Your guests won’t tell you if you have a problem. They’re too polite. Your kids probably have their door open when they are small and don’t have a problem.  Your teenagers probably don’t talk to you much anyway. How can you know if there’s a problem? It’s a good idea to spend a night in each of the other bedrooms in your house, particularly the guest room, if you have one, to see how the temperature goes with the door closed for eight hours. And do this on a cold night and a hot night. You might be surprised at what you find.

Why do these rooms tend to get off temperature? The answer is they are starved for air. A poorly design heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system, know as the HVAC system in the trade, often does not provide a method for the air to return to the heater or air conditioner except through the open door.

Take a look at your bedrooms. There will be a supply air register or two. But, is there a return air grill? The supply air coming to the room must displace the air that is already in the room.  And that air has to go somewhere. When the door is open, the displaced air exits through the door and is sucked up by the return air register in the hallway. Everything is fine with the door open.

But when the door is closed, the air that should be displaced is trapped. When this happens, no new air can get into the room. The “log jam” of air causes a pressure build up at the supply air register and the air in the duct takes the path of least resistance and heads to other parts of the house where there is no resisting air pressure. So the room with the closed door gets no conditioned air and gradually becomes too hot or too cold.

The cure for this problem is to install return air grills in the bedroom. This can be done best by connecting the grill to the return air ductwork so air is taken directly back to the HVAC unit and cooled or heated. If this can not be done due to physical restrictions, a transfer grill can be installed. This can be a simple grill cut in a wall that adjoins the hallway, thus letting the air escape, even when the door is closed. But a direct grill like this will allow sound through, too. It’s better to install a transfer grill in the ceiling and connect it to a piece of flexible ductwork with a bend or two that connects to another grill in the hall. That way the sound can not travel in a straight line and much less sound will be transmitted through the passageway.

Remember, to get the air you want in, you need to let the air you don’t want out. Return air grills or transfer grills are the way to do this. Getting your air conditioning and heating system working optimally is the first major step toward good energy efficiency in a home.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.

I know it sounds like an odd question. We tend to think of using solar design for houses, not clothes. I’ll explain.

If you know it’s a cold day, do you think about what you’re going to wear? Of course you do. You might wear several layers. The layering forms more tiny air spaces around you and increases the insulating effectiveness of your clothing. You might pick out dark colors. Even if you don’t think of this as “passive solar dressing,” it is. dark colors absorb the radiant energy from the sun better than light colors. I’m sure when you’re outside on a cold, but sunny day, you walk on the sunny side of the street to stay warmer than you’d be on the shaded side. Ah! Passive solar principles, again. It’s nothing more than proper insulation and receiving the free energy benefit from the sun.

Insulation is important, so let’s not forget your hat. We always hear that we lose the most heat through our heads. Your house loses the most heat through the roof. Heat moves upward as hot air rises. So wearing a warm hat is like putting good insulation in your attic and roof. It’s the place where the investment produces the most benefit.

We do the same thing in the summer, using passive solar principles to stay cooler. Don’t you choose light colored clothes? Light colors reflect the sun’s radiant energy. You’ll stay cooler. A light colored roof in a hot climate will keep your house cooler, too. Don’t you pick clothing that breathes so you’ll stay “ventilated?” Natural ventilation in your attic will reduce your air conditioning expense. It won’t have to work as hard. With the right ventilation in many climates, air conditioning may not be essential, even on the hottest days. On a hot summer day, you might also wear a hat with a big brim. That’s like having a house with proper overhangs to shade the walls and keep the house cooler. The shading keeps you cooler whether it’s a hat or a roof.

I wrote another blog post last winter about using solar energy to help clear my driveway of snow.  It’s rare to get much snow where we live in North Carolina. But it happens from time to time. Hey, if Mother Nature is giving us free energy, we might as well use it. It’s simply a matter of understanding how to use it.

If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.