# Return Air in a 100 square foot closet?



## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

I'm building a 300 square foot addition - 200 square feet is a master bathroom, and the other 100 square feet is a walk in closet with a pocket door separating it from the bathroom.

I talked to a the folks that installed my new A/C two years ago, and they want to put an air return in the walk-in closet. Everything sounded good until I saw their quote - $2000 for two supplies, a return and all ducts and connections.

Started looking into doing this myself and found that my local code prohibits air returns in closets. Any idea if my large 100 square foot closet would be considered big enough? What if I called it a "dressing room" instead? :whistling2: Thats what it will be in essence... a dressing room with drawers and clothes in it.

The only other options are putting the return in the bathroom (also prohibited) or in the master bedroom (which sounds like a terrible idea to me).

Thoughts?


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## plummen (Jan 10, 2010)

Normally the returns are installed on interior walls,while supply lines go on exterior wall where mst of your heating/cooling loses are.
Why would you want a return in the closet,is there a supply in there?
Once the door is closed its not doing much good for the bedroom to my way of thinking


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

Yes, I guess I should mention there will be a supply in the closet. The closet has two exterior walls (north and west) and will receive direct sunlight much of the day. I live in Phoenix where summer temperatures are 105+ with 30+ days of 110+ degree weather - so keeping that 100 square foot closet from turning into an oven will require an air supply.


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## plummen (Jan 10, 2010)

Did you say theres no return in bedroom though? :wink:


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

Currently no return in the bedroom. I guess I'd prefer not to put the return in the bedroom, although that may be the only way to do it. My concern is noise. The house is 60 years old and when I had my new air conditioner installed a couple years back, they put in a 14x20 return in the dining area to supplement the old 16x20x9 return that was put in the house in 1953. The new 14x20 return sounds like a freight train by the time the filter is 2 weeks old.

I can't imagine having that kind of racket in a bedroom. I'm looking into putting a whole house filter on the unit itself and eliminating the filters at the register, which I assume will help with noise. Nothing is ever easy.


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## plummen (Jan 10, 2010)

Your cooling would work more efficiently with a return in each room to help pull the hot air out of there


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

plummen said:


> Your cooling would work more efficiently with a return in each room to help pull the hot air out of there


Thats what the hvac guy said and it makes perfect sense. :thumbsup:

When I gut the rest of the house in a few years, I'll do that. For now, I gotta figure out what to do in this bathroom/closet addition. Need good heating/cooling in there that will not only work properly, but also pass inspection on the first go round. I'm over budget already and don't have the dough to do it twice. :no:


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## Doc Holliday (Mar 12, 2011)

Not sure of code but simply supplying aiir to closet is not enough. Air w
ont circulate withouT it being pulled


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

The air would escape from the closet into the bathroom and from there (two feet away) through the door into the bedroom. The closet door will have a standard gap at the bottom, so air should exit from the closet in the same manner it would exit from a bedroom that is closed off at night... Under the door.

If I put a return in the bedroom, I would guess it will allow air to flow from the adjacent closet and bathroom into the bedroom and up into the return. Excess would do as it does currently and flow under the bedroom door, into the hallways and out into the living room to the main return.

I feel like I'm missing something.


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## REP (Jul 24, 2011)

I don't know why this is so hard.If you want conditioned air in the dressing room you need a supply and a return.If you want conditioned air in the bedroom you need a supply and return.If you want conditioned air in the dressing room and the bedroom,you need supplies in both rooms and returns in both rooms.
If you want a crappy system then just be cheap and drag all the old smelly hot air through all the rooms to a return in the hall.


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

REP said:


> I don't know why this is so hard.If you want conditioned air in the dressing room you need a supply and a return.If you want conditioned air in the bedroom you need a supply and return.If you want conditioned air in the dressing room and the bedroom,you need supplies in both rooms and returns in both rooms.
> If you want a crappy system then just be cheap and drag all the old smelly hot air through all the rooms to a return in the hall.


I realize that in a perfect world there would be a supply and return in each conditioned room. But returns are prohibited in bathrooms and closets, which is my dilemma in the first place.

Anywho - I think I'm going to put the return in the bedroom and add a whole house filter to get rid of the potential noise.


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## REP (Jul 24, 2011)

A closet is 2'x3' or about 6 sq.feet.Even though you think you were joking ,what you have is a dressing room which needs its air conditioned while you are dressing.You are talking about 100 sq feet not 6 sq feet.It needs a supply and a return.
Of course its your house and if you want to sweat while you are dressing its up to you.


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## bobinphx (Nov 25, 2011)

The return noise might be from the system being restricted by the size of the filter rack. Normal houses in Phx have between 4 and 5 tons of ac on the roof as a package unit. 

If you can tell us how big a system you have, we might be able to suggest a couple of ideas for fixing that freight train. 

Also, is the duct work in the attic??? Most houses in phx have the ducts in the attic. By adding a return in the attic for the closet, you might just be adding a bit of heat load, unless you really insulate the return duct. 

just my thoughts.


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## JeepNick (Oct 27, 2011)

The optimal solution as far as I'm concerned is to put a supply AND return in the closet/dressing room. This is what I wanted in the first place, but I was concerned about code restrictions. It sounds like I can just call the "closet" a "dressing room," put in the supply and return and be done with it, which is why I made this thread in the first place. 

As far as insulating the duct, I would be using R-6 or R-8 insulation flex duct. Same stuff the Hvac companies here use for most of their work.


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