How Is Everyone Keeping Warm?

[gusherb]

The only time 64° is comfortable to me is in the winter when we get a quick warmup and my blood is still thicker from being adjusted to the cold. My chiropractor keeps his office at 63 and I'm stiff as a board on that table. I loosen up as I get warmer. I also may be an addict of solar and thermal radiation.

Matt, your furnace was probably sized with an indoor design temp of 70-72° and you have it at 64 hence 2nd stage not kicking in.

 

[tolivac]

Chetleham:For me lately its never been a dull moment.Speaking of heating-something has gone wrong with the fuel pump system for the boilers-guess that's normal when temps here are 9 degrees.We have to fill the boiler buffer tanks manually.Last night the generator tripped off--took the dqy shift to get it going again.One of the 4160V main backup line switches wiring burned up-so the system couldn't go to either utility power or generator.Fortunately the switch doesn't go to a critical component here.Was able to be isolated and the system restored-back on the generator because of utlity load management.Hope th fuel lasts until Monday.The generator can drink up to 400 gal per hour!Then you add the boilers.

 

[askolover]

Natural gas is super cheap here in mid TN.  My parents keep their gas package unit set for 74F, which I got used to growing up there, so when I got my house I also set mine to the same.  Tony and I used to be on the same metabolic scale and were pretty comfortable at 74F.  Now that he's a hormonal andropausal man having hot flashes we fight over the temp setting.  He will turn it to 72 and I'll be shivering.  When I get up in the evenings I bump it up to 73 which is better but still a bit nippy for me.  I'm in my waterbed room right now, and it tends to stay a degree or two warmer due to the bed itself radiating heat.  But my hands, feet, nose and ears are all cold!  I don't have much insulation on my bones so I get cold quickly.  Some day I want to build a house with hydronic pipes running through the floors.

 

[sudsmaster]

You folks with cheap energy rates are lucky.

I'm thinking of doing a cost analysis of rooftop solar panels... at these rates it might actually be cheaper to go solar, ditch the gas furnace, and go with an electrically powered heat pump. It could also provide A/C during the brief periods in the summer when it's useful.

The one stumbling block is the capital cost of the solar system. There's also the uncertainty connected to potential governmental changes on tax write offs, utility purchasing excess energy generated, and proposed vastly increased tariffs on imported solar panels.

 

[appnut]

My cost per kwh is 10.5 cents when under 1000 kwh  and 9.5 cents per kwh. 

 

[cfz2882]

Running a Rinnai 556 fa III(2006 vintage),it's only about 33%of the capacity needed for my house,but wanted to see how it would keep up got put to the test this past Monday:was -25*and the Rinnai was working hard but not quite keeping up-far bedroom was down to 43*...Mr Slim heatpump can be kicked on,but it is in same room as the Rinnai,and the 2nd heat source confuses the Mitsubishi and it doesn't go to full heat with the Rinnai on.If needed,the 1951 Payne floor furnace with 5 burner rows can be lit off I did have a frozen pipe in the unheated basement after that -25 morning,but a hairdryer applied to suspect area took care of it.

 

[gusherb]

I've never in my life thought warming up into the 20s felt like spring but here we are. It is 26°, very dark and cloudy though. I already want the cold but sunny weather back. I'll take sun any way I can get it.

Supposed to be 50° by Thursday then back into the 20s for awhile. I don't even bother going beyond Day 10 of this 15 day forecast because it changes dramatically every day that far out, but right now suggests it will be in the upper 40s.

The heat is barely running as compared to before.

 

[cfz2882]

got my "spring thaw"yesterday and today:52*right now,68 in the house with the Rinnai idling on low fire.A few people outside are wearing shorts

 

[washman]

gusherb did you get your car battery sorted out?

 

[launderess]

Should start warming up here as well

Forecast for NYC area starting Monday call for daytime temps in low thirties, then for Tuesday through Friday we're into low to even some high forties.

Noticed even today heat is cycling less than past week or so. Can tell because the blasted steam heating system clearly announces when boilers have come on by the hissing from convectors.

 

[gusherb]

Ben

It's still starting so not yet. I looked up Deka, looks like those are made by East Penn manufacturing which makes batteries for many names including DieHard and Duracell (car batteries).

It's 31° currently and there was freezing rain earlier. So ice formed all over everything and made it even harder to take a quick walk in the park. The upstairs furnace isn't even coming on with the bedroom door open and the downstairs still on 72.

 

[sudsmaster]

I suspect part of the whole "Jesus! It suddenly got so cold!!!" phenomenon is that one's metabolism will gradually adjust to colder ambient temps by burning more calories, so eventually one may feel more comfortable at a certain thermostat setting later in the winter than one would have earlier in the winter.

This is supported by a report I read of a scientific study back in the early 1980's, in which they found workers in very cold environments tended to burn significantly more calories than those working in warm environments.

Add to that the change of wardrobe, swapping thin short sleeve shirts for thicker long sleeve numbers, etc. But since I was quiet happily puttering around the house and garden today in shorts, sandals, and t-shirt, I think my metabolism has done some adaptation.

Now all we need is our usual mid-winter heat wave to throw everyone off balance again ;-)

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Re: #'s 121 & 130

The idea that by later winter one is comfortable at temps that'd've seemed chilly earlier in the winter matches my experience as well.

However, I suggest that a more practical solution to Askolover's problem would be for Tony to walk around naked. That'd allow both of them to be comfy at 74F.

That's what I do at Eric's. I just add and remove layers as needed and not bother him about it.

 

[sudsmaster]

It's what sweaters are for...

 

[askolover]

But I can't put a sweater on my nose!  It's cold right now even.

 

[twintubdexter]

There's my problem in a nutshell...

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Your body adjusts to living in the cold and burns more calories. Makes perfect sense to me. So here I am where it never really get's cold and the sun shines 360 days a year. I can just hear my brain saying "Stop! Don't burn up that box of Entenmann's old-fashioned glazed doughnuts, put them in storage." It's no wonder there are so many commercials on TV for Weight Watchers and Nutrisystems.</span>

 

[sudsmaster]

It's callled a "Nose Cozy"...

http://https//www.etsy.com/shop/auntmartymadeit

 

[stan]

I bow down

To most of you!
Born and raised her in wine country, I don't know what it's like to deal with temps more or less below 30 degrees. Don't know if I could stand it. Im freezing here now! I'm gong to Joe's house to warm up! LOL
Gary your old house is just beautiful. Love to see more pics!
Chris Harkin. I think I have the clone to your cat or vs versa.
My old furnice is still going but not all that efficient, and won't heat the whole house. With opening and closing certain doors, I can direct heat to different spots, ceiling fans help disperse a bit.
Old themostate pic is dark but.. Still working

 

[henene4]

Keeping warm - barely

First winter in the new house and begining to notice the draftiness.
It's an old farm house here, never really remodeled since its creatin a hundred years ago.

Weather near the cost here is generally more tolerable, and today is the first day I am here when temperatures droped below freezing.
Otherwise it has been mostly slightly above freezing, with wind and almost daily rain showers, but these don't change house climate much though.

My room however has a kind of bad location for cool temperatures.

It's a corner room on the older side of the house (the house has been extended in the 50s, and even though none of our flat is actually in the new flat, other parts of the flat are surrounded by new parts of the complex here).
The stairs leeding to my rooms are directly conected to a door leading outside and sadly, as all floors in my part of the house here are slanted towards the same point on the property, all the doors have gaps below them.

I tried isulating the one on the lower outside door with these self sticking sealing stripes you get, but it didn't help much.

Above me is an old attic, which isn't isolated what so ever. That cools down my rooms quite a lot, so all my heaters are running on 2nd highest level.
Oh, and I am on the verry end of the heating loop, which dosen't make things much better, given that I am used to pretty warm rooms.

Our bathroom is luckily somewhat warm. The kitchen however is not.
Both lead to the same stairwell as my rooms, so I know what well sealing doors mean.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Nose Cozy - I am totally unsurprised that a place that sells glans rings would offer something like this.

Drafty Houses - Many old houses in the northeastern US are full of "micro drafts" that can be difficult to locate. Sometimes I've just foregone locating them and sealed up all possibilities because it was just faster and easier. Some of the places are:

- Where the wall meets the floor and anyplace molding meets wall, floor, or ceiling.

- Around electric outlets, light switches and CEILING LIGHT FIXTURES. I would bet on this last if there's no insulation above.

- Around door and window frames where they meet the walls. My grandoarents' pre-WWI house had very little air leakage from the windows themselves but quite a bit from where they met the walls.

Here in the US one can buy kits that contain pre-cut foam rubber sheets that are sized for outlets and switches. They are installed behind the switchplates. An alternative is to buy a few rolls of 3M Scotch Tape (the kind of tape one buys for wrapping presents because it's usually invisible when used) and simply cover all openings and cracks with the tape.

Are your radiators recessed into the walls? If they are, seal up the cracks in the housing and insulate the housing with styrofoam sheets.

If the radiators are not recessed, buy a styrofoam sheet (usually ~1cm thick) slightly larger than the radiator and place it behind at an angle. The reduction of heat radiating into the outside wall greatly improves convection currents. This can be augmented by placing a small fan on the floor to blow more air into the radiator. I assume your heat is hot water. Is there any possibility there's air trapped inside the radiators? If you happen to have a steam system you could replace the current air vent with a larger one.

Or do you have baseboard instead of radiators?

Just some ideas......