Some tricks to help keep your cool

We live in an attached townhouse with a master bedroom that faces west into the hot summer sun. There are no trees or awnings to block the direct sunlight and condo association rules prevent this solution. The ceilings are high and vaulted, with a skylight in the bathroom attached to the bedroom. There is a ceiling vent in the bathroom that vents to the outside and we also have a ceiling fan in the bedroom, along with central A/C. There are A/C ducts on the floor in the bedroom and bathroom. I know you have mentioned radiant barrier insulation in the past, but we don't have an attic vent so I'm afraid that this wouldn't work too well. We have not yet tried light-block shades for the bedroom windows, but do you have any recommendations to keep the unbearable heat out of the room so we can sleep more comfortably at night, without cranking up the A/C? We already use a couple extra fans.

You are in a tough spot if you can't approach the problem by upgrading ceiling insulation or any of the other traditional methods of separating you from the heat. I'll suggest a couple of tricks that may help get you through the summer with some sleeping comfort.

First, make sure your ceiling fan is directing the airflow downward. Normally, that's a counter clockwise rotation of the blades. Then the sensation of feeling air blow across your skin will feel cool to you even though the air doing it isn't all that cool.

Then, go to your thermostat and set the selector switch for the fan from AUTO to ON. The fan will then run continuously and the air-conditioner will only turn on when the air temperature gets to the turn on setting of say, 74 degrees F or wherever you have it set. The results of keeping the fan on should be that the system will be constantly circulating the house air with the desired result of constantly mixing the air throughout the house evening the temperatures throughout the house.

In an optimal situation the air in the bedroom should be two to four degrees away from what it is at the thermostat. Leaving the fan on really doesn't run up the electric use that much.

If after you've done all that and it doesn't help to the level that you'd like then turn your attention to the windows, including the skylight.

Up to 30 percent of the cooling loads come from windows which, if you think about it, aren't much more than holes in the wall with no air blowing through them. You've got a wall next to the window that's about R-14 or more - if you add up all the materials - right next to a window even with insulating glass in it that's R-2 point something. R-1 - the unit of measuring insulation values - is a single pane of glass.

You might consider applying a heat reflective film to the inside of the glass to reflect as much of that solar gain back outside as you can.

Some films have reflective metals in them that can bother cell phone reception so I'd look to those that don't have any metal. 3M has a window film that's pretty impressive if you can believe the product data. It doesn't have metal and hurls the heat out in summer and helps keep it in the house in winter. It's called the Prestige Series and comes in at $8 to $12 a square foot of glass, depending upon the difficulty of application. So figure about 100 bucks a window and don't forget the skylight.

If your windows are at an age where replacing them makes sense, then shop for the most energy efficient Low-E (low emissivity) windows available. The money spent on good windows now will come back as both energy savings and increased comfort in the...