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My interior walls haven't been insulated since 1955 and the attic was redone in 79. The basement is finished and insulated but ceiling is only half done. I have a 1978 hydrotherm boiler. If I put the house to 75 it does the job. My windows are the only thing efficient as they are fairly new and Anderson. I'm shocked others are having issues since my home isn't insulated well.
I’ve been using the crap out of my wood stove.
Heats the entire house. I went from skeptic to believer.
I’m out in La La Land so I have a nearly endless supply of wood.
I keep the thermostat at 65 but with the stove going my heat barely kicks on.
#rednecklife
Wood stove is on the list of things to do for next winter. Its makes the home cozier. PLus gas bill will be a lot smaller.
Love my wood burning fireplace insert. My gas heater barely fires when I have the fire roaring.
Had a big dead tree I chopped down this summer, and I personally split (great exercise), so plenty of wood this season.
Just curious. I called around, sounds like its a $2500-$3000 installed. I really want it.
Does it heart just that room or does the heat travel all over the first floor and upstairs?
Heats my whole crib.
I have a split ranch. Keeps it near 70 without too much effort.
And my stove doesn’t have the fan accessory.
Installing that would probably make it even more efficient but so far I haven’t felt the need to get it. I’m out in the woods with an endless supply of wood so it’s basically free heat other than my labor splitting and stacking the wood. Stove came with the house and it’s a good one, a Napoleon with the glass door.
Heats my whole crib.
I have a split ranch. Keeps it near 70 without too much effort.
And my stove doesn’t have the fan accessory.
Installing that would probably make it even more efficient but so far I haven’t felt the need to get it. I’m out in the woods with an endless supply of wood so it’s basically free heat other than my labor splitting and stacking the wood. Stove came with the house and it’s a good one, a Napoleon with the glass door.
Thanks for the input. Ours is a small colonial. So 1 medium sized living room that flows into the kitchen, and a small room that next to it that leads to the second floor. I wanted to install the stove in that little room. So it would be in between the first floor main room and the second floor. Mostly because there is no where to put the stove in the living room. Also I wanted the small room to be a cozy room with a stove, some books, a leather seat and some Scotch/ type room.
My layout just works perfect. I got lucky.
With the split ranch and the the stove being in the far corner of the living room, the heat travels through the entire house, aside from the basement/lower level which doesn’t benefit as much.
I have a small ranch and 70-72 degrees for our heat is fine during these frigid temps, 68 is too low. I need new windows and I am sure the insulation in our home is shot. The house is from the 1930's and who knows when the insulation was done last. Anyone ever use those electric fireplaces from Costco that you can place your flat screen on? My BIL has one and it heats pretty nice.
* update - plumber had me set high to 190F with the differential up another 10 so it can get up to 200F. Free service call, woohoo. Yay for plumbers who aren't all about profit. Holzhauer.
I set mine to 185 during extreme cold snaps, 170 during normal winter temps. 200 is not dangerous that’s nonsense. 200 should be about 20psi, 30 you never want to hit as it will trigger the relief valve. My main floor is also difficult to get up to temps sometimes, I typically use my gas fireplace with the blowers on and that boosts the temp nicely. Bedrooms and basement heat fine.
Last edited by peconic117; 01-02-2018 at 04:54 PM..
I have a thread on this elsewhere - our first floor is ok at 67F, but I haven't been able to get my 2nd floor any higher than 64F despite the thermostat being above that for hours on end. We don't have attic insulation and that's contributing to it. I can feel the heat in the baseboards but it's inefficient at keeping the ambient air temp in the rooms. After much troubleshooting including bleeding the air out, I call the original plumber who says boilers here are set for efficiency (avg. 28F winters in NY) so it only operates as if that's the norm. These frigid temps are causing all kinds of service calls and he recommends (if possible) adjusting the boiler setting's hi temp from 180F to something higher if it's insufficient and set it back down after the cold spell is over.
That is really crazy considering your second story is less than 10 years old. Just goes to show how sheisty some contractors are. That is pathetic.
That is really crazy considering your second story is less than 10 years old. Just goes to show how sheisty some contractors are. That is pathetic.
Come to think of it, R-rating of the insulation was a primary concern I brought up during price negotiations and when they did the build because I used to live in a Levitt which was full of voids and drafts. I made sure it was at least R-30 (or whatever is on the contract) hauled in for the ceiling and at least R-20 for the outside walls. Andersen 400 windows throughout too but you can still feel the cold against the pane. Our 1st floor certainly is less buttoned up but the heat is fine. I think it really is just fricken cold regardless of what's in the attic floor, or maybe I should've asked for higher. I'm going to pull some up to verify. One other note is our master has vaulted ceilings so no insulation above for sure and it's warmer than the other bedrooms under the attic.
Last edited by ovi8; 01-02-2018 at 09:39 PM..
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