We have central air in our house and with summer quickly approaching I am looking to address how hot our bedroom gets even with the AC running.
We keep our bedroom door closed and I am guessing that since there is no air return to the unit (air return for the whole house is located in the hallway off the living room) that this could be the issue.
Am I on the right track? If so, how best to try and address this other than sleeping with the bedroom door open?
Absolutely add a vent above the door's HEIGHT (explained at the end) instead or on the ceiling. If the hallway connects to other rooms, then add vents to them too. This would turn the entire hallway into a return duct of negative pressure & should've been done PROPERLY from the start.
Meaning, the vent should NOT be a hole straight through both sides of the wall. The vent on either side of the wall should be offset from each other by a minimum of 4-feet, for soundproofing or privacy. YOU (being the one stuck with the dilemma) would drill holes through wall studs or the wall's top-plate stud to "connect" the inner & outer vents.
You are right if there's no return and the door is closed there is no flow, cut some off the bottom of the door, or add a return vent to your bedroom so there will be enough air exchange to keep it cool
