If you own a Townhouse approx 2300 sqft , what's your thermostat reading currently

[jillabean]

I have a three level townhouse. I have the thermostat set for 68 and am fairly comfortable.

For a while my house felt cold but I fixed it by doing three things. 1) I made sure the dampers were set correctly in my little HVAC room (basically I closed the top level and just left the middle and basement level "open" because heat rises), I make sure the fan is on all the time, and I turned on the ceiling fans in the upper level (put them in reverse) to help circulate the air.

If you haven't done these things, I recommend giving them a try (since it's an easy "fix" and free). It does sound like you need better insulation though if you feel a draft. Good luck and stay warm!

PS- my htownouse is only 1700 sq.ft with a single car garage. So I don't know if that changes things.

[katyusha25]

On a side note, does anyone know how to make baseboard heater use energy efficient?

We just got our first electric bill from Dominion Power and it was almost $300!! And I know it's those stupid baseboard heaters...but if we don't use them, we'll freeze.

[talentous]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

On a side note, does anyone know how to make baseboard heater use energy efficient?

We just got our first electric bill from Dominion Power and it was almost $300!! And I know it's those stupid baseboard heaters...but if we don't use them, we'll freeze.

That is considerably higher than my bill, but then again, you may have a bigger place or require more energy usage.

Budget Billing should help.

[talentous]

Originally Posted by jillabean

I have a three level townhouse. I have the thermostat set for 68 and am fairly comfortable.

For a while my house felt cold but I fixed it by doing three things. 1) I made sure the dampers were set correctly in my little HVAC room (basically I closed the top level and just left the middle and basement level "open" because heat rises), I make sure the fan is on all the time, and I turned on the ceiling fans in the upper level (put them in reverse) to help circulate the air.

If you haven't done these things, I recommend giving them a try (since it's an easy "fix" and free). It does sound like you need better insulation though if you feel a draft. Good luck and stay warm!

PS- my htownouse is only 1700 sq.ft with a single car garage. So I don't know if that changes things.

I'll use the Dampers tonight ..thanks for the suggestion.

[katyusha25]

Originally Posted by talentous

That is considerably higher than my bill, but then again, you may have a bigger place or require more energy usage.

Budget Billing should help.

You would think, right? It's actually not that big, I just think it's the layout of the cottage - it's a converted barn with a loft; so the living room is big and open and vaulted.

We did switch to budget billing - we had to - but I thought maybe we were doing something wrong too.

[theBIGstep]

We used to live in a townhouse like you described (approx 2000 sq ft) with one car garage. We set the thermostat on 75 and it was still freezing! At night it was the worst! The 3rd level was somewhat warm but the middle level...was cold. Our heating bill was high and yet it felt like no heat! We had our own service company come out to check the thermostat (since the management company said "We HAD heat" and that was all that was required...wether it really worked or not was not even considered, and the service guy said the furnace unit had not been cleaned....and the thermostat component was extremely faulty. He suggested putting in a new thermocouple to help. He even showed us how the thermostat "read" 75 but really was not putting out 75 degrees of heat. We went back to the management company and they told us that again "we had heat" so they would not fix it nor clean it!. When it snowed our thermostat was on 80 and were freezing!

Finally we just broke down and used the fireplace on the 1st floor for our main heat. We ran it for hours when home. Yes gas was expensive but it was heat! We used it to warm up the place since it was the only way to get the chill out of the home. Now we live in a SFH and almost twice the size of the townhouse. It has a two car garage...and I can set the themostat to 68 and its nice and warm. Our bill is also LESS than it was in the townhouse and we run the heat more since the place is bigger! I know you may not want to give in to space heaters or insulating your place better (or buying the plastic window kits) but it may help out....or pehaps upgrade the furnace unit (which I know can be super expensive).