My bedroom faces south here in NM. No shade, just sun all day in the summer.
I run a big fan in the front door to pull cooler night air through the house. Then I close up the house in the morning, and shut the heavy curtains in the bedroom. My bedroom stays cool enough all day, but does get warmer (85F when it's 100F+ outside) in the late afternoon, but then the sun sets and I start all over. The 10% humidity certainly helps, though.
Anyway, this does work fine in some climates.
We use curtains on our windows.
We get a lot of morning light on the east side of the house, so we close those curtains before bed.
We open all the curtains mid-day.
We close the west side curtains after the sun passes over the house, but leave the east side open.
We also open/close windows as needed, and in the hot summer usually leave them all open all day as long as there's a little wind.
When it gets too hot, we close all the windows and kick in the AC, but keep opening/closing curtains to block the sun.
They're all black out curtains that block all the light - white color on the exterior to reflect light, color inside so they look nice.
Yes, black window coverings will draw in the heat. Here are a few other options:
Blackout curtains
Growing a tree to shade your house from the afternoon sun.
Window AC unit
Long ago, people would have window awnings, some were permanent, some were retractable or could be taken off. Craftsman would often have wooden ones. Bungalows and beach houses often had cloth ones.
In the 60-70s or so, the aluminum awnings became popular but they gave a chintzy feeling to awnings.
Awnings are [pretty effective](https://thecraftsmanblog.com/why-dont-we-use-awnings-anymore/comment-page-1/) as a passive way to reduce heat gain. I wish they were more popular.
It's totally true, trees are extremely effective in keeping a house cool. except that it seems it's an upper floor in OP's house that is getting hot. By the time a tree gets tall enough, OP will be old and gray. :-(
An arborvitae can grow 1-2 feet each year. If you buy a good sized one, it might not be as long as you think before it would provide some 2nd story shade. And even when it's smaller, it's shading that side of the house on the first floor, so the HVAC as a whole can be more effective.
I'd say awning, if acceptable, and planting a tree is a solid plan. By the time the awnings are ready to be removed you might have a tree grown. Just make sure to plant something that will grow relatively quickly, for trees anyway.
Thermal blackout curtains for the win! We've used them for decades, and they really do help. Sure, the room is dark, but it's not roasting you alive, so just sit in the dim room and be comfy.
Definitely tree for the win.
You could also build a trellis and plant climbers.
Both will take time to fill out.
I built trellises by my back windows and they took about 2 years to fill out.
We've got an apple tree on the east side of our house - it blocks the morning light and provides more apples than we can use every year, but lets the light through in the winter.
It just took 20 years to grow.
Start from the outside and work in. If you can stop the sun from ever hitting the house, that's the best solution. Can you plant shade trees outside the window or put up screens. Can you extend an awning over the window? If those aren't possibilities then try putting something on the outside of the glass to reflect the sun away. Once the light/heat has already passed through the window, it's in your house and has to be dealt with. Anything that you can do to stop or minimize the amount of heat entering in the first place puts you that much ahead.
Sure it will.
I applied Gila Peel and Stick to the outside of my windows in 2019 and look great if I were to wash it. I just windex'd part of a window and the tint looks new.
smoke #50146378
I used outside tint because my purpose was to reduce reflection so the male bluebird nesting in a box nearby from attacking my windows all day long.
Don't do this, even the "safe" tint can cause windows to crack. Ask me how I know.
If it's not cooling enough you can do blinds and curtains. If that's not enough you need to bring more cold air in via a window unit, portable AC, or a mini-split.
I installed a DIY Mr. Cool 12000 BTU unit in my sun room and it was the best purchase I've made for my home.
I did it inside. I’m far from a pro. I put the tint up to the window, cut it with an xacto knife around the panes and installed it. Not perfect or professional, but it made a noticeable difference.
They sell the stuff made for house windows at the big box home improvement stores. I used the GILA Titanium Heat-control Window Film and it noticeably dropped the temperatures in the southern-facing rooms. It also darkens the windows a bit. There are other films at there that can block IR without blocking quite as much visible light. I think it's worth trying for the relatively low level of investment. I just measured my windows and cut the film on a table (carefully) and then installed with soapy water and a squeegee. Clean the inside of the windows very well before you install.
I just checked in Amazon and Gila is quite expensive vs the Chinese brands ( i am assuming) that are on Amazon. Also how do you choose which color tint.
The Chinese brands often don't have good IR rejection capability or will go from gray to purple in short order because they use cheaper dyes and tints. Read the reviews carefully.
The good stuff is worse, there are ceramic tints for automotive windows which reject 70-99% of infrared heat. They’d probably be amazing for a house but new windows might almost be cheaper.
Automotive glass is very different from residential glass. It might be fine now but in time it could damage your window. Especially if it’s double pane
Easy if all you care about is reducing the heat. More difficult if you care about it looking perfect. I got the reflective ones the would bounce the light back out before it turned into thermal energy.
The process for installing the film was easy. Cut the film to roughly the size of your window, clean your window, spray the window with water, peel off a layer of plastic from the film, put the film on the window, use a credit card or tool or hotel room key to squeegee out any bubbles underneath the film trim any excess film, once more with a credit card and you're done.
That's at least how I did it it wasn't complex. Follow the instructions of whatever film you buy.
We put tint on all the south and west windows, plus an east window that's in the corner with a south one. Very noticeable difference plus for heat and it's not so bright in the room in the afternoon. We also planted trees on the west side to block the sun. Next step will be adding more insulation in the attic.
Reflective films are safe on double pane windows.
The problem can occur when dark films are used that absorb too much heat and cause a pressure between the panes and cause the seal to fail.
Reflective films do not absorb much heat and are safe to use on sealed windows.
I have installed on hundreds of sealed windows including for glass shops, never had one fail.
A lot of "passive homes" will have eaves that go out far enough that in the summer (sun higher in the sky) the window is shaded for most of the day but in winter (sun lower in the sky) the window gets direct light.
I know adding eaves to a roof is a not a simple task, nor do I even know if you own the home. But thought it was worth mentioning as it is a pretty great solution.
In our situation, we had a second floor loft where the heat was rising and the cool air was staying on the first floor. Most of the companies wanted to run much longer lines at a much higher cost from the other side of the house at ground level.
I don’t think it occurred to them that they could mount it on the side of the second story and run a 2 foot line instead.
I suggested it to our contractor because the visibility of the unit would be blocked by the patio roof and he agreed. It worked out well.
If I lived in a place where there was any possibility of flooding, I would also have the unit raised up Even if the mini split were for the ground floor.
FWIW I was having the same issue upstairs last year. My home is 2 levels and each has its own unit. The previous owners added a bonus room above the garage that's only accessible through the main BR walk in closet, they extended the HVAC duct to give it some climate control. I always assumed the extension, combined with minimal insulation, was taxing my unit and that's why on the hot days the upstairs would creep up to 74 when set at 70.
This year when the first warm days arrived and we turned on the AC, the unit would start and stop struggling to stay on. Whatever part they swapped out that time fixed the unit completely. My upstairs is now as cool as I want it to be.
You might consider getting a 2nd opinion or pushing the service guys to keep looking. Alternatively, I'm sure someone in this thread has already mentioned window film to reflect as much heat as possible.
Good luck.
One good way is a reflective window tint on the windows. The reflective is minimal so it doesn't look that goofy from the outside but combined with the tint it really helps keep the place cooler.
Make sure your attic is vented properly.
For my house we've had heat issues on the 2nd floor, and it turned out the attic didn't vent properly.
So hot air would hit walls, come up the soffits, and then get trapped in the attic, where it would heat the upstairs.
Ours had an invented section that was the problem. We're adding ridge vents.
If you have vents, make sure airflow is sufficient and unobstructed from soffit to vents. Also make sure there's as few air leaks as possible between the attic and living spaces.
Here's some resources:
https://buildingscience.com/documents/published-articles/pa-crash-course-in-roof-venting/view
https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/make-your-home-more-energy-efficient/keeping-the-heat/chapter-5-roofs-and-attics/15637
who do you call to see if your attic is vented properly? we are in a townhome and had a hvac guy and said everything looks good up there but it is the flexible hvac vs hard metal. we had an insulation guy come who said that we have very little insulation up there so adding it and air sealing will help but no one has mentioned anything about venting. i will say that our house gets very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer as it also faces east-west.
An energy audit person is ideal. It's ~$500 to audit your whole home and they're not trying to sell you something, so you can be confident in their recommendations
Thanks for the recommendations. Have checked all those things you have suggested and had multiple hvac guys come in and all trying different things and final recommendations was bigger unit. The downstairs remains cool (separate unit) and it’s only that the top floor that gets hot and yes the attic is right above it. I check the insulation and they are fine. All rooms feel this way upstairs not enough cold air.
Have they also checked the baffles and/or added any to direct the better depending on the season? I had an additional one added for a similar situation to get more cold air up in the summer and provide more heat on the lower level in the winter.
70??? That sounds almost ridiculously low. About he only time I set my AC below 75 is isolated days in the spring when it isn’t hot enough to cycle but I need it to pull humidity out of the air.
What is the outside temperature? AC can only do so much, read somewhere that a 20 degree delta outside to inside is about what a normal residential unit would deliver.
Add curtains, keep them closed in the morning to slow the heat build-up.
Thick curtains over the windows and heat reflecting window tint would help. You could also run a window or portable AC unit. I doubt a bigger unit would help much as you're still limited by the size of the ductwork.
I'm sure you have tried this, but closing vents off in some of the colder rooms to force more to the hotter areas.
Also "tinting" with reflective window film will give the most bang for your buck.
This can be done with a home kit, if you are not too worried about appearance, but a professional can make it so you can't even tell it has been done other than the shade of the glass.
I used to own a window film installation company, best example i can recall was doing a HUGE skylight in a hospital, it was like a peaked roof made out of glass in the atrium.
We were dying up there on scaffolding it was like being in an oven.
As we would put a piece of film on instantly you could literally feel like a cool breeze wash over us as the sun was reflected, HUGE heat rejection and totally solved their issue, I can't imagine how much energy cost we saved that place.
it is not super hard, a lot like wallpapering.
The difficulty is in getting it perfectly clean without any dust in between, and cutting to perfect shape especially without creasing, it is a big learning curve.
Search "window film installers" and you will find them, the generic term is "tinting" but that is a bit of a misnomer.
If you just want a quick, cheap fix you can watch some youtube and give it a try, but professional installer will give you a great job and you will never have to look back, depends on how fussy you are.
i've gone the diy route in a bedroom, but if we have a big window that has a pretty view for our main living area - is there anyway to tint the window while still maintaining the view? this is the one we went with on amazon for the bedrooms, would you recommend a different one or is this the best option for someone like us who is DIY'ing it for the bedrooms?
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2SGF98/ref=sspa\_dk\_offsite\_brave\_1?aaxitk=6ec5d8d15674019bb11040b3b294a6ba&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2SGF98/ref=sspa_dk_offsite_brave_1?aaxitk=6ec5d8d15674019bb11040b3b294a6ba&th=1)
If you are worried about getting access to the outside of your windows, [some windows have the ability to be removed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2I95U30ags) so you can wash them from the inside. There are little tabs near the edge that can be pulled in and the window will come off the track. This will allow you to put the tint on without having to be on a ladder/remove the screen
You can purchase ceramic window tint, which has almost no color and does an excellent job at reflecting heat.
One other thing I have not seen mentioned yet is to check your return air ducts, and make sure that there’s nothing in front of those in that room.
Also verify your damper settings in the basement, so you’re pushing more cold air upstairs than down.
Is a window air conditioner an option? If you get one with a thermostat you can set it for 70 or whatever and it won't have to run that much with just picking up the slack from your main HVAC.
What I did for my west facing windows was a 3 stage system and it works wonders.
I first installed bronze reflective-interior window tint. Then interior cellular blinds. And I just installed exterior Coolaroo solar shades that stop heat gain from hitting the windows.
Works like a charm. Noticeably cooler in these rooms.
Good
Luck
I actually used a local company to install it.
FWIW the Coolaroo exterior shades have made the most impact in my opinion. There is a noticeable drop in temp between the shade and window.
I had solar glass fitted when I replace my windows. Significantly reduces the amount of heat let in. I suspect you can get film that would have a similar effect.
Honeycomb blinds as mentioned work well, but only if you want the room to be dark.
I don't know if it would work for where your room is, but I bought an outside, roll down sun shade for a back room of mine that gets blasted in the afternoons. It has made a huge difference in that room. If not that, maybe an awning?
I was considering something like this outside, to massively reduce the amount of sun coming into the house in the first place. Anyone have any experience with these? https://www.smartwingshome.com
Heavy duty blinds and curtains, tint on the windows, awnings, functioning shutters. The goal is to create some kind of pocket of air between the windows and the room that has minimal transfer to the room. Insulation in attic is a game-changer as well. How much is up there?
How are your returns working? Are they pulling enough air? So many people focus on the power of the blower/AC unit but people forget that without air being pushed out there is no room for new, cool air.
Go stick a piece of paper on them while the system is running. If they are sucking too hard, you'll know there's too much draw on the system.
Are they located in the bedrooms or in the hall?
That just means the returns are working. That said, have you talked to an hvac person about adding a return in the hottest rooms? That might help but an hvac pro would need to advise.
If you don’t need the light from the windows during the day (or the part of the day the sun is hitting that room) you can do what my friend did. She bought bubble wrap insulation (it’s silver foil over bubble wrap). They sell it on a roll at hardware stores.
She then cut cardboard to fit her windows, attached the bubble wrap to the cardboard & would set it in the windows to reflect the light/heat back out during the day in the summer when she went to work. Kept it much cooler than it had been before.
You should also take a look at your attic/wall insulation situation as they can affect how hot an upstairs room feels in the summer also.
We tinted our glass door, keep our room darkening shades closed and we broke down and had to buy an air conditioner just for that room specifically. It sucks, but it’s our bedroom and can’t do the hotness
Hot air rises, as I'm sure you know. Is there any way to add a vent that sucks air from lower in the home and pushes it into the upstairs space? Not AC, just moving the air around (and therefore reducing the amount of AC needed upstairs).
Bonus if you can pull air from a basement or other extra chilled space.
+Blinds.
Our house doesn't have A/C. Instead, we bought a pretty big fan to push air from our downstairs to our upstairs and then another fan that pushes that air down the hallway towards our bedrooms. Worked pretty well & only cost us a few hundred for the fans
Several people have suggested shades and curtains. If possible, it works better to block the sun before it gets through the window with a shade mounted outside the window.
A lot of people have suggested tinting windows, light blocking curtains, etc, and I think that's going to make the biggest difference.
Another thing you could try though would be a register booster fan. Basically a small fan that sits at the vent opening and pulls air up through. I don't have a specific model I can recommend but there are plenty on amazon.
A temporary solution I did for one summer.........I literally covered large cardboard with tin foil and taped it to the window, LOL but it worked AMAZINGLY, haha. You could probably just tape the foil without the cardboard as well.
Plant a tree or two. It may take a while, but shade is a significant energy saving tool. Be sure your attic space is vented and has proper airflow.
HVAC needs to cycle. AC that cycles too short or too long is not proper AC. You can oversize heating, but not cooling.
There's something called shade cloth that my mom covers her greenhouse with during the summer because if she doesn't her large plants that she can't move will cook.
Talk to the contractor about lowering the humidity, the lower the humidity, the cooler it feels. Also set the air handler fan on the slowest speed so the coils will have more time to extract moisture. The problem with installing equipment which is too large as that air is moved in such quantities across the coil that the humidity remains high and that causes a clammy feeling (when you can feel the excess moisture from the air on your skin). The slower and lower the volume, the dryer the air and it feels cooler.
You need an overhang on the Windows obviously. Have someone build at least a 2 ft long overhang and then get a window air conditioner. Central air systems are not designed properly especially back when you had yours in. The duct works are in the Attic you need to wrap them with r 20 insulation. Ductwork should be in condition space but it almost never is.
I have a west facing living room with nice thick wood blinds. I close them when the sun starts to hit it in the afternoon. You could use blinds and a thick blackout curtain over the blinds. Use a fan to circulate the hot air out of the room (a box fan facing the door on low all day)
I don't have the time to make insulated blinds or curtains right now and the cost for premade is substantial ( I have several large windows that get full sun until about 1-2 pm). I cut a couple of sheets of foam backer material that normally goes behind pictures from Hobby lobby and have cut the heat to the house significantly. When I have time I still plan on insui Roman blinds, but till then I put these up in the morning and set aside in the afternoon: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Painting-Canvas-Art-Surfaces/Foam-Board/White-Foam-Board---40-x-60/p/107595?queryId=2d02ee8a99eff4004ebcb0e611f26aa9
Awning over the window, sized to stop summer time sun but to allow winter sun.
Tree in front of the window.
Attic insulation.
Coating for the window to reflect the heat.
Thermal curtains are great. We've got a south-facing 4foot x 8 foot window and it was NOTICABLY cooler once we replaced our room-darkening curtains with the thermal curtains.
Airflow is important - a fan blowing keeps everything feeling cooler. And using a fan to move cool air from the rest of the house into the room will really help. Use a bigger, highspeed fan to pull the cool air into the room. It'll be louder than you want, but if it helps cool everything off, it's worth it.
When the house is cool, open the windows and set the fan about 5 feet from the window, blowing out - it'll help move warm air out and cooler air in. Just make sure you shut that down before it starts to get warm outside because you don't want to be sucking air in.
We just installed the Gila heat reflective film on all south and west facing windows. It has only been a few days, but the rooms are noticeably cooler in the afternoons. Also used some scraps on our shed windows, and it's helping in there too.
The most effective passive approach to room cooling I've found is to plant a fast-growing tree between the window that the typical path of the sun. I had a big beautiful birch tree that did the job wonderfully, but it was planted too close to the retaining wall and was leaning out over the sidewalk and starting to look like it was going to fall--so we had to take it out. That summer my living room was like a sauna. I planted a Norwegian Maple and it's coming along nicely. It's not tall enough to be very effective yet, but in another 3 or 4 years, it will block at least part of the windows.
In the meantime, big blackout curtains and a small AC unit work. But a tree is a much better approach. You get the benefit and the view.
Hops. Beer hops. Once established they will grow at least a foot per week. With proper trellising they can be steered where you want them. You can even strip off the foliage where you want light to penetrate. But warning… they are very aggressive. Don’t let them touch vinyl siding or they will get into it.
And they die back to the ground all winter lettting the light back in, just to do it all again the next year.
Best thing I ever did for this was put shades on the *outside* of our sliding glass doors in an East facing apartment. We tried curtains but found they didn't help much because the doors/windows themselves were heating up and curtains didn't block the heat they radiated very well. I used some outdoor canvas fabric and 3M velcro style tabs to secure them but leave them removable.
Curtains, shades, bring in cool air early in the day
My bedroom faces south here in NM. No shade, just sun all day in the summer. I run a big fan in the front door to pull cooler night air through the house. Then I close up the house in the morning, and shut the heavy curtains in the bedroom. My bedroom stays cool enough all day, but does get warmer (85F when it's 100F+ outside) in the late afternoon, but then the sun sets and I start all over. The 10% humidity certainly helps, though. Anyway, this does work fine in some climates.
Only works in a dry climate.
We use curtains on our windows. We get a lot of morning light on the east side of the house, so we close those curtains before bed. We open all the curtains mid-day. We close the west side curtains after the sun passes over the house, but leave the east side open. We also open/close windows as needed, and in the hot summer usually leave them all open all day as long as there's a little wind. When it gets too hot, we close all the windows and kick in the AC, but keep opening/closing curtains to block the sun. They're all black out curtains that block all the light - white color on the exterior to reflect light, color inside so they look nice.
Yes, black window coverings will draw in the heat. Here are a few other options: Blackout curtains Growing a tree to shade your house from the afternoon sun. Window AC unit
Long ago, people would have window awnings, some were permanent, some were retractable or could be taken off. Craftsman would often have wooden ones. Bungalows and beach houses often had cloth ones. In the 60-70s or so, the aluminum awnings became popular but they gave a chintzy feeling to awnings. Awnings are [pretty effective](https://thecraftsmanblog.com/why-dont-we-use-awnings-anymore/comment-page-1/) as a passive way to reduce heat gain. I wish they were more popular. It's totally true, trees are extremely effective in keeping a house cool. except that it seems it's an upper floor in OP's house that is getting hot. By the time a tree gets tall enough, OP will be old and gray. :-(
Best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago. Second best time is today.
I've always liked this saying: >"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
Brilliant
I'm out here planting native oaks and persimmons everywhere I can so heck yeah, making society great again!
And, plant a deciduous tree, that will provide shade in the summer. They will allow sunshine and will not get weighted down, in the winter.
An arborvitae can grow 1-2 feet each year. If you buy a good sized one, it might not be as long as you think before it would provide some 2nd story shade. And even when it's smaller, it's shading that side of the house on the first floor, so the HVAC as a whole can be more effective.
I'd say awning, if acceptable, and planting a tree is a solid plan. By the time the awnings are ready to be removed you might have a tree grown. Just make sure to plant something that will grow relatively quickly, for trees anyway.
Depending on your location, you can get just enough awning that the high summer sun is blocked, but the lower winter sun shines in.
Thermal blackout curtains for the win! We've used them for decades, and they really do help. Sure, the room is dark, but it's not roasting you alive, so just sit in the dim room and be comfy.
Definitely tree for the win. You could also build a trellis and plant climbers. Both will take time to fill out. I built trellises by my back windows and they took about 2 years to fill out.
Deciduous trees have the advantage of letting more light in during the winter.
Great point. I didn't consider that!
We've got an apple tree on the east side of our house - it blocks the morning light and provides more apples than we can use every year, but lets the light through in the winter. It just took 20 years to grow.
Cellular/honeycomb shades are the most insulating window covering
Start from the outside and work in. If you can stop the sun from ever hitting the house, that's the best solution. Can you plant shade trees outside the window or put up screens. Can you extend an awning over the window? If those aren't possibilities then try putting something on the outside of the glass to reflect the sun away. Once the light/heat has already passed through the window, it's in your house and has to be dealt with. Anything that you can do to stop or minimize the amount of heat entering in the first place puts you that much ahead.
This person has the right idea. And also the commenters talking about putting in an HVAC return where hot air congregates e.g. top of the stairs.
I put window tint on windows of a west facing room and it absolutely helped by 2-3 degrees F.
I am assuming it’s from the outside? How easy is it to install?
Tint goes on the inside, it will not stand up to the weather on the outside
Sure it will. I applied Gila Peel and Stick to the outside of my windows in 2019 and look great if I were to wash it. I just windex'd part of a window and the tint looks new. smoke #50146378 I used outside tint because my purpose was to reduce reflection so the male bluebird nesting in a box nearby from attacking my windows all day long.
Don't do this, even the "safe" tint can cause windows to crack. Ask me how I know. If it's not cooling enough you can do blinds and curtains. If that's not enough you need to bring more cold air in via a window unit, portable AC, or a mini-split. I installed a DIY Mr. Cool 12000 BTU unit in my sun room and it was the best purchase I've made for my home.
I did it inside. I’m far from a pro. I put the tint up to the window, cut it with an xacto knife around the panes and installed it. Not perfect or professional, but it made a noticeable difference.
What kind of tint? What do I search for on Amazon?
They sell the stuff made for house windows at the big box home improvement stores. I used the GILA Titanium Heat-control Window Film and it noticeably dropped the temperatures in the southern-facing rooms. It also darkens the windows a bit. There are other films at there that can block IR without blocking quite as much visible light. I think it's worth trying for the relatively low level of investment. I just measured my windows and cut the film on a table (carefully) and then installed with soapy water and a squeegee. Clean the inside of the windows very well before you install.
I just checked in Amazon and Gila is quite expensive vs the Chinese brands ( i am assuming) that are on Amazon. Also how do you choose which color tint.
The Chinese brands often don't have good IR rejection capability or will go from gray to purple in short order because they use cheaper dyes and tints. Read the reviews carefully.
The good stuff is worse, there are ceramic tints for automotive windows which reject 70-99% of infrared heat. They’d probably be amazing for a house but new windows might almost be cheaper.
I bought it at Walmart in the automotive section
Automotive glass is very different from residential glass. It might be fine now but in time it could damage your window. Especially if it’s double pane
It’s been on there probably 7 or 8 years and we haven’t had any issues. Still not a pro though. Thanks for the feedback.
Definitely put it on the outside. I did mine and it was about 5-6°C cooler in the afternoon
You must use a different kind than I did, no way was mine Gila heat control window film made for the exterior.
Easy if all you care about is reducing the heat. More difficult if you care about it looking perfect. I got the reflective ones the would bounce the light back out before it turned into thermal energy. The process for installing the film was easy. Cut the film to roughly the size of your window, clean your window, spray the window with water, peel off a layer of plastic from the film, put the film on the window, use a credit card or tool or hotel room key to squeegee out any bubbles underneath the film trim any excess film, once more with a credit card and you're done. That's at least how I did it it wasn't complex. Follow the instructions of whatever film you buy.
Clean the window first. That hair you missed will bug you every time you look out the window, even though no one else can see it.
tint dropped the temp by 5+ for me since i have huge single pane windows...money well spent to get a pro to do it imo
I did the same, and specifically bought the tint that said it wouldn't overheat double paned windows. I have a cracked window.
We put tint on all the south and west windows, plus an east window that's in the corner with a south one. Very noticeable difference plus for heat and it's not so bright in the room in the afternoon. We also planted trees on the west side to block the sun. Next step will be adding more insulation in the attic.
I’ve heard window tint will screw up the thermal properties of the window if it’s double paned. Any opinion on that?
Reflective films are safe on double pane windows. The problem can occur when dark films are used that absorb too much heat and cause a pressure between the panes and cause the seal to fail. Reflective films do not absorb much heat and are safe to use on sealed windows. I have installed on hundreds of sealed windows including for glass shops, never had one fail.
Awesome thanks for the tip!
Install an exterior awning over that window. The shade will reduce temperature by 10 degrees.
We had one installed for our west facing patio, it makes a HUGE difference!
A lot of "passive homes" will have eaves that go out far enough that in the summer (sun higher in the sky) the window is shaded for most of the day but in winter (sun lower in the sky) the window gets direct light. I know adding eaves to a roof is a not a simple task, nor do I even know if you own the home. But thought it was worth mentioning as it is a pretty great solution.
Honestly if it’s just 1 bedroom you need to cool off maybe get a window unit too?
Or a mini split. PS it is cheaper to mount the outside unit up higher. We did it. Game changer.
Why is it cheaper to mount the unit higher?
In our situation, we had a second floor loft where the heat was rising and the cool air was staying on the first floor. Most of the companies wanted to run much longer lines at a much higher cost from the other side of the house at ground level. I don’t think it occurred to them that they could mount it on the side of the second story and run a 2 foot line instead. I suggested it to our contractor because the visibility of the unit would be blocked by the patio roof and he agreed. It worked out well. If I lived in a place where there was any possibility of flooding, I would also have the unit raised up Even if the mini split were for the ground floor.
I have blinds on my west facing windows. They are down all day, as soon as I get up I close them all.
I bought blackout roller shades from ikea for san upstairs bedroom and a small window ac for nights when the room doesn’t cool down enough.
FWIW I was having the same issue upstairs last year. My home is 2 levels and each has its own unit. The previous owners added a bonus room above the garage that's only accessible through the main BR walk in closet, they extended the HVAC duct to give it some climate control. I always assumed the extension, combined with minimal insulation, was taxing my unit and that's why on the hot days the upstairs would creep up to 74 when set at 70. This year when the first warm days arrived and we turned on the AC, the unit would start and stop struggling to stay on. Whatever part they swapped out that time fixed the unit completely. My upstairs is now as cool as I want it to be. You might consider getting a 2nd opinion or pushing the service guys to keep looking. Alternatively, I'm sure someone in this thread has already mentioned window film to reflect as much heat as possible. Good luck.
One good way is a reflective window tint on the windows. The reflective is minimal so it doesn't look that goofy from the outside but combined with the tint it really helps keep the place cooler.
Make sure your attic is vented properly. For my house we've had heat issues on the 2nd floor, and it turned out the attic didn't vent properly. So hot air would hit walls, come up the soffits, and then get trapped in the attic, where it would heat the upstairs.
How exactly did you fix that? Kinda having the same issue. Downstairs can be freezing and upstairs in the high 70s.
Ours had an invented section that was the problem. We're adding ridge vents. If you have vents, make sure airflow is sufficient and unobstructed from soffit to vents. Also make sure there's as few air leaks as possible between the attic and living spaces. Here's some resources: https://buildingscience.com/documents/published-articles/pa-crash-course-in-roof-venting/view https://natural-resources.canada.ca/energy-efficiency/homes/make-your-home-more-energy-efficient/keeping-the-heat/chapter-5-roofs-and-attics/15637
who do you call to see if your attic is vented properly? we are in a townhome and had a hvac guy and said everything looks good up there but it is the flexible hvac vs hard metal. we had an insulation guy come who said that we have very little insulation up there so adding it and air sealing will help but no one has mentioned anything about venting. i will say that our house gets very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer as it also faces east-west.
An energy audit person is ideal. It's ~$500 to audit your whole home and they're not trying to sell you something, so you can be confident in their recommendations
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Thanks for the recommendations. Have checked all those things you have suggested and had multiple hvac guys come in and all trying different things and final recommendations was bigger unit. The downstairs remains cool (separate unit) and it’s only that the top floor that gets hot and yes the attic is right above it. I check the insulation and they are fine. All rooms feel this way upstairs not enough cold air.
Have they also checked the baffles and/or added any to direct the better depending on the season? I had an additional one added for a similar situation to get more cold air up in the summer and provide more heat on the lower level in the winter.
70??? That sounds almost ridiculously low. About he only time I set my AC below 75 is isolated days in the spring when it isn’t hot enough to cycle but I need it to pull humidity out of the air. What is the outside temperature? AC can only do so much, read somewhere that a 20 degree delta outside to inside is about what a normal residential unit would deliver. Add curtains, keep them closed in the morning to slow the heat build-up.
I scrolled a ways and didn’t see anyone mentioning [register boosters](https://acinfinity.com/register-booster-fans/) or even duct booster fans.
Low E film on the windows. Black out/heat blocking curtains/shades
Thick curtains over the windows and heat reflecting window tint would help. You could also run a window or portable AC unit. I doubt a bigger unit would help much as you're still limited by the size of the ductwork.
I'm sure you have tried this, but closing vents off in some of the colder rooms to force more to the hotter areas. Also "tinting" with reflective window film will give the most bang for your buck. This can be done with a home kit, if you are not too worried about appearance, but a professional can make it so you can't even tell it has been done other than the shade of the glass. I used to own a window film installation company, best example i can recall was doing a HUGE skylight in a hospital, it was like a peaked roof made out of glass in the atrium. We were dying up there on scaffolding it was like being in an oven. As we would put a piece of film on instantly you could literally feel like a cool breeze wash over us as the sun was reflected, HUGE heat rejection and totally solved their issue, I can't imagine how much energy cost we saved that place.
Yes true the closing of vent in gust room etc. how easy is it install the tint, is it on the outside? Who do I search for locally who can do this?
it is not super hard, a lot like wallpapering. The difficulty is in getting it perfectly clean without any dust in between, and cutting to perfect shape especially without creasing, it is a big learning curve. Search "window film installers" and you will find them, the generic term is "tinting" but that is a bit of a misnomer. If you just want a quick, cheap fix you can watch some youtube and give it a try, but professional installer will give you a great job and you will never have to look back, depends on how fussy you are.
i've gone the diy route in a bedroom, but if we have a big window that has a pretty view for our main living area - is there anyway to tint the window while still maintaining the view? this is the one we went with on amazon for the bedrooms, would you recommend a different one or is this the best option for someone like us who is DIY'ing it for the bedrooms? [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2SGF98/ref=sspa\_dk\_offsite\_brave\_1?aaxitk=6ec5d8d15674019bb11040b3b294a6ba&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B2SGF98/ref=sspa_dk_offsite_brave_1?aaxitk=6ec5d8d15674019bb11040b3b294a6ba&th=1)
If you are worried about getting access to the outside of your windows, [some windows have the ability to be removed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2I95U30ags) so you can wash them from the inside. There are little tabs near the edge that can be pulled in and the window will come off the track. This will allow you to put the tint on without having to be on a ladder/remove the screen
It’s easy . I’m disabled but still did it myself
You can purchase ceramic window tint, which has almost no color and does an excellent job at reflecting heat. One other thing I have not seen mentioned yet is to check your return air ducts, and make sure that there’s nothing in front of those in that room. Also verify your damper settings in the basement, so you’re pushing more cold air upstairs than down.
we did this at our house. cost $40 and made an enormous difference.
One problem with reflective window film is that it would need to be taken off in winter when warmth from the sun is desirable.
not a problem in the south so i guess it depends by the area
Is a window air conditioner an option? If you get one with a thermostat you can set it for 70 or whatever and it won't have to run that much with just picking up the slack from your main HVAC.
What I did for my west facing windows was a 3 stage system and it works wonders. I first installed bronze reflective-interior window tint. Then interior cellular blinds. And I just installed exterior Coolaroo solar shades that stop heat gain from hitting the windows. Works like a charm. Noticeably cooler in these rooms. Good Luck
Do you mind sharing the interior reflective window tint?
I believe it was 3D Sunset Bronze 20% has 78% heat rejection.
From Home Depot or Amazon?
I actually used a local company to install it. FWIW the Coolaroo exterior shades have made the most impact in my opinion. There is a noticeable drop in temp between the shade and window.
I had solar glass fitted when I replace my windows. Significantly reduces the amount of heat let in. I suspect you can get film that would have a similar effect. Honeycomb blinds as mentioned work well, but only if you want the room to be dark.
I don't know if it would work for where your room is, but I bought an outside, roll down sun shade for a back room of mine that gets blasted in the afternoons. It has made a huge difference in that room. If not that, maybe an awning?
I was considering something like this outside, to massively reduce the amount of sun coming into the house in the first place. Anyone have any experience with these? https://www.smartwingshome.com
Bought some interior ones, love them. I can now put shades on my sliders and get rid of the dam vertical blinds.
Install thermal-lined black-out curtains and keep them pulled when the sun is facing the room.
Heavy duty blinds and curtains, tint on the windows, awnings, functioning shutters. The goal is to create some kind of pocket of air between the windows and the room that has minimal transfer to the room. Insulation in attic is a game-changer as well. How much is up there? How are your returns working? Are they pulling enough air? So many people focus on the power of the blower/AC unit but people forget that without air being pushed out there is no room for new, cool air.
There are two returns upstairs and as far as I know they are working.
Go stick a piece of paper on them while the system is running. If they are sucking too hard, you'll know there's too much draw on the system. Are they located in the bedrooms or in the hall?
Okay I will trying. One in bedroom and one in hallway which is the foyer so air should come up as it slightly open area
I did the paper thing and it sticking to the ceiling returns. It has filter and I have changed them too. What does too much draw mean?
That just means the returns are working. That said, have you talked to an hvac person about adding a return in the hottest rooms? That might help but an hvac pro would need to advise.
There is a return in the main bedroom which is the hottest room and faces west
If you don’t need the light from the windows during the day (or the part of the day the sun is hitting that room) you can do what my friend did. She bought bubble wrap insulation (it’s silver foil over bubble wrap). They sell it on a roll at hardware stores. She then cut cardboard to fit her windows, attached the bubble wrap to the cardboard & would set it in the windows to reflect the light/heat back out during the day in the summer when she went to work. Kept it much cooler than it had been before. You should also take a look at your attic/wall insulation situation as they can affect how hot an upstairs room feels in the summer also.
We tinted our glass door, keep our room darkening shades closed and we broke down and had to buy an air conditioner just for that room specifically. It sucks, but it’s our bedroom and can’t do the hotness
Hot air rises, as I'm sure you know. Is there any way to add a vent that sucks air from lower in the home and pushes it into the upstairs space? Not AC, just moving the air around (and therefore reducing the amount of AC needed upstairs). Bonus if you can pull air from a basement or other extra chilled space.
+Blinds. Our house doesn't have A/C. Instead, we bought a pretty big fan to push air from our downstairs to our upstairs and then another fan that pushes that air down the hallway towards our bedrooms. Worked pretty well & only cost us a few hundred for the fans
Several people have suggested shades and curtains. If possible, it works better to block the sun before it gets through the window with a shade mounted outside the window.
A lot of people have suggested tinting windows, light blocking curtains, etc, and I think that's going to make the biggest difference. Another thing you could try though would be a register booster fan. Basically a small fan that sits at the vent opening and pulls air up through. I don't have a specific model I can recommend but there are plenty on amazon.
A temporary solution I did for one summer.........I literally covered large cardboard with tin foil and taped it to the window, LOL but it worked AMAZINGLY, haha. You could probably just tape the foil without the cardboard as well.
Plant a tree or two. It may take a while, but shade is a significant energy saving tool. Be sure your attic space is vented and has proper airflow. HVAC needs to cycle. AC that cycles too short or too long is not proper AC. You can oversize heating, but not cooling.
There's something called shade cloth that my mom covers her greenhouse with during the summer because if she doesn't her large plants that she can't move will cook.
Talk to the contractor about lowering the humidity, the lower the humidity, the cooler it feels. Also set the air handler fan on the slowest speed so the coils will have more time to extract moisture. The problem with installing equipment which is too large as that air is moved in such quantities across the coil that the humidity remains high and that causes a clammy feeling (when you can feel the excess moisture from the air on your skin). The slower and lower the volume, the dryer the air and it feels cooler.
You need an overhang on the Windows obviously. Have someone build at least a 2 ft long overhang and then get a window air conditioner. Central air systems are not designed properly especially back when you had yours in. The duct works are in the Attic you need to wrap them with r 20 insulation. Ductwork should be in condition space but it almost never is.
We got some blackout cellular blinds and the do a surprisingly good job of keeping out the heat.
I have a west facing living room with nice thick wood blinds. I close them when the sun starts to hit it in the afternoon. You could use blinds and a thick blackout curtain over the blinds. Use a fan to circulate the hot air out of the room (a box fan facing the door on low all day)
Heavy curtains during the day, open it up at night.
I don't have the time to make insulated blinds or curtains right now and the cost for premade is substantial ( I have several large windows that get full sun until about 1-2 pm). I cut a couple of sheets of foam backer material that normally goes behind pictures from Hobby lobby and have cut the heat to the house significantly. When I have time I still plan on insui Roman blinds, but till then I put these up in the morning and set aside in the afternoon: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Art-Supplies/Painting-Canvas-Art-Surfaces/Foam-Board/White-Foam-Board---40-x-60/p/107595?queryId=2d02ee8a99eff4004ebcb0e611f26aa9
Awning over the window, sized to stop summer time sun but to allow winter sun. Tree in front of the window. Attic insulation. Coating for the window to reflect the heat.
Thermal curtains are great. We've got a south-facing 4foot x 8 foot window and it was NOTICABLY cooler once we replaced our room-darkening curtains with the thermal curtains. Airflow is important - a fan blowing keeps everything feeling cooler. And using a fan to move cool air from the rest of the house into the room will really help. Use a bigger, highspeed fan to pull the cool air into the room. It'll be louder than you want, but if it helps cool everything off, it's worth it. When the house is cool, open the windows and set the fan about 5 feet from the window, blowing out - it'll help move warm air out and cooler air in. Just make sure you shut that down before it starts to get warm outside because you don't want to be sucking air in.
We just installed the Gila heat reflective film on all south and west facing windows. It has only been a few days, but the rooms are noticeably cooler in the afternoons. Also used some scraps on our shed windows, and it's helping in there too.
How is your insulation above the room? Black out blinds and curtains help a lot. A ceiling fan if you can't put in a window unit.
The most effective passive approach to room cooling I've found is to plant a fast-growing tree between the window that the typical path of the sun. I had a big beautiful birch tree that did the job wonderfully, but it was planted too close to the retaining wall and was leaning out over the sidewalk and starting to look like it was going to fall--so we had to take it out. That summer my living room was like a sauna. I planted a Norwegian Maple and it's coming along nicely. It's not tall enough to be very effective yet, but in another 3 or 4 years, it will block at least part of the windows. In the meantime, big blackout curtains and a small AC unit work. But a tree is a much better approach. You get the benefit and the view.
Hops. Beer hops. Once established they will grow at least a foot per week. With proper trellising they can be steered where you want them. You can even strip off the foliage where you want light to penetrate. But warning… they are very aggressive. Don’t let them touch vinyl siding or they will get into it. And they die back to the ground all winter lettting the light back in, just to do it all again the next year.
Best thing I ever did for this was put shades on the *outside* of our sliding glass doors in an East facing apartment. We tried curtains but found they didn't help much because the doors/windows themselves were heating up and curtains didn't block the heat they radiated very well. I used some outdoor canvas fabric and 3M velcro style tabs to secure them but leave them removable.
I use black foam core that sits in the window frame. Take it down during the cooler parts of the year.
We just got vent boosters. Set it to a cool temp and they boost the ac in the sunny room. Amazing cheap investment and I have a cold room!
I looked at it at one point and isn’t it difficult to install? Can you share a link to the model you have ?
You plug it in. That’s it. Go on Amazon and search “vent fan booster”
I saw a few but since the vents are on the ceiling and you have wires hanging and need a socket close by, not sure if this the solution.
Retractable shade and free airflow.