Why is my house always cold inside ?

[bigdog]

My house is always cold inside, even when it's warm outside ?
Like today, the house is cold inside, and it's 72 degrees outside.
What could be the causes ?

House is 16 yrs old, well insulated, Marvin windows. Has HVAC duct-work throughout the house, 2 stories.

Thoughts, as I'm baffled ?

[thinkxingu]

If it's well-insulated, it will take time to cool down AND warm up—we have the same issue.

Open the shades and windows when it's warm outside and close them when it starts to cool down—that's how we usually get close to November before turning the heat on.

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[SailinAway]

The nights have been quite cool for the last several days. If you sleep with the windows open, the temperature in your house will be in the low 60s in the morning and it make not make it to 70 in the house unless there are a couple of warm days. Plus your body is not yet acclimated so an inside temperature of 65 may feel cold to you.

My house has been 59 degrees each morning for the last several days and it doesn't get to 70 by the end of the day. I find the in-between seasons---September, October, April, and May---difficult because I don't want to turn on the furnace in those months or burn too much wood early in the season.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

The nights have been quite cool for the last several days. If you sleep with the windows open, the temperature in your house will be in the low 60s in the morning and it make not make it to 70 in the house unless there are a couple of warm days. Plus your body is not yet acclimated so an inside temperature of 65 may feel cold to you.

My house has been 59 degrees each morning for the last several days and it doesn't get to 70 by the end of the day. I find the in-between seasons---September, October, April, and May---difficult because I don't want to turn on the furnace in those months or burn too much wood early in the season.

The perfect season to burn free pine!

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[bigdog]

I have a pellet stove, but refuse to start burning now, will save for Nov-Mar when I really need them.

Will take suggestions here and apply. There's still some warm days ahead 'Indian Summer' !

[John Mercier]

It is 71 in my home right now, and it feels cool.
I think it is just a matter of our bodies acclimating to the cooler temperatures outside.

[Loub52]

Is it built on a slab? No basement?

[bigdog]

Originally Posted by Loub52

Is it built on a slab? No basement?

To answer your question....
House has a full basement, that was converted into an apartment, complete with bedroom, bathroom with shower, lounge area and a 'bar'.
Hs ductwork for heat/AC.

[ITD]

It's been hot for quite a while, you get used to it being warm. Now fall is barreling at us and it's cooling off. It takes a bit to adjust to the cooler weather, especially as we age. Put on a sweater.

[8gv]

Go swimming in the lake this morning.

Then stand stand dripping wet outside for a half hour.

Go in the house and it will no longer feel cold to you.

But seriously, it's all about what you are accustomed to. (I know, bad grammar).

Consider the feeling one gets on a 54° day in February.

Compare that to the same weather in September.

Keep the thermostat low... lest Greta come get you!

[TheProfessor]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

If it's well-insulated, it will take time to cool down AND warm up—

Originally Posted by bigdog

My house is always cold inside, even when it's warm outside ?

You are lucky to have a well insulated home. As stated above, the ambient temerature does increase or decline with varying outside temperatures. So if thermostat is down at night you may wake up a tad chilly. The walls, ceilings, floors may get cooler at night.

Here, we have an added auxhillary heater.
If you have propane, you can add a small wall/floor propane heater for living room or whatever. Instead of turning on whole house furnace.

If I were to build a new house it would have 2 sources of heat. Whole house and and Kerosene Monitor type wall/floor heater.

There are outside vented ones as well as vent free. Vent free cannot be used in an enclosed room. LINK

[Patofnaud]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

If I were to build a new house it would have 2 sources of heat.

*nod*

3 Here. 2 pellet stoves set to 68, 3 mini splits set to 67, and a propane furnace/tankless set to 66.

But to the base poster, it's just because our northern blood is still a bit thin from getting used to 80 degrees stuff up to recent days. Will take a few weeks of the colder stuff to really thicken up. Then you will think '70s are way too hot to have the house.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

The perfect season to burn free pine!

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Um . . . so you can gum up your chimney with creosote early in the season?? Well, if you want to bring me some cut and split pine, please do. Or I will split your pine and you can split my maple.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by bigdog

To answer your question....
House has a full basement, that was converted into an apartment, complete with bedroom, bathroom with shower, lounge area and a 'bar'.
Hs ductwork for heat/AC.

Well go down to the bar and make yourself a hot toddy. Then go outside and split some wood.

[WinnisquamZ]

I have burned pine and other junk wood for two decades in my stove. Get my chimney cleaned every other year. Have never had a issue or buildup.


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[WinnisquamZ]

Must add, I had my space spray formed this past spring as part of our renovation and the temperature swings and humidity levels have been quite manageable. Would recommend it to anyone building or remodeling


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[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Um . . . so you can gum up your chimney with creosote early in the season?? Well, if you want to bring me some cut and split pine, please do. Or I will split your pine and you can split my maple.

That's absurd—lots of places in America only have pine, and they don't have a problem.

Seriously, though, as long as it's seasoned well and fired hot there's no issue burning pine. Like Z posted above, I've been burning pine for years and go a couple years between cleanings without issue.

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[granitebox]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Um . . . so you can gum up your chimney with creosote early in the season?? Well, if you want to bring me some cut and split pine, please do. Or I will split your pine and you can split my maple.

We are out west at altitude and about 50% of our burn is pine (mainly beetle kill but pine). The aspen just doesn't burn as clean or hot but there is a ton of it. We don't have problems with creosote - we make sure we burn the fire wide open every day or so briefly just to keep things manageable. The low temperature fires cause more problems than the type of wood you burn.

[John Mercier]

Pine burns hot, but fast....
Though that is not his issue.

You hit it correctly with opening the windows.
A tight home isn't exchanging air fast enough to keep the internal and external temperatures the same.

Open the windows... let the heat in... close the windows later in the day as it cools down... and drop the shades overnight.

[BroadHopper]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

If it's well-insulated, it will take time to cool down AND warm up—we have the same issue.

Open the shades and windows when it's warm outside and close them when it starts to cool down—that's how we usually get close to November before turning the heat on.

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Yeap. About what I do. I haven't turned the heat on yet. The furniture and interior capture heat and release later.

[Merrymeeting]

Much as I hate to admit it, it's also a factor of age. I find that my body doesn't tolerate the cold as well as it did 20 years ago. Hence the reason why older people are often cold while the next generation complains the house is too hot.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

You are lucky to have a well insulated home. As stated above, the ambient temerature does increase or decline with varying outside temperatures. So if thermostat is down at night you may wake up a tad chilly. The walls, ceilings, floors may get cooler at night. Here, we have an added auxhillary heater.

If you have propane, you can add a small wall/floor propane heater for living room or whatever. Instead of turning on whole house furnace. If I were to build a new house it would have 2 sources of heat. Whole house and and Kerosene Monitor type wall/floor heater. There are outside vented ones as well as vent free. Vent free cannot be used in an enclosed room. LINK

If you don't have propane, a radiant (infrared/IR) heater may fill the bill.

I was delighted to see a 300 watt IR heater (low-powered) is available at Amazon. I'm currently using a 1800 watt convection heater. That low-wattage IR heater may be suitable for a bedroom; there, most IR heaters generate too much heat!

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by ApS

I was delighted to see a 300 watt IR heater (low-powered) is available at Amazon. I'm currently using a 1800 watt convection heater. That low-wattage IR heater may be suitable for a bedroom; there, most IR heaters generate too much heat!

Do you have a link for this heater?

[ApS]

As to "my house is always cold": concrete pulls heat from a warm body. Prisoners at Alcatraz prison would sleep with their arms exrended under their bodies to reduce heat loss from their bodies into Alcatraz concrete floors. A concrete basement is always cold, and pulls heat radiantly. Sensitive to heat loss, I spent a miserable hour on a tour of an underground concrete bunker in Pensacola, Florida.

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Do you have a link for this heater?

With Amazon's "help", I searched oscillating, parabolic, space heater, radiant dish 400W/800W. Replies included two small pricey heaters with very mixed reviews!

Reviews agree that the product is cheaply made, breaks too readily, and produces too much (and too little) heat! I don't recommend a cheaply-made oscillating space heater, so I'll keep looking.

Visit Antarctic Star or Kismile heating products at Amazon, as a URL doesn't activate for the text I'm reading. 400 Watts should be enough in a parabolic-dish heater, but can be augmented by mounting it high on a wall and removing the protective screen.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

Pine burns hot, but fast....
Though that is not his issue. You hit it correctly with opening the windows.
A tight home isn't exchanging air fast enough to keep the internal and external temperatures the same. Open the windows... let the heat in... close the windows later in the day as it cools down... and drop the shades overnight.

Once the weather gets too cold for opening windows, consider covering windows with clear plastic film.

An inexpensive 3M product is sold at Amazon that uses white plastic extrusions that are glued to surround the window frame. A thin clear plastic sheet--similar to Saran Wrap--is provided to snap/press into the plastic frame. The plastic sheet can be removed in Spring and re-used for next season. The thin plastic frame can remain (or be removed from its foam-tape base).

While the "R-value" improvement using Frost King is minimal considering the size of the rest of one's abode, I found that woodstove smoke odor into the bedroom was stopped immediately.

I my case, wind direction is critical regarding the seepage of smoke odors back into the house.

[John Mercier]

The plastic creates a contained air gap like the one between the panes that acts as a barrier... but its larger role is to stop air infiltration.

Most people... even with new windows... tended to purchase something that currently does not meet the Energystar Northern standard, and has a low PG (performance grade) that partially implies low air infiltration.

[FlyingScot]

If it's a house in Mass--I'm pretty sure Mass Save contractors will inspect insulation and sealing for free and then recommend changes that are 75% (or maybe more?) reimbursed by the Inflation Reduction Act. There may be something similar in NH. Might be worth a Google for those who wonder about their home's energy efficiency / heating bills

[John Mercier]

We have NH Saves.

But they will use the system that ApS is suggesting for drafty windows.
While the IRA does offer some discounts back for new windows and doors, the upfront outlay, especially for units recently purchased, can be quite a shock.

[WinnisquamZ]

True. Have a friend in Mass that was quoted $1300 a widow! Needs 16. Hard pass


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[John Mercier]

Even an Energystar 6.0 vinyl egress size double hung is going to run around 300-350 with no additional upgrades.

Since the IRA allows a 30% product rebate up to $600 on windows ($2000), that is going to limit it to about five or six windows per year maximum.

The door discount is a bit better, in that the unit for a $250 rebate at 30% of cost only needs to be $833.33

There are units less expensive than that, that will meet the Energystar standard, but it does allow for some minor upgrades.

It would have been nice had storm windows and doors be included, but I can't seem to find that in the wording.