The amount of heated square feet is different than the total square footage of a house. The heated square feet area is hard to calculate because there are several small details that go into the calculations.
There are many rooms that are excluded from this calculation including garages, porches, attics, decks, courtyards, and basements. Even a 3 season porch isn’t included because it doesn’t have heating and cooling capabilities.
Different Factors of Heated Square Feet Calculations
Usually when the amount of heated square feet is calculated everything that is not heated is left out including basements. In some cases certain rooms like a basement may be included if it is a finished basement with heating and cooling capabilities.
It’s also important to remember that staircases and walls are included in the calculation. In some cases the staircase may be factored in once for each level. This means that a two story house with a finished basement could have the staircases factored in 4 times.
Also, since the walls are factored in you may see a one story house and a two story house with the same amount of heated square feet. In that case you should be aware that the one story house will actually have more room because the two story house has two stories of walls that are included.
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