Heat cannot handle this cold weather

[Anonymous]

We have an old house (1935). I did the best I could insulating the doors, windows, etc, but the house was built when they simply didn’t use insulation in the walls. I set my thermostat to 68, yet it kept running and running over the last 2.5 weeks because it struggled to reach above 65. I turned the thermostat down to 65 to reduce the stress on the HVAC, and it was able hold 65. I wake up this morning to find the thermostat reading 62, which means our system cannot get our house above that due to the extreme cold. I now have it turned down to 62 due to the same reason before.

Is anyone else's HVAC in a old home struggling immensely in this cold weather? Ughhh. I cannot stand this weather anymore. Thank god it is supposed to get up to 50 this week. I dont think the HVAC system is inappropriately sized for our house, it is just the fact we don't have any insulation. Our system can handle it when temps are above 35-40, but this 8 degree weather is destroying us.

[Anonymous]

Get a kerosene heater. We use it and it does fine job keeping house warm.

[Anonymous]

To be fair, this cold is excessive. DC area HVAC systems are designed to handle cold down to around 17F. This handles the cold weather 99% of the time.

The “good” thing is that your heat runs constantly as that doesn’t hurt the system. It might be expensive though. Dress warm and look towards the warming up next week. I’m tired of this crazy cold too!

[Anonymous]

You most likely have too small of a unit even with no insulation

[Anonymous]

If it helps, my house is warm for low cost but it’s crappy in other ways.

[Anonymous]

We have a new build and we are having the same problem on the lower two floors. I just think it is too much for the HVAC to handle the past two weeks.

[Anonymous]

If you have a heat pump, especially an older one or one that is not designed for very cold weather, you should switch to emergency heat until the temperatures come back to normal. Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house.

[Anonymous]

Our 2 story house was built in 1929. Before we moved in, our contractor opened up the walls of the main level, since we had to gut-renovate it anyway, and put in quality insulation. The upstairs level wasn't touched at all. My husband insulated most of the attic himself. Thanks to these improvements, despite the fact the bedroom level doesn't have insulation, we were able to sustain 66F on Saturday evening during the extreme cold, and 64F in the bedrooms at bedtime, with 60F in the bedrooms on Sunday morning). Perhaps we could have increased the temperature, but our furnace is old and I didn't want to push it.

Since it's difficult to open the walls once you live in the house, I would advise you to put the best R-coefficient batting insulation in your attic. Not the blown-in stuff, because in older homes, it tends to get humid and degrade quickly.

[Anonymous]

^ the thermostat is in the living room on the main level.

[Anonymous]

You can install a heat pump or another furnace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a heat pump, especially an older one or one that is not designed for very cold weather, you should switch to emergency heat until the temperatures come back to normal. Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house.

This is not good advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a heat pump, especially an older one or one that is not designed for very cold weather, you should switch to emergency heat until the temperatures come back to normal. Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house.

This is not good advice.

Its spot on actually and the reason why emergency/supplemental heat was included with them. You just need to remember to switch them back over when the temperature get back up to 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a heat pump, especially an older one or one that is not designed for very cold weather, you should switch to emergency heat until the temperatures come back to normal. Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house.

This is not good advice.

Its spot on actually and the reason why emergency/supplemental heat was included with them. You just need to remember to switch them back over when the temperature get back up to 30.

Not PP, but unless I have a fragile pet or sick relative, I'd rather not pay a ridiculous extra for temporary heating. I would rather invest (more dollars) to insulate my house, or I would move to a better insulated house. At least I get something tangible in return down the road, like a more valuable house. But auxiliary heat is just throwing money out of the window.

[Anonymous]

Any lifestyle enhancing $ is throwing ,money out the window by that logic. It's called AUX heat for auxiliary in some systems. Switching to AUX in prolonged cold periods saves wear on heat pump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a heat pump, especially an older one or one that is not designed for very cold weather, you should switch to emergency heat until the temperatures come back to normal. Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house.

This is not good advice.

Its spot on actually and the reason why emergency/supplemental heat was included with them. You just need to remember to switch them back over when the temperature get back up to 30.

The OP said: "Emergency heat uses a lot of electricity (if it is the electric kind) but probably less than a heat pump that runs 24/7 and still can't heat the house."

This is just false. The efficiency of a heat pump is unrelated to whether it is properly sized. In the DC climate even in the coldest weather heat pumps are going to be more efficient than resistive heating. If your heat pump is undersized, you want to let it do its job and supplement it with supplemental heat, not replace it with emergency heat.