I recently added a door to close off a walk in pantry room. It doesn't have an a/c vent to bring cool air into it. I didn't realize how hot the room would get. The pantry shares a wall with the a/c inside unit. Would adding a return air vent in the wall under the a/c unit encourage cool air into the room? The new air vent would open up into the same area where the other a/c return vents are, There is about 1.5 inches open at the bottom of the door. Is that enough?
Should I add a return vent to a pantry that doesn’t have an a/c vent
vent
Related Solutions
For a quick and dirty fix, I have had some success with a Register Booster Fan.
This has alleviated most of the problem in my house. I still plan to install more insulation (and upgrade to a multi-zone system), but this is a lot less work up front. You can use it as a stop gap until you figure out what permanent fixes you need to make.
You'll increase energy costs and only make it marginally cooler. The only way this could work is to fully insulate and make it part of the conditioned space. But the kitchen ceiling/attic floor is not designed to support any kind of real loads, so it's only practical to store very lightweight items anyway.
So what lightweight items can you store there? If conditioned space, anything that will fit through the access. If not conditioned, only items that can withstand extreme heat without degradation could be stored there. I would not store any valuable clothing in that kind of environment.
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Best Answer
I don't think you want to rely on encouraging cold air into the room.
I have a walk-in closet that had the same problem and I solved it with a through the wall fan similar to the one below. Mount it between a room with AC and the pantry. Cold air will blow into the pantry and the space under the door will act as a return.