How to Decease Heat Gain from South-Facing Windows
I have a townhouse with a 2-story front entry hall and a 2-story living/dining room on the first floor. There is an upstairs loft that opens to both these areas. Off the loft are two bedrooms, which I use as my guest room and an office (the master is on the first floor). Floor plan of the second floor is below.
The upstairs bedrooms are virtually unusable in the summer and early fall due to my inability to cool them down while keeping the first floor at a reasonable temperature (usually 72 to 74). I had guests last summer and they ended up sleeping in my living room because the guest bedroom was so hot even with a fan on in the bedroom. Heat from the first level rises up to the loft and into the bedrooms and the upstairs bedroom windows and a large (approx 45 x 70) window above the front door all face west and get full afternoon sun. Also, the two bedroom are above the west-facing garage, which gets very hot in the summer (usually at least 15 degrees hotter than it is outside). Although there is insulation between the garage and the bedroom floors, I suspect heat is coming up through the floors to the bedrooms. I put insulation on the inside of the garage door but that didn't appear to help any.
I had an energy audit of the entire house; the a/c is working fine upstairs and the insulation between the garage and the bedroom floors completely fills the cavity. The only potential solution given to me during the energy audit was to have all the cracks, gaps, etc. in the attic filled in with special insulation. This was going to cost $3000. While I'm sure this would help with energy use overall, the only accessible attic is above the east facing living/dining room so I don't think my real problem of the bedrooms would be addressed.
This being a townhouse community with an HOA, I cannot affix anything to the windows on the outside or the siding (such as an awning) nor can I put any kind of darkening film on the windows. I'm in Maryland -- the summer temperatures are generally in the high 80's and sometimes in the high 90's.
I would appreciate advise on these options to make the bedrooms cooler in the summer:
1. The bedroom windows currently have white faux wood blinds which I keep in closed position. I have these throughout the house and would prefer to leave these in place. But I could add insulated draperies that I would leave closed all the time during the summer months. Are there brands or kinds of insulated drapes that are especially good at blocking heat or are they all about the same?
2. I think a blind on the window above the door would help. It would need to be motarized so that I could close it in the afternoon in the summer but leave retracted at other times since that window is the only source of natural light at the front of the house on the first floor. I get different answers at different stores on which kind of blind (cellular, insulated Roman shade, etc.) would reduce heat coming into the front hall from the window. Do you have opinions on what type would be best?
Many thanks for answers to these questions or any other ideas that you have to keep bedrooms cooler.
Comments (17)
khrisz
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Low-E high solar gain windows.
Comments (4)Good points Mike and Michael... A recent industry report that I read indicated that Cardinal supplies something like 45 of the largest 50 window companies with their LowE coatings...and a solid majority of the smaller guys as well. My thinking was that if rswojo0 was buying a coated window, there was a pretty good chance that it would have a Cardinal coating on it...so I passed info on the specific coating designed for high solar gain. Obviously, if rswojo0 wants to buy a window from company "A" and even if they have Cardinal coatings, they may not offer that specific version...and of course there are other coatings available as well. rswojo0 or any other consumer may have to work a bit to find the specific product that they want. Mike, I like the idea of contacting Cardinal and simply asking them if they have info on what window companies offer the high solar gain coating..and the same applies to Guardian as well...and as you said, Cardinal does have plants that make glass, temper it, coat it, laminate it, IG it, probably just about anything else that comes to mind as well! Coating factories are called CG for "Coated Glass" (clever, eh?) Have a great day all!...See MoreLow-e vs solar gain vs window treatments
Comments (22)Hi ZIns, Oberon offered professional technical details so I will chime in with homeowner experience. Yes, even with Low-E, there will be fading. Depending on the amount and intensity of exposure and the finish, it is a matter of how much and how soon. In a situation where the sun is very mild and light, by the time fading is noticeable, it may also be time to refinish the floor. My guess is the floor is not receiving year-round exposure, true? The sun is stronger and deeper during some time of the year and weaker and less intense at other times, is that so? We have seasonal sun intensity problem too and solve it with a combination of solution. We use rugs to protect several sections of our floor during mid-Spring through late Summer. The rugs are removed to prevent tripping when we have visitors. The rugs are also removed around Autumn when the sun is low and the exposure is much less intense and shortening each day. We have old furniture in one area by our French doors and my wife made knitted coverings to cover the furniture. As necessary, we remove the covering when appropriate. Outside the French doors, we installed retractable awning so that during extremely hot summer days, the awning extends to provide cover without blocking natural light. Our goal is to not use any window treatment because we enjoy natural light and the views. Hope this helps a bit....See MoreNeed ideas for a south facing brick wall.
Comments (2)South-facing walls are difficult, especially in lots of sunlight. You know the best way to get the bermuda to grow there is to plant some flowers or veggies there, and then the bermuda grass will move right in to choke them out. The issue with wildflowers is that most of them only bloom for a few weeks before they are replaced with other wildflowers coming into bloom in their time sequentially, so wildflowers will not necessarily look good in a prime location next to the house since you'll always have some that are fading and turning brown and going to seed. I love wildflowers, but not right up against the house in a prime location. Some of the plants that have done best for us along a west-facing wall include canna lilies, crinum lilies (be sure you put them where you want them because they form massive clumps that you'll never be able to move), verbena bonariensis (aka verbena-on-a-stick because it is tall with wiry stems), malva sylvestris 'Zebrina' (aka French hollyhocks, though not really a hollyhock, and it doesn't have the hollyhock rust issues that true hollyhocks have and it laughs at the heat), and lantana (in well-drained soil, as it won't come back if it has to sit in cold, soggy-wet soil all winter). Zinnias and cosmos also can do well on the south side of a house next to a brick wall, but be sure to plant one of the hybrids that have better disease tolerance because the lack of good air flow beside a house can lead to disease. Four o'clocks can do well on the south side of a house and, like crinums, they aren't easily moved once established so once you have them there, they tend to last forever....See MoreSite finished hardwood and south facing windows
Comments (2)I have Braz Cherry floors and for the first several years, I rolled up and stored the rugs for spring and summer. It took a few years before they stopped changing color....See More
PROJAN MOYER
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoThis is virtually EVERY two story "open" home in the USA on a single zone. Buy a high quality portable AC for each upstairs bedroom ( unseen from exterior) , add room darkening/blackout honeycomb cellular shades versus blinds to the upstairs windows ( bedroom) . Those have a hidden Mylar within, can't be seen from outside at all, and are far more energy efficient insulation than blinds of any type. Turn the portable ac on when needed in those rooms. You will have spent 2 to 3k, all in but you will have FOUND the solution. It will be perfectly cool and comfortable for sleeping in both bedrooms, Bonus is you run it only when you need it, and most cool so well, you can pre cool, and turn off at bed time
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