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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    My house is cold as fuck

    I have a 2600 square foot home, built in 1993. The downstairs is all windows, double pane but i am sure they are super inefficient. 15-18 foot ceilings as well. Hard wood floors. There is a crawl space below the entire bottom floor.
    I put in a new boiler 7 years ago, much more efficient.

    I have nest thermostats.

    I have a Vermont Cast iron stove that works great, just get tired of starting fires.

    This am i woke up to 61 degrees downstairs. Tired of having such a cold house.

    Mid day the temps get up to 69 degrees but once the sun drops, it is freezing again.

    Any suggestions for getting this place warmer. I am thinking it is the windows that are the problem.

  2. #2
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    Feb 2008
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    What part of the country do you live in?
    What are the insulation levels in the floor, walls, and most importantly ceiling?
    Is boiler adequately sized?
    What is nighttime setback temp?

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by skialpy View Post
    What part of the country do you live in?
    What are the insulation levels in the floor, walls, and most importantly ceiling?
    Is boiler adequately sized?
    What is nighttime setback temp?
    Sorry, i live in CO, Basalt, outside of Aspen. Ceiling and floors have r 110 ( I think).
    Nightime i go down to 65-66 degrees.

  4. #4
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    Mar 2008
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    2600 on all floors or one floor, can you close doors and turn off heat in some rooms ?

    I turn off heat in the 2 bed rooms which lets my high efficiency forced air system heat the space I actualy hang out in faster

    I upgraded my attic to R50 and that was 18" of blown cellulose
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  5. #5
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    Jan 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by flowing alpy View Post
    same problem big windows big dead air space so i started insulating the windows and *shazam* warm nights.
    with shades i am assuming. Keep them open in the day, closed at night?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    2600 on all floors or one floor, can you close doors and turn off heat in some rooms ?

    I turn off heat in the 2 bed rooms which lets my high efficiency forced air system heat the space I actualy hang out in faster
    2600 two floors.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    Ceiling and floors have r 110 ( I think).
    Pretty safe to say it's the windows then.

    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    Nightime i go down to 65-66 degrees.
    That's the thermostat temp? Or is that the typical inside low temp and 61* was unusually cold?

    Lows 60s at night sounds pretty reasonable to me in the winter. HTFU is always an option

  8. #8
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    Feb 2012
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    Turn the heat up.

  9. #9
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    Mar 2011
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    Don’t be lazy and keep the wood stove cranking. Also drink more beer and eat more CO edibles. You can’t feel the cold if you’re comfortably numb

  10. #10
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    Jan 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dantheman View Post
    Pretty safe to say it's the windows then.



    That's the thermostat temp? Or is that the typical inside low temp and 61* was unusually cold?

    Lows 60s at night sounds pretty reasonable to me in the winter. HTFU is always an option
    HTFU? Hurry the fuck up?

  11. #11
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    Mar 2008
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    northern BC
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    yeah I set my programmable thermostat to 61 for over night and mid day but with only 1000 sq ft on one floor and HE forced air the temp gets up to 70 real quick

    I kinda doubt you got R110 but the obvious thing to check for is LOTS of insulation in the floor

    15-18 ft ceilings would be hard to heat, is it warmer at the 18 ft ceiling (put a thermometer on a stick to check) I wonder if ceiling fans could drive the warm air down ?

    it sounds like a part of your rather chi chi sounding design IS you need to run the wood stove, a fire first thing in the am and one at 5 pm the minimum just to keep the temp up a little, in any case it sounds like you have ... a 1st world problem
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  12. #12
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    Sep 2001
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    Part of our little taking responsibility for global warming is to not heat our house at night, so waking to 61 F has become de rigeur.
    The living room has 16 foot ceilings with a wood stove and pipe going up the whole way.

    I love building fires though and that's how I start every day in the winter.
    Merde De Glace On the Freak When Ski
    >>>200 cm Black Bamboo Sidewalled DPS Lotus 120 : Best Skis Ever <<<

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by XXX-er View Post
    like you have ... a 1st world problem
    yes i do, but trying to be more efficient to save the planet and keep me warm.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    HTFU? Hurry the fuck up?
    Harden

  15. #15
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    When I used to live in PA in an old single pane window home we used these with great results. Just sucks you can't open the windows.

    https://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Win.../dp/B00002NCJI

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    HTFU? Hurry the fuck up?
    yes and light the fire

    Remember it was part of your pure n perfect design/lifestyle choice

    which you chose over a small cheap n easy to heat house with no wood stove, 8' ceilings and aluminum siding
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  17. #17
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    Apr 2006
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    SF & the Ho
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    Have you tried masturbating in a sock? They will usually stay warm for a few minutes after iirc

  18. #18
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    Dec 2007
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    Maybe look at a different wood stove that'll stay warm longer and won't need to be relit as often? Still have to feed it though.

    We primarily heated our old house with wood, and it was about the same size (2500 ish feet, high ceilings). Stove would easily keep it as warm as we wanted.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dantheman View Post

    Lows 60s at night sounds pretty reasonable to me in the winter. HTFU is always an option
    Thermostat in my bedroom said 57 this morning when I woke up. Perfect sleeping temp.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    HTFU? Hurry the fuck up?
    https://youtu.be/unkIVvjZc9Y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://<a href="https://youtu.be/unk...nkIVvjZc9Y</a>

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    seattle
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    If you are a Black Hills Energy customer which you may be based on my quick googling you should check this out:

    https://www.blackhillsenergy.com/sav...-comprehensive

    Sounds like you can get a detailed energy audit for $150 (which is heavily subsidized by utility) generally for this kind of service you talking about $400-500. Blower door test will let you know where air is leaking out and they will notify you where your insulation weaknesses and any mechanical system problems are located.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Heat rises, cold sinks. We heated our house primarily w/ a wood stove growing up, but ran the furnace blower to circulate the heat. Do that or run ceiling fans.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by skideeppow View Post
    Ceiling and floors have r 110 ( I think).
    I don't believe you have R-110

    Basalt, CO is climate zone 6 and currently requires

    celiing: R-49
    ext wall: R-20 or 13+5
    exposed underfloor: R-30
    basement wall: R15/19
    underslab: R-10
    crawl: R-10

    my guess is the old criteria were slightly less in 1993

    so, for each system in your house: what insulation type & how thick?

    then, what are the performance criteria of the installed windows? or, what window brand/type?


    or do the energy audit mentioned above...

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by zion zig zag View Post
    Thermostat in my bedroom said 57 this morning when I woke up. Perfect sleeping temp.
    [/fistbump]

    If it were purely up to me the 'stat would be set to something like 62/52 in the winter. The matrimonial compromise is 64/60 and I wear shorts. 70* 24/7 makes you fat and weak, fact.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by toast2266 View Post
    Maybe look at a different wood stove that'll stay warm longer and won't need to be relit as often? Still have to feed it though.

    We primarily heated our old house with wood, and it was about the same size (2500 ish feet, high ceilings). Stove would easily keep it as warm as we wanted.
    yeah I had a mid sized Vermont castings at the last place I lived, it was easy to lit and put out lots of heat but it almost never stayed lit all night running it on pine which is all we got around here
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

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