Cold room
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Cold room
Hello
this is our main sitting room. It’s gets quite cold in the winter. 0 Celsius (32 F) today and I can feel the cold on my neck when sitting on the couch. Cantilever design. Heat source is marked in red. There’s a register along the wall, not covered by the carpet. Heat pump with electric aux. I’ve removed some of the soffit from below the cantilever. Insulation was present. Wasn’t prepared to remove it fully and do a complete inspection.
what ideas to you have the help? Previous owner had a baseboard heater under the two windows which they removed. Windows are relatively new.
would plastic over the windows help much? Are there any space heaters beyond 1500W that use standard electrical outlets. We had a electric heater (faux wood stove) under the TV but it barely did anything. Think running the fan in reverse would help.
is it just a result of a lot of glass, poor insulation in walls and cantilever .....as well as the poor location of the heat register? Home was originally built 40 years ago.
what ideas big or small do you to retain heat or add supplemental heat?
this is our main sitting room. It’s gets quite cold in the winter. 0 Celsius (32 F) today and I can feel the cold on my neck when sitting on the couch. Cantilever design. Heat source is marked in red. There’s a register along the wall, not covered by the carpet. Heat pump with electric aux. I’ve removed some of the soffit from below the cantilever. Insulation was present. Wasn’t prepared to remove it fully and do a complete inspection.
what ideas to you have the help? Previous owner had a baseboard heater under the two windows which they removed. Windows are relatively new.
would plastic over the windows help much? Are there any space heaters beyond 1500W that use standard electrical outlets. We had a electric heater (faux wood stove) under the TV but it barely did anything. Think running the fan in reverse would help.
is it just a result of a lot of glass, poor insulation in walls and cantilever .....as well as the poor location of the heat register? Home was originally built 40 years ago.
what ideas big or small do you to retain heat or add supplemental heat?
#2
This is the upstairs room?
So yes to most of your questions, if insulation is poor then all the heat you add just dissipates so that is really the first step.
With heat, it goes up, out, then down so you want to make sure the attic insulation is maxed out, wall insulation is a lot more work but that overhang if you can get in there might be easy.
Windows are not great insulators, the film helps with wind leakage but you state they are newer!
So yes to most of your questions, if insulation is poor then all the heat you add just dissipates so that is really the first step.
With heat, it goes up, out, then down so you want to make sure the attic insulation is maxed out, wall insulation is a lot more work but that overhang if you can get in there might be easy.
Windows are not great insulators, the film helps with wind leakage but you state they are newer!
#3
"Heat source is marked in red." Is that the blurred red square at the lower left of the first image?
#4
Member
First- move the couch at least 12" from the window. Any room with large windows, even well insulated windows, will get cold downdrafts from the windows. That couch location guarantees that you'll have a cold draft down your neck, even with the best insulation.
Second, add some THIN, white, see-through curtains to the windows. This will still allow light in, but will inhibit the circulation of air, and the resulting heat loss. It may seem counter intuitive, but that WILL make the windows COLDER. Which is actually good for you, it means that less heat is flowing out the window.
Third, move the entire white rug 1-2 feet to the right, and 1-2 feet away from the outside wall. This way, the sunlight coming through the window hits the dark flooring, which gives you a "heat source" at the base of the windows which will help balance the cold air flowing down from the windows.
Fourth, with that southern exposure, a narrow table or shelf of plants in the sun will help warm the house. The reason for this is that the plants and soil, or water (if aquaculture) are really good at capturing and storing heat, which offsets the cold air. Plants also create small pockets of high humidity, dry air is easy to heat or cool, moist air is MUCH harder. The same amount of COOLING will result in a larger temperature drop in dry air, compared to moist air.
Second, add some THIN, white, see-through curtains to the windows. This will still allow light in, but will inhibit the circulation of air, and the resulting heat loss. It may seem counter intuitive, but that WILL make the windows COLDER. Which is actually good for you, it means that less heat is flowing out the window.
Third, move the entire white rug 1-2 feet to the right, and 1-2 feet away from the outside wall. This way, the sunlight coming through the window hits the dark flooring, which gives you a "heat source" at the base of the windows which will help balance the cold air flowing down from the windows.
Fourth, with that southern exposure, a narrow table or shelf of plants in the sun will help warm the house. The reason for this is that the plants and soil, or water (if aquaculture) are really good at capturing and storing heat, which offsets the cold air. Plants also create small pockets of high humidity, dry air is easy to heat or cool, moist air is MUCH harder. The same amount of COOLING will result in a larger temperature drop in dry air, compared to moist air.
#5
You have multiple things working against you. That wing has exterior walls on 3 sides... The roof... The cantilever... All cold exterior surfaces where heat is lost. And canitlevers are usually insulated improperly, allowing air to travel down the floor joists under or above the insulation. So despite being insulated, it may not be air tight, which is just as important.
Glass is at best maybe R-3... and many places limit the amount of glass you should have based on your sq ft. If you just take that room... Figure the sq ft of floor space, then figure the sq ft of glass area, pretty sure it would be a good percentage... 15-20%. Anytime you have that much glass it is an energy drain. (See https://www.countyofnapa.org/Documen...n-Document-PDF as an example)
And if there is no heat being added to supplement all this energy loss it's going to be cold. One vent is obviously not sufficient. And removing baseboard heat was not a good move. Without knowing anything about your furnace it's hard to say what could be done. Electric heat is probably easiest. But it will likely cost a lot to operate, which is probably why it was removed.
Glass is at best maybe R-3... and many places limit the amount of glass you should have based on your sq ft. If you just take that room... Figure the sq ft of floor space, then figure the sq ft of glass area, pretty sure it would be a good percentage... 15-20%. Anytime you have that much glass it is an energy drain. (See https://www.countyofnapa.org/Documen...n-Document-PDF as an example)
And if there is no heat being added to supplement all this energy loss it's going to be cold. One vent is obviously not sufficient. And removing baseboard heat was not a good move. Without knowing anything about your furnace it's hard to say what could be done. Electric heat is probably easiest. But it will likely cost a lot to operate, which is probably why it was removed.
#6
Member
There is a reason storm windows were always installed on the exterior rather than the interior, that's where they are most effective. Anything installed on the interior to make a room a more comfortable temperature is largely futile.
#7
Member
I've got a similar situation with a "sunroom" addition, lots of glass, exposed on 3 sides.
YOU seem to have 2 things that working for you, the same that I use.
First, you have a ceiling fan. During winter, you want the fan on low, blowing UP so that warm air is pushed out along the ceiling and then down across the windows to mitigate the heat loss through the windows.
Second, do you know what ELSE is on the circuit with the ceiling fan? The ceiling fan in my sunroom has four exposed bulbs, so in winter I swap OUT the led bulbs and swap IN halogen bulbs, BECAUSE they run HOT. About 90% of the energy in incandescent and halogen bulbs goes directly into heat. So, if the room is cold, those bulbs add 400 watts of heat, at the ceiling, just before that
(remember to check the maximum wattage for bulbs)
Third, you have 2 entrances into that room. I'll wager that the air flow is VERTICAL. Warm air from the house comes in through 2 entrances, hits the cold glass, and descends. You can check the by watching a lighter flame or by blowing out a candle and watching the smoke. You want to have the airflow be HORIZONTAL, going between rooms.
To do that, I'd consider a small 6" fan, placed to circulate warm air from the house into the cold room.
What you'll want to try is placing a fan 1 room away facing up and towards the sitting room entrance, so that it pushes WARM ceiling air into the adjacent sitting room. If you have a fan on the floor directly blowing air air into the sitting room, it will "feel" cold. You want to use the intermediate room as a "mixing location" and then have a slow flow of warm air into the sitting room.
YOU seem to have 2 things that working for you, the same that I use.
First, you have a ceiling fan. During winter, you want the fan on low, blowing UP so that warm air is pushed out along the ceiling and then down across the windows to mitigate the heat loss through the windows.
Second, do you know what ELSE is on the circuit with the ceiling fan? The ceiling fan in my sunroom has four exposed bulbs, so in winter I swap OUT the led bulbs and swap IN halogen bulbs, BECAUSE they run HOT. About 90% of the energy in incandescent and halogen bulbs goes directly into heat. So, if the room is cold, those bulbs add 400 watts of heat, at the ceiling, just before that
(remember to check the maximum wattage for bulbs)
Third, you have 2 entrances into that room. I'll wager that the air flow is VERTICAL. Warm air from the house comes in through 2 entrances, hits the cold glass, and descends. You can check the by watching a lighter flame or by blowing out a candle and watching the smoke. You want to have the airflow be HORIZONTAL, going between rooms.
To do that, I'd consider a small 6" fan, placed to circulate warm air from the house into the cold room.
What you'll want to try is placing a fan 1 room away facing up and towards the sitting room entrance, so that it pushes WARM ceiling air into the adjacent sitting room. If you have a fan on the floor directly blowing air air into the sitting room, it will "feel" cold. You want to use the intermediate room as a "mixing location" and then have a slow flow of warm air into the sitting room.
#10
A proper heating system accounts for walls, glass, ceiling, etc. at night with no solar gain and no internal heat (lights, appliances, etc.), so there's something quite wrong here. It might be good to fix the problem rather than its comfort symptom:
1. A "Bower Door Test" will determine the condition of wall and ceiling insulation and whether there's excess air infiltration.
2. The outlet is poorly located, would be much better in the cantilever if possible. What size are the outlet (that's the size of the metal floor box under it, not the overall dimension of the outlet itself) and connecting duct? Is there noticeable airflow at the outlet (you should be able to feel the airflow 4 or 5 feet above the floor)? Is the connecting duct restricted?
1. A "Bower Door Test" will determine the condition of wall and ceiling insulation and whether there's excess air infiltration.
2. The outlet is poorly located, would be much better in the cantilever if possible. What size are the outlet (that's the size of the metal floor box under it, not the overall dimension of the outlet itself) and connecting duct? Is there noticeable airflow at the outlet (you should be able to feel the airflow 4 or 5 feet above the floor)? Is the connecting duct restricted?