WE have a 2 BR cottage. I do not know the square footage, truly. But if anyone has a living room which is a room unto itself, like ours is, it could work as a guest room, or even an office if you keep it neat. Living rooms in small houses should not be single use rooms. We do have our 42" TV mounted above the mantle, so it is a "media" room. I did make the side porch into a sun porch, but that just gives a greater sense of space to the LR. And we ended up removing the french doors closing off the LR from the dining room. I am keeping them in the garden shed just in case. Because it occurred to me that the LR would be a nicer and prettier room to put up a guest than the second bedroom. At first, I did have a sofa bed to use, but it wore out. Now I have a sort of daybed which has a wooden frame on 3 sides and lots of loose pillows, with a 6" thick foam cushion to sit on. It is about 7' long, and looks sort of British tropical style....but I discovered the other day it was made in Italy. My DH currently has his laptop in a corner of the LR, on a tiny console. Today I decided to give my coffee table to a dear friend and use two smaller metal tables before the sofa. In a small room, they work better than a large table which holds a lot of clutter...magazines, mail, coffee cups, dog leash, etc. And I forgot that I put a series of book cases behind the sofa. The lower shelves hide a multitude of not-so-pretty things. The upper shelves can display things you like, and on top I have framed art etc leaned against the wall. And now I intend to make the DINING ROOM share the multi-tasking load around here. By building a window seat flanked at either end by a ceiling height set of cabs, it will provide some awesome storage. If anyone needs space for storing fabric, that should give you lots of room. We only have a smallish dining table, square, to place where the window seat provides one of the diners a seat, but the table might be good for a cutting surface too. The sewing machine could work in a cabinet as a buffet, or some other clever camouflage folks come up with. With small houses, the trick is to think outside the box, outside the ordinary. Marti, for me, the laundry in a detached garage would be a deal breaker. I have an aversion to going outside after dark because I lived alone for so many years. We bought a nice stacking unit. Only ONE plug for both appliances. Boy is it heavy, but oh my that front loading washer does clean the clothes! So put a stacking W/D in a corner of the kitchen, or in a closet, or enclose a back porch like we did. Also, we are in the process of building a small leanto shed off the back porch, to relocate the water heater. We included in the WH shed enough space for a preheat tank against the time when DH will put a solar water heater system on our south-facing roof. LOTS of heat up there in our long hot season.But I'm not pushing him on that project, just let it come when he can take a breather. :)

I am with hubby. I would not want a window-shaker in the bedroom if there is any other way. You have a premium system with the ground source heat pump. Running a window unit might cost more to operate than overcooling the rest of the house. A ceiling fan might be counterproductive. You might be better off letting hot air stratify near the ceiling. High wall mount mini splits don't have to be on outside walls if you can find a way to deal with the condensate. I have 6 on interior walls and the seventh on the outside wall has its plumbing run in the stud space, not directly to the outside. You could also install a small AHU in the top of a closet or in adjacent space. Before jumping into a mini split, do make sure that your system supply and return ducts to the MBr are operating properly. Modifications to your primo GSHP system probably makes more sense than adding. Larger ducts would do it if possible. In addition to that, let's paint with a big brush and see if another zone can be added. Ask around and get recommendations for excellent HVAC pros in your area and then get them in to look at it. On the other hand, a MSHP would be very easy to operate with a small back up generator. That room might be a nice oasis in times of power outage.

Pal's right about keeping things in context. I spent the weekend in Philly and since I had concert tickets my DS and DDIL suggested that I stay with them rather than driving home late at night - which is only a few miles away - not an ordeal. But I love spending time there and it's always a pleasure to walk around and see what is new. It's impossible to keep up with all the residential building going on - new homes as infill, conversions from businesses, apartments and condos from warehouses. There's something different on every visit. As we walked to one of the many little eateries in their neighborhood they pointed out all the changes that have recently taken place and the prices associated with them. We had an interesting discussion about renting/buying and city/suburb living. They've been renting in a wildly popular area of the city (not Center City) for 7 years and have finally decided to leave when their lease is up. Currently they are paying close to Pal's $4000 (if you include utilities and fees) for a 2700 sq ft brand new and cheaply built apartment with 3 BR, 2 1/2 baths, 1 parking space and no yard. They don't want to continue to pay that much for a rental nor do they want to pay $800,000 for a place with parking and a small yard for their dogs and hopefully children. Add to that the cost of tuition for private school (the majority of public schools are not worth considering) and they're priced out of the city. Yes they could buy cheaper (DD just paid less than $200,000 for a 1890 square foot row home with a yard - but in an older, poorer and definitely 'iffy' neighborhood and street parking. But she and her BF usually bike to work and didn't want an increase in commuting time. DS and DDIL's cost analysis is simple - they could buy a nice home with a garage and a yard in one of the suburbs ringing the city with a top rated public school system and save money. Even considering the taxes would be significantly higher (Philly property taxes are low but the wage tax is high) they view it as a trade-off. They've also reached a a point where they can no longer ignore the constant background noise associated with city living and are seeking a different lifestyle. My other son bought a $230,000 condo in the same neighborhood. It was originally living quarters for workers in a local factory (maybe the cigar factory) that had been built around 1900 but had been totally renovated about 15 years ago. He has less than 1000 sq. ft, no yard, no parking - 2 BR, 1 1/2 baths. As for Pal's original question - If I had hit the lottery I could easily rent that place and have my own place to stay when I go into the city. Spring Garden is a relatively safe area and since it's on the edge of Center City allows for easy access to several major roadways - but only if it came with a paring spot.

"Opening the bedroom door to let cool air from the hallway into the room would help, but people don't want to sleep with their bedroom door open" Air must have a free path from vent back to unit unless there's a return in every room. In a small room,cutting 2" off bottom of door,installing a luvered vent in door or leaving door open are common ways of allowing air to circulate. I don't know who"people"is but if they can't leave door open a couple of nights to see if restricted return flow is the problem,let them sleep hot.