Help! Home drafty, unequal heat distrbution...more insulation or other tips.

I need help with our 7 year old home. We just moved in before the winter and have now realized it's a bit drafty! We have a lot of our heat rising to the upstairs (very warm upstairs) and our main floor is chilly. The back of our house also faces north with nothing to block that wonderful winter wind. This is where our family room is located. Very chilly..... I thought about caulking around the windows on the inside....also putting in those outlet insulators. ( I can feel major drafts in our outlets and on the outside of the window trim.) but I'm wondering if there's something bigger that needs done. Like more insulation, or checking our heater for the unequal heating. By the way, our family rm is an extension away from our home w/ no basement underneath.Longwinded but thanks for reading!

Draft Dodger

 

Hello draftdodger. A long winded question deserves a long winded reply! As you know, heat rises. As you also know, air moves from an area of positive to an area of negative pressure. The rising warm air in your home causes a negative pressure on the main floor, which is replaced by air from a positive pressure on the outside. This is called "stack effect". Use smoke sticks around all windows & doors, exterior wall outlets and service ports all around the house to locate any air leaks & caulk away. Install ceiling fans in stair wells to push air down to the main floor. Have you checked in the family room crawl to see if there is any insulation? I'm willing to bet the heat source in the add on family room is electric baseboard. If so, part of the problem there is no air movement. Again, install fans for air circulation. If it is forced air, the existing furnace is now under sized for the extra square footage, so an alternate space heater will be needed to keep its room up to temp. Best of Luck.

 

Thanks for your help...but our family room wasn't added on. So, that's a bummer. I'm definetly caulking everywhere I can and insulating outlets. I understand the heat rising while the cold air is being "sucked in". I went around and caulked w/ the "Pink sealant in a can" between the foundation and the drywall of our garage. Family room is on the other side. (You could see the subflooring laying right on top of our foundation.) I don't know why our family room wasn't part of the basement. Probably to cut expense....I'm also thinking they cut expenses w/ insulation...probably windows too...bummer. It's been pretty cold here too... 0's, so maybe I'm expecting too much w/ a north facing house.

Thanks for everything. If you think of anything else, holler..

DD