Are all houses just cold?

[Anonymous]

I like my house to be warm in the winter. I always thought my dad was just being frugal when he told me the heat wouldn’t go up more and just get another blanket.

Now I’m a grown up with a grown up house and swore I would keep it was warm as I want. Since moving in we have upgraded the HVAC and gotten new windows. And I’m still cold. What am I doing wrong?

[Anonymous]

Not wearing silk long underwear and a cute beanie hat? Is your house well insulated?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know—I have the same question. Mine is only warm upstairs! The main level is chilly and the basement is downright frigid.

[Anonymous]

You're older and feel the cold more, and perhaps don't move as much as when you were younger. I never worried about being cold when I was a kid.

My house feels frigid right now, because I haven't exerted myself for a few hours and I'm tired from the day. In the morning, when it's actually colder, I run around looking after my pets and don't feel the cold at all: I even take the dog out for his first potty break without a coat or sweater!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're older and feel the cold more, and perhaps don't move as much as when you were younger. I never worried about being cold when I was a kid.

My house feels frigid right now, because I haven't exerted myself for a few hours and I'm tired from the day. In the morning, when it's actually colder, I run around looking after my pets and don't feel the cold at all: I even take the dog out for his first potty break without a coat or sweater!

I do find that when I'm feeling chilly working at my desk, taking a break and running around the block or just doing some pushups and jumping jacks helps a lot.

And long underwear almost all winter.

[Anonymous]

Turn the heat up!

The thermostat lies!

[Anonymous]

I typically run cold and we keep the house around 70° during the day. I put a little space heater next to my desk and it makes a big difference when I’m working from home.

[Anonymous]

I put on a space heater and close the door. Closed door makes a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

We got new windows and doors in our house a few years ago and had insulation blown into our crawl space under the roof. We close of the upstairs vents in the winter so the heat only blows downstairs and it’s still toasty upstairs and comfortably cool downstairs (we all run warm and keep the thermostat pretty low, 66).

We rented an older house a couple of winters ago with windows that were obviously a few decades old. I don’t know anything about the insulation, but just the old poorly sealed windows let so much cold air in! We had the thermostat set at 72, the heat blew constantly, and I wore a vest inside.

How are your windows OP? Is your house well insulated? Are you wearing enough clothes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like my house to be warm in the winter. I always thought my dad was just being frugal when he told me the heat wouldn’t go up more and just get another blanket.

Now I’m a grown up with a grown up house and swore I would keep it was warm as I want. Since moving in we have upgraded the HVAC and gotten new windows. And I’m still cold. What am I doing wrong?

What temperature is your thermostat set tot???

Where is it in your house?

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thermostat says 72. It’s on the main level. I bundle up and just bought a long ugly fleece robe with a hood. Windows and doors are new. Decent insulation in the attic/crawl space. House was built in the late 80s.

Main level is somewhat open, and the kitchen area has sliding glass doors (3 panels) with a second story of 3 panel windows directly above it. That’s by far the coldest area. Not sure if there’s anything we can do the keep the glass from being so cold.

Bedrooms do have space heaters for when it’s really cold but I try not to sleep with them on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thermostat says 72. It’s on the main level. I bundle up and just bought a long ugly fleece robe with a hood. Windows and doors are new. Decent insulation in the attic/crawl space. House was built in the late 80s.

Main level is somewhat open, and the kitchen area has sliding glass doors (3 panels) with a second story of 3 panel windows directly above it. That’s by far the coldest area. Not sure if there’s anything we can do the keep the glass from being so cold.

Bedrooms do have space heaters for when it’s really cold but I try not to sleep with them on.

72 is cold? are you in DMV? my house at the moment is 66, heat is off. i will set for 63 when we go to bed. it's not cold. we are in moco

[Anonymous]

The glass panels sound like the problem.

Are those 3 sliding glass panels insulated glass?

Do they have really air-tight weather-stripping?

We had a different problem. Tiny crack under the front door. We installed a rubber door sweep at the bottom on the inside of the door. This blocked the draft and fixed our (different) problem.

The point is - look for the drafty places and weather strip them to block the drafts. If the glass panels are not insulated glass, then replace with insulated glass.

[Anonymous]

No, my house is set to 71 and feels pretty warm. Sometimes, if I'm very hungry or tired, I will feel colder than usual and put my clothes on or move around to warm up. It sounds like the windows and doors are your issue. Can you put a curtain over them to help keep the cold air out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thermostat says 72. It’s on the main level. I bundle up and just bought a long ugly fleece robe with a hood. Windows and doors are new. Decent insulation in the attic/crawl space. House was built in the late 80s.

Main level is somewhat open, and the kitchen area has sliding glass doors (3 panels) with a second story of 3 panel windows directly above it. That’s by far the coldest area. Not sure if there’s anything we can do the keep the glass from being so cold.

Bedrooms do have space heaters for when it’s really cold but I try not to sleep with them on.

Heavy curtains help when not light out.
Wood stove really helps.
Expensive to keep warmer than 68F for most houses. Try to heat just one or two areas rather than whole house that much.
Perhaps you are getting low on muscle also.