Age-old problem: hot room, cold room

[Dee Stone]

Our house has several. Our HVAC guy was able to crawl around the attic and open/close some baffles to make a few of the hot rooms cooler, and of course we can close the vents in those rooms.

The problem is the cold room (furthest from the unit), which he couldn't improve much at all. He suggested buying a booster vent to pull more air in.

I'm looking for any experience or opinions on how well these work. Here's one I'm considering:

http://cashmoneylife.com/2007/11/28/...-vent-booster/

[Brian E. Kelly]

FH-209 Space Heater 90 Degree Oscillation
Thermostatic control and 4 temperature settings make this heater/fan an excellent choice! >> More Info

List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $29.99

[David A. Andersen]

Where do you live?
Describe your house style.
Number of units.
Location of return(s).

[Jeff Merritt]

A booster fan installed inside the duct work is better than the one you are looking st, it works off a pressure switch, your HVAC contractor should be able to install it, you will have to get an electrician to run power to the unit. make sure you get a a good unit, cheap ones make a lot of noise.

[Harry E. McClard]

I agree Jeff. I installed one of those at home; cost about $30 for the fan plus electrician. Worth every cent spent; quiet, can't tell it's there except my basement office (that's where the cold spot was) is much warmer now.

[mnahrgang]

I had that situation in an office I worked at. My office was the furthest from the thermostat. The duct work ran through a cold plenum, so the stagnant air in the ducts was very cold too. When the heat kicked on, it first had to blow out all that cold air into my office. About the time the warm air got there the rest of the office had already heated up and the thermostat kicked the furnace off again. My office just got colder. The only solution available at that time was to close off the duct and install a space heater. Don't know what the supplemental blower might have done. I suspect the initial result would be the same in that it would blow a bunch of cold air into the room first, but then it would at least have some time to blow some hot in their too.

[kweiss]

Is the room hot in the summer too? If so it could be a building envelope problem. If it is a duct routing problem, a booster might be a good option, don't have personal experience with them, but have considered one for a problem in my own house.