Does closing hall door affect air conditoner?

[glarnold]

Thank you, Ken.

Your responses have been most helpful. You've explained a lot. Now I just want to get the grills before I cut the hole.

Another thought I just had, was maybe a hook or a latch of some sort to latch the door open, maybe a little less than 2 inches (smaller than a cat's head). With 6 feet of door, that should give me maybe another 135 square inches or so of return area. I'll work on that.

Thanks again.

[Doula]

I do hope that you resolve this issue, and if we ever experience this problem I will certainly keep this thread in mind. I will have to say that even with our bedroom door closed and the A/C set to 74 or so, we commonly end up cold during the night. It's not uncommon for me to get up to either push the set temp up a few degrees or switch it over to the fan only mode.

I cringed a little when I heard that you might have to cut a hole and put a grill in the door. I know that I would hate to have to do that, but I guess one has to do what one has to do.

Like you, I have a hard time automatically considering it as a design problem. I would be curious of how many other Adventurer 37G owners have had this same problem and what, if anything, they did about it. If it's a design problem, though, I wonder why we haven't had this same experience yet? (hope I'm not *knocking on wood*) Speaking of knocking on wood... Would you do us a favor and post your fix when it's all figured out?

I hope you find a great solution so that you can enjoy your Adventurer to its fullest potential. We absolutely love ours!

~Lori

[tderonne]

Originally posted by tderonne:
Mine has vents in both bathroom walls, about 8" square, that let air pass back to the bedroom.

I'm quoting myself here. Do you have vents like mine? There's one by my dinette that lets air into under the vanity. In yours a vent there would let air under the tub/shower and back into the vanity. I also have a vent in the bedroom, under the makeup counter. Looking at a 200 37G, you have a night stand there. As long as things are opened up underneath air could flow back to the A/C through there. That is, if you have a vent near the dinette...

[glarnold]

Hi,Tim.

I don't have a return air vent in the living/dining area at all. But I have discovered what's probably a return air vent inside of the bath area, close to the hallway door, near the floor, with an effective area about 6x10. Problem is, it's not in the l/d area, so no real effect. I just ran the gas furnace, and there was a strong air pull there. But not on the 8x12 one in the bedroom. Gets curiouser and curiouser.

Also, I ran just the a/c fan to get an idea how the cold air flows. With the door open, strong breeze thru the hallway, and strong flow into the air filter (at the foot of the bed). As I closed the door to a two inch gap, the flow thru the two inch crack was very strong. When I closed the door completely, the flow at the bottom of the door was obviously stronger, and the flow at the return filter was much subdued.

Tomorrow, I'll be getting a slide latch (like we used to use on screen doors or bathroom doors). I'll fasten it to the wall inside the bath area, drill a hole in the door so that when I slip the slide into the hole, it will keep the door open a little less than two inches. Should be nearly invisible, and (maybe) inpenetrable to the strong willed cats.

Will let everyone know what happens.

Thanks again for all the interest and help.

[OutBurger]

Try this to prevent the cats from entering your room, but having the door left open.
http://http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=668] Scat Mats and Strips [/URL]
I have never used this but would love to give it a try.

[glarnold]

Well, I promised to post the results after determining what the problem was (is). The last few nights have seen warmer weather, so was able to experiment a little more.

I have installed a sliding latch that enables me to lock the sliding door, with a two inch opening on left side. Three nights of this setup, and we still had the same problem every night. Not enough air flow?

For the last three nights, we have simply left the door open, and MH stayed cool, like it's supposed to. Sounds like it was (is) a design flaw, and there should definitely be more cool air return space. But that's the way it is, and we'll enjoy it like that.

BTW, the cats have become much better behaved, and seem to be treading lightly, so as not to be banned from the bedroom again.

Thanks to all for their help and good ideas.

G L Arnold

[Navy Flier]

Just a thought since no one has mentioned the filter. A dirty one will restrict the air flow and limit the functioning of the A/C.