Air conditioning the lanai

[HelenLCSW]

Has anyone air-conditioned their enclosed lanai? How? Who installed it? How much?

[ladydoc]

Has anyone air-conditioned their enclosed lanai? How? Who installed it? How much?

Someone posted this in response to a question I asked. Did you know this?

Ladydoc, We had our lanai extended and enclosed with glass sliding doors last spring. According to the building inspector that came here, we were told that adding an HVAC system to the lanai would be considered a house extension. By not having the system extended to the lanai, there has been no changes to our taxes. Our current system is more than adequate to handle the extra room. Any questions, feel free to PM me.
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[HelenLCSW]

Oh thank you -- that's great news --very helpful!

[784caroline]

When we had our lanai enclosed the county required heat/Ac survey to determine if our existing unit would be big enough to add approx 400SF with a NW summer exposure.This survey required by the county takes into consideration the size of your existing unit, sq footage to be added, type of windows to include such factors as heat gain and low E features, and exposure to the summer sun. Munns came out did the survey and it was approved by the county. Munns did the work and it was added directly to our Exchager in the garage. If you simply add an extennsion off you closest duct you will be robbing heat/ac from that room and not get the best results.

We are very pleased and have no problems with extending the existing system.

When your exisiting system cannot handle the additional square footage, some people have used a Mitisubiti system called Mr Slim. I hear they also work pretty good but you need a place to locate another outside compresor..

[ljones190]

When we had our lanai enclosed the county required heat/Ac survey to determine if our existing unit would be big enough to add approx 400SF with a NW summer exposure.This survey required by the county takes into consideration the size of your existing unit, sq footage to be added, type of windows to include such factors as heat gain and low E features, and exposure to the summer sun. Munns came out did the survey and it was approved by the county. Munns did the work and it was added directly to our Exchager in the garage. If you simply add an extennsion off you closest duct you will be robbing heat/ac from that room and not get the best results.

We are very pleased and have no problems with extending the existing system.

When your exisiting system cannot handle the additional square footage, some people have used a Mitisubiti system called Mr Slim. I hear they also work pretty good but you need a place to locate another outside compresor..

We did the same thing had Munns do the survey and extended the duct work but if I had to do it over again I would have put in a Mr. Slim instead, the enclosed sun room is not as cool in the summer as the rest of the home and it is not as warm in winter as the rest of the home. When we move full time I plan to add a Mr. Slim to the sunroom for added comfort.

[784caroline]

Ljones190

Did you simply extend the duct work from an existing duct or did you go back to the furnace/in the garage and add an entirely new duct work to the new room.????

[ljones190]

[QUOTE=784caroline;386919]Ljones190

Did you simply extend the duct work from an existing duct or did you go back to the furnace/in the garage and add an entirely new duct work to the new room.????[/QUOTE

We ran new ductwork to the room along with the proper air returns, with all the windows, which are double pane, low e glass, its little too warm for my liking, we keep the house at 78 degrees which is ok for the main home, I would guess the sun room is approx 82 when the main house sits at 78. We of course could turn it down but my wife would be too cold. Its not a big deal since the new ductwork was not a whole lot of money, without the ductwork the room could not be used during most of the year, we just will add a Mr Slim later on.

[LittleDog]

We have a glassed in "lanai" and decided to add air conditioning/heat to the room. I was told that my home AC would not be powerful enough to add this room to the system so we decided to add another unit. We purchased a Mitsubishi wall unit with an outside compressor. The unit really works well.

As to whether this room increased our home appraisal it did not. When you enter our lanai now you step down about 4 inches. Apparently since we didn't raise the floor it's not considered another room. In any case no new taxes.

We used Mid-Fl which advertises in the Daily Sun. They did a really nice job.

John

[George Bieniaszek]

A neighbor of mine bought a portable air conditioner that just stands on the floor to air condition their lanai. The unit seems to do a great job. You may want to go to Home Depot or Lowes and give them a look and see if it is something that you may want.

[cquick]

As to whether this room increased our home appraisal it did not. When you enter our lanai now you step down about 4 inches. Apparently since we didn't raise the floor it's not considered another room. In any case no new taxes..
John

we are going to build or buy a new house here in TV, our 33 year old disabled son will live with us and we plan to raise the floor to make it even with the rest of the house. If I have to pay taxes on that room, I may as well go all the way and remove the sliding doors and track as well, making it a "bonus room". Thanks for all your great advice.

[Luv2travel]

Before you get all excited about increases in taxes resulting from doing this job the right way, check with the Assessor and find out how much your tax bill would increase if you added the extra square feet. The real facts will really help.

As Joe Friday would have said 'Just the facts, ma'am'

[mollypeanut]

Someone posted this in response to a question I asked. Did you know this?

Ladydoc, We had our lanai extended and enclosed with glass sliding doors last spring. According to the building inspector that came here, we were told that adding an HVAC system to the lanai would be considered a house extension. By not having the system extended to the lanai, there has been no changes to our taxes. Our current system is more than adequate to handle the extra room. Any questions, feel free to PM me.
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I think this sounds very interesting.. I like the idea of sliding doors. I am not sure that Ladydoc is the one who had the sliding doors installed?? If someone could let me know about this Pro/Cons.. That would be great!

[GlendaW]

I would think by using the existing hvac, that it would always be a little warmer and a little hotter compared to the rest of the house. To even it out, you would either have to get a separate system or have dampers installed that can reduce the amount of air to certain parts of the house and keep it at 100% for the lanai in order to even the temperatures throughout.

[karostay]

Just open your sliding glass door turn on the ceiling fan you'll be surprised how cool it gets.My opinion for what it's worth you won't don't need AC you may need shades to block out the sun