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Okay, so when we purchased our home, it already had an extension which is a bedroom. I have gas forced hot air and there is ductwork run to that room but unfortunately, the room does not heat up. On the really cold days, the room was about 10 degrees lower than what my thermostat said in the hallway (however, my thermostate is not located near this room). Now, I can understand our other rooms in the house being 1-2 degrees of a difference (sometimes even 4 degrees of a difference on a really cold day but 10??). So my questions is this, since it is an added on room, it does have an open crawl space and has lots of insulation under the plywood. This room has been CO'd by the TOS in 1991. I have an electric baseboard heater in the room but it does not get hot so I am assuming, it's broken. I'm hoping if we put a new electric baseboard heater in, this will keep the room warm. I am hoping to one day use this room as a nursery.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Or, if anyone has a room heated with an electric baseboard heater hooked up to a thermostat...can you tell me, if it heats it well? I hate to spend the money and have a new one put in if it won't do anything. I was told that the electric baseboard heat gets really hot. Would anyone know if this is true? Right now, my current electric baseoard heater, I can actually stick my hand inside it and it just feels warm to the touch. I'll have it on for the entire day and it heats the room up 4 degrees...that's it.
I mostly feel the cold coming in through the flooring. The people before me installed a commercial thin carpet in the room with thin padding. If I did a more plush carpet, would this help heat the floor at all? I think the baseboard molding is not hitting the floor either and this is where the cold is coming in as well. I'm at a loss what to do. Any suggestions would be helpful. Would installing new baseboard molding that goes to the floor really help with drafts?
Sorry this post is so long. Thank you for looking and I hope to get a few opinions from homeowners who have an extension with a crawl space and no basement underneath it.
Okay, so when we purchased our home, it already had an extension which is a bedroom. I have gas forced hot air and there is ductwork run to that room but unfortunately, the room does not heat up. On the really cold days, the room was about 10 degrees lower than what my thermostat said in the hallway (however, my thermostate is not located near this room). Now, I can understand our other rooms in the house being 1-2 degrees of a difference (sometimes even 4 degrees of a difference on a really cold day but 10??). So my questions is this, since it is an added on room, it does have an open crawl space and has lots of insulation under the plywood. This room has been CO'd by the TOS in 1991. I have an electric baseboard heater in the room but it does not get hot so I am assuming, it's broken. I'm hoping if we put a new electric baseboard heater in, this will keep the room warm. I am hoping to one day use this room as a nursery.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Or, if anyone has a room heated with an electric baseboard heater hooked up to a thermostat...can you tell me, if it heats it well? I hate to spend the money and have a new one put in if it won't do anything. I was told that the electric baseboard heat gets really hot. Would anyone know if this is true? Right now, my current electric baseoard heater, I can actually stick my hand inside it and it just feels warm to the touch. I'll have it on for the entire day and it heats the room up 4 degrees...that's it.
I mostly feel the cold coming in through the flooring. The people before me installed a commercial thin carpet in the room with thin padding. If I did a more plush carpet, would this help heat the floor at all? I think the baseboard molding is not hitting the floor either and this is where the cold is coming in as well. I'm at a loss what to do. Any suggestions would be helpful. Would installing new baseboard molding that goes to the floor really help with drafts?
Sorry this post is so long. Thank you for looking and I hope to get a few opinions from homeowners who have an extension with a crawl space and no basement underneath it.
It could be anything--the baseboard molding you mention, bad sealing on the windows, etc.
When was the last time you had the ducts cleaned? Are there filters in the vents or intake? If so, when was the last time you replaced them?
It could be anything--the baseboard molding you mention, bad sealing on the windows, etc.
When was the last time you had the ducts cleaned? Are there filters in the vents or intake? If so, when was the last time you replaced them?
I was actually thinking just recently to get the ducts cleaned. We've owned the house for about 2 years; not sure if they've ever been done. The windows in the room are Anderson windows.
Filters in the vents? Do you mean the vents on the floor in the bedroom? I don't think so. I know there is a return for the furnace in my hallway where the thermostat is located. I know why the forced hot air is not working in that one room. They took it from my dining room which was one vent, and split it into two. My HVAC guy told me it wasn't efficient b/c it was run far from the furnace. The vents don't do too much inthat room.
I never had forced hot air before. I grew up with hot water baseboard heat. Is it necessary to get the ductwork and ducts cleaned? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. The house is about 40 years old. Would cleaning the ductwork make a huge impact?
ETA: We replace the filter on the furnace every 60 days. Even when it's just replaced..it doesn't make a difference.
Maybe the volume damper on the duct that feeds this room is closed?
Can you feel a lot of air coming from the register?
I will have to check when I'm home but I do know that when my HVAC guy looked at it after we purchased the house, he said they were working. I can't get access to the damper unless you access the crawlspace and well...I don't plan on climbing underneath the house. Bugs freak me out and it looks so clostrophbic in there. LOL..
I will have to check when I'm home but I do know that when my HVAC guy looked at it after we purchased the house, he said they were working. I can't get access to the damper unless you access the crawlspace and well...I don't plan on climbing underneath the house. Bugs freak me out and it looks so clostrophbic in there. LOL..
There should be a dampener at the airhandler for each of the ducts or where it leaves the main trunk. The vents also open/close on the face of the vent.
It appears you need to balance your system better, if the supply for that room isn't blocked off entirely.
you do this by reducing the flow to the other vents and keeping that one wide open. that should have more air available to go to the cold room, as well as it taking a bit longer for the other rooms to heat up, so hopefully everything heats evenly.
If you can't/won't do it, you might want to pay someone to do it, like your HVAC guy.
you can also try looking for leaks in the room as far as air infultration, and someone should check the crawlspace for the insulation.
finally, if insulation is fine, and no apparent leaks, and you fix heat issue, invest in a heavy duty(pick the best or one of the best they have) carpet pad and new carpeting
Do you know the size of the duct that feeds the room?
Maybe its just undersized for the heat loss.
No, I have no idea. I can see the ductwork run through the crawlspace b/c it's not covered by the insulation. (I don't think). It's been a while since I looked at it from a distance. I do know that they took the one area where the ductwork was run originally to my dining room, and extended it from there. So my dining room vent is no longer and it is run and parted into 2 different vents. I'm thinking maybe that's why it's not good. It was really only supposed to work in one vent but they parted it into 2 and closed up the original vent for my dining room. Also, I've heard b/c it's not close to my furnace (run a distance), this can add to the problem too. The floor in that room is just so cold! It almost feels like the cold air is coming up from the carpet. I can't explain it.
There should be a dampener at the airhandler for each of the ducts or where it leaves the main trunk. The vents also open/close on the face of the vent.
It appears you need to balance your system better, if the supply for that room isn't blocked off entirely.
you do this by reducing the flow to the other vents and keeping that one wide open. that should have more air available to go to the cold room, as well as it taking a bit longer for the other rooms to heat up, so hopefully everything heats evenly.
If you can't/won't do it, you might want to pay someone to do it, like your HVAC guy.
you can also try looking for leaks in the room as far as air infultration, and someone should check the crawlspace for the insulation.
finally, if insulation is fine, and no apparent leaks, and you fix heat issue, invest in a heavy duty(pick the best or one of the best they have) carpet pad and new carpeting
Hmm. I didn't know there was a damper at the air handler itself. I will have to ask my HVAC guy next time he comes out. However, I know for my sons b/r my husband opened the damper all the way (the damper located underneath his floor vent) b/c his room is running a degree or 2 behind also. We have a full finished basement so we don't have access to any of the dampers that are under the vents (aside from my b/r and my sons b/r). My living room gets chilly too but not like my extension. I've had the insulation checked by LIPA and they said it was fine in that room.
You need a return in the room.
Forced air heating is not just about pushing hot air out-it needs to draw the cold air out of the room which is does through a return.
Simply leaving the door to this room open will help greatly, btw but your long term solution is to install a return.
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