Baby, it’s Cold Outside
Arriving at the Cross House on Friday, when it was 0-degrees, the heat setting was 50 but…eek…the inside temperature was 43.
Inside the Carriage House the setting was also 50 but the temperature was 42.
This is bad.
Today, it was also 0-degrees but the Cross house was 50/50. Oh! This is good! Why the difference? I do not know although I suspect that the radiators have now warmed up the acres of plaster and this, combined with the powerful return ducting I installed in 2014, was belatedly able to properly warm the behemoth.
(Due to the giant open stairwell, heated air in the house rises up to the second floor. This is why I installed return ducts in 2014 near the second-floor ceiling. This warm air is sucked into the ducts, pulled down to the basement, and returned to the basement and first floor. Thus, heated air is continually being recirculated through all three levels. Smartest thing I ever did.)
Inside the Carriage house it was 40/50. This is, again, bad. But why, I wondered?
Looking around I could see two obvious culprits:
- Missing sheetrock in the dining room ceiling, allowing heated air to escape into the voids and ceiling joists, and then to the second floor.
- The stair. Even though there is a closed door on the second-floor, a lot of heated air would naturally and quite happily fill up the tall stairhall. And, unlike the Cross House, heated air upstairs is NOT returned to the first floor. (Note: I do not have the second-fl0or heat on.)
I covered the missing sheetrock in the dining room with a moving pad quilt.
Ditto for the stairwell.
I also caulked around windows, stuffed insulation in various small areas, and sealed the kitchen door.
The inside temperature began to rise, STAT. From 40 to 41 to 42 to 43 to 44 and to 45. So, obviously, I did the right thing. I left at 45-degrees but assume during my next visit that there will be a 50/50 hallelujah.
Severe temperatures in Kansas are not like in New England, which can last for many weeks. It will be 34 on Wednesday…balmy!…and in the forties the following week.
In writing this I realize that I might need to install a return duct on the second floor ceiling, to bring the warm air back down to the basement and first floor.
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Yeah, I kinda thought you might be overly optimistic since you did say the Carriage House wasn’t insulated. There are probably some leaks various places given it is still under renovation. I think maintaining 45 with the heat set at 50 isn’t bad. As you observed it could be worse. To keep the pipes from freezing I would be hesitant to lower the heat to 40.
There are no water pipes with water in them on the second floor, are there? With the stairwell sealed won’t the upstairs end up colder than the downstairs?
Excellent troubleshooting, Ross. The Carriage House will be more comfortable to work in now.
I so wanted the headline of this blog post to be “Baby, It’s Cold Inside.”
After Snovid Texas ’21, I actually have a christmas ornament that says that! (We were in the lucky few that kept power and also unfrozen water the whole time. It was STILL deeply unpleasant, and not just because my inlaws were sleeping in my living room.)
I have a two-storey hall in my Victorian. We installed a large wooden-bladed fan to push the heat down into the giant open space. The only other option is underfloor heating.