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We bought our house last year. It was built in 1978. We live in Houston, TX. The previous owner did the following:
- New Roof
- New Hardi-plank Siding
- New Double Pane Hurricane strength windows
- New Air Conditioner/Heater Unit
- When I moved in, I put in the foil based Radiant Barrier (professionally installed). along with a bit of blown in insulation beneath it
Right now its 45 degrees or so outside. I have the heat set to 69 degrees. Its FREEZING in the house, and it always is. The heat runs when the thermostat tells it to do so, but the thermostat is in a portion of the house where the ceilings are 7 feet, and the living room is down the hall, with vaulted ceiling.
In the summer, forget being comfortable. We'll roast in the house as well.
I have a feeling heat and cold is getting in somehow. We have a fireplace, and I haven't checked to see if the flue is open, so I suppose that could be it. We have a back door with a storm door as well, and the front door does not have a storm door, but it is in a covered portion.
The garage is off of the living room/kitchen area. The door that leads into the garage is not so great, but I put some weather stripping in to prevent cold/hot air from coming in.
This could be the result of a variety of different problems, but let's start with the easy stuff first.
1) Check the temp coming out of the vents. Use a thermometer for this, you should be seeing around 20 degrees difference between what is coming out of the registers and what is going into the air return.
2) Changed the filter lately? A dirty filter can cause all sorts of heating/cooling issues.
3) Is the entire house cold, or just certain rooms? If it is only certain rooms, do the obvious and make sure the vents in those rooms are open.
Buy a couple of items - an infrared non-contact thermometer, and a box of incense or punk sticks.
Then just take a walk around, aiming the thermometer at various areas, and using the incense sticks to discover air currents and drafts. A lot of heat rises into vaulted ceilings, and depending on where vents are placed, they can be reservoirs of heated air in the summer, which then radiates down.
This could be the result of a variety of different problems, but let's start with the easy stuff first.
1) Check the temp coming out of the vents. Use a thermometer for this, you should be seeing around 20 degrees difference between what is coming out of the registers and what is going into the air return.
2) Changed the filter lately? A dirty filter can cause all sorts of heating/cooling issues.
3) Is the entire house cold, or just certain rooms? If it is only certain rooms, do the obvious and make sure the vents in those rooms are open.
1. When we had the home inspection, the temp coming out of the vents was spot on.
2. We change the filters every month in the summer and have changed it once this winter.
3. All the vents are open. However, the air blows a lot better in the bedrooms with the lower ceilings. Of course, that's where the unit is located.
During the summer, the bedrooms are cold from the air running but the living area is hot due to the high ceilings.
During the winter, it seems like the whole house is cold. But the thermostat says 69 like its supposed to today.
Right now its 45 degrees or so outside. I have the heat set to 69 degrees. Its FREEZING in the house, and it always is. The heat runs when the thermostat tells it to do so, but the thermostat is in a portion of the house where the ceilings are 7 feet, and the living room is down the hall, with vaulted ceiling.
This is your main problem. You need to move the thermostat to the room with the vaulted ceiling . Since heat rises, the room with the vaulted ceiling will never feel warm if the temperature of the house is determined by a theromstat that's in a room with a 7 foot ceiling. This is also your problem in the summer because the unit doesn't stay on until the vaulted room is cool. It shuts off when the smaller rooms are cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lanewidick
I have a feeling heat and cold is getting in somehow. We have a fireplace, and I haven't checked to see if the flue is open, so I suppose that could be it. We have a back door with a storm door as well, and the front door does not have a storm door, but it is in a covered portion.
The garage is off of the living room/kitchen area. The door that leads into the garage is not so great, but I put some weather stripping in to prevent cold/hot air from coming in.
You would feel a breeze if air was getting into the house from a large area. There'd be no guess work. It would be very clear that it's coming from the fireplace or the garage door.
Outlets are also a big area where air come into a house. Put your hands near the outlets, if you feel a breeze, buy outlet insulators at the hardware store. They are easy to install. Simply screw off the plate and put the padding behind it.
If you feel a breeze between the wall and the wood trim of your windows/doors, caulk those ares with caulking at the corner where the wood meets the wall. Same goes for base board trim. It's easy. It doesn't have to be thick and ugly. Just run your finger to smooth it out or buy a corner tool for caulking to make it perfect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lanewidick
So, I'm stumped. Any ideas?
Move the thermostat to take care of the heat problem in the winter and the cold problem in the summer.
Since you're in Texas, I think I need to state the obvious---where clothing that's appropriate for winter while home. Anyone will feel cold in a house with a thermostate set at 69 degrees if they're wearing t-shirts or long sleeved shirts that are like t-shirt material. This is sweater and fleece weather. Socks are important too. Anytime I complain about being cold, my husband always tells me to dress warmer. He's right! A pair of socks and a sweater make a world of difference.
Start using that FIREPLACE instead of trying to close it off! Bake cookies and cook roasts and other meals that keep the oven on for an hour at dinner time. If you can feel a draft near your windows, put plastic on the windows. You can buy the kits at walmart, kmart, etc. If they're not available in Texas stores, buy them online. These are the things people who live in colder climates do to stay warm.
No house is perfectly comfortable in the winter unless someone wants to turn up the thermostat to 72 or 74 degrees. Trust me, that's the temperature that my house feels comfortable, but I'd rather same money in the winter and keep it at 68. When I'm dealing with a period where I feel overly cold, I will turn it up to 72 when home awake and turn it down when I go to bed.
Plant deciduous trees on the West and South side of the house to provide shade for the house in the summer. Install ceiling fans to help the airconditioning cool the house in the summer. In the meantime, consider awnings for the windows. There are some attractive cloth ones today. They're pretty expensive but they provide an amazing amount of shade.
Depending on whether the main problem ultimate ends up being the winter or the summer, consider adding a film on the windows to either attract or detract heat accordingly. Your windows should have heavy drapes to close on the North and East windows in winter and blinds that totally block out the sun on the South and West windows for the summer.
Buy a couple of items - an infrared non-contact thermometer, and a box of incense or punk sticks.
Then just take a walk around, aiming the thermometer at various areas, and using the incense sticks to discover air currents and drafts. A lot of heat rises into vaulted ceilings, and depending on where vents are placed, they can be reservoirs of heated air in the summer, which then radiates down.
So how do I get the hot air down to where we are?
And how do I keep the hot air from coming down in the summer.
Reverse the ceiling fan so that it is blowing toward the ceiling. The switch is on the housing. This will pull the cool air from near the floor up to the warmer area near the ceiling. Better circulation, better overall heating.
In the summer time, blow the air toward the floor. The breeze will help cool you, and again, it circulates the air to even out the temps.
You'll find that ceiling fans cause a wind chill factor in the winter even if you run it in reverse.
As a result, we tend to keep all of our fans off in the winter---except for in our bedrooms when we're sleeping.
Bedrooms are usually hotter than the rest of the house because they're smaller, closed off areas compared to the open floor plans in the main living areas.
Fans definitely increase the bedroom temperature comfort level for sleeping in the winter.
(Yes, we have ceiling fans in every room because they are important for maintaining comfortable at different times of the year.)
You need to check the humidity as well as the temp. This is a big problem in the Houston area. The humidity can make what would be comfortable in a drier room uncomfortable. Your AC/Heat unit may not be removing enough of the humidity to make it comfortable and might need a little help. Since we have had so much rain since September, I have found this to be a bit of a problem as well.
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