How to cool a Craftsman bungalow in Pasadena without changing its character

Most Craftsman bungalows in Pasadena went up between about 1905 and 1925, long before anyone expected a house to stay at 74 degrees in August. They were designed to breathe: deep eaves, big porches, operable windows on every side and a low attic that vents through the gable ends. That design still helps on a mild day. On a 100 degree afternoon in Bungalow Heaven or Garfield Heights, though, a plaster-walled bungalow with an uninsulated attic can hold heat well into the night, and the window unit in the bedroom only cools one room.

The good news is that cooling an old bungalow does not mean cutting into old growth fir trim or boxing in the beamed ceiling. The right plan starts with the attic and the crawlspace, then picks equipment that fits the house instead of forcing the house to fit the equipment. Below is how our technicians think through it, room by room, before anyone quotes a system.

Before choosing any equipment, look at three things: the attic, the crawlspace and the existing heat source. Many bungalows still run on a floor furnace in the hallway or a gas wall furnace, with no ducts anywhere. Some had a furnace and ducts added in the 1950s or 1970s, usually run through the crawlspace with floor registers. Each of those starting points leads to a different answer. A home with usable crawlspace ducts may only need new ductwork and a modern system, while a home with no ducts at all is often a strong candidate for ductless.

The attic matters just as much. Bungalow attics are often shallow, with low-pitch roofs and only a few feet of headroom at the center. That limits where an air handler or new ducts can go. Our technician measures the clear height, checks for knob and tube wiring that may still be live, and looks at how much insulation is there, which in many original homes is close to none.

For a bungalow that has never had ducts, a ductless mini-split is often the least invasive path. One outdoor unit connects to one or more indoor heads through a small line set that passes through a hole about three inches across. There is no need to open walls or ceilings to run ductwork, and modern heat pump mini-splits heat as well as cool, which can retire a tired wall furnace at the same time.

The trade-off is appearance. A wall-mounted head is visible, and in a living room with original wainscoting that can feel out of place. Options include placing heads high on plain wall sections, using low floor-mounted consoles under windows, or using small ceiling cassettes where the attic allows. Line sets can run through closets or down the back of the house inside a painted cover that matches the siding.

The condenser is the part neighbors see. On a bungalow, the side yard or rear corner is usually the best spot, away from the porch and front facade. Several Pasadena neighborhoods with bungalows are designated landmark districts, so it is worth asking the city whether equipment visible from the street needs any design review before work starts. Low fencing or plantings can screen the unit, as long as they leave enough clearance for airflow and service access.

Noise matters too in close-set lots. Variable speed condensers run quietly at low speed most of the time and only ramp up on the hottest afternoons. We look at the distance to the neighbor's bedroom window, the pad location and the line set route together, so the unit is easy to service and does not end up under a dripping eave or a pile of leaves.