Are all houses just cold?

[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.

This sounds like your problem. I grew up in a house with two-story rooms. All the heat goes up into that second story. No way to make it warmer. When I bought, I ensured that we didn’t have any two-story rooms.

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This sounds like your problem. I grew up in a house with two-story rooms. All the heat goes up into that second story. No way to make it warmer. When I bought, I ensured that we didn’t have any two-story rooms.

There are, of course, ways to make it warmer. Simply pumping more heat into the room will make it warmer.

Stratification -- big temperature differences between the top and bottom of a room -- is usually caused by the exterior walls being leaky and allowing cold air to infiltrate. The cold air sinks and pushes the warm air up. Improving the air sealing will reduce stratification. How practical that is depends on how the house is constructed.

[Anonymous]

Are all houses cold? Absolutely not.

If a house isn't comfortable, is it feasible to make it comfortable? Well, that's the real question. In some cases it's a simple fix, in others it means redoing big portions of the house.

[Anonymous]

My 90s house is always cold. I blame the walls and windows. They’re garbage. Just really cheaply made and built.

[Anonymous]

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

People think it's the windows, but check your attic insulation

[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.

I grew up in a house like that. It will never be warm because the heat rises and then goes out the window. You can hang insulated blinds over the upper windows which will help some, but it will never be warm. When I bought, I refused to look at anything with too many high ceilings or open concept.

[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?

Have you had your health checked? Maybe you have low thyroid.

[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?

Gain some weight.
Natural insulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Gain some weight.
Natural insulation.

There’s some truth to this. DH lost a lot of weight is now cold all the time. I’m officially in menopause now and I’m hot all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Gain some weight.
Natural insulation.

+1. Get off the GLPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

People think it's the windows, but check your attic insulation

During a reno, we made the attic a conditioned space and heavily insulated the attic using spray foam insulation.

That made all the difference. House is now warm. Definitely helps that the HVAC unit in the attic is in conditioned space also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

+1 My grandparents in Michigan used to put some kind of heavy duty saran wrap over the basement windows all winter, and any other rooms they didn't use often, to keep out drafts.

When I was a kid in Philadelphia we wore long underwear or at least an undershirt, plus long sleeves/pants, socks, slippers, and a robe. I keep the house warmer than my parents did - it was usually about 62 then, now we keep it more like 68 in part for the pets - and I dispense with the long underwear but use slippers and a sweater. But I do often get cold just sitting and working at my desk and have to get u and move around a bit.

[Anonymous]

My installation of a new sliding glass door made a big difference. Expensive though.

My new HVAC made heating bills go down, since my old system was straining.

[Anonymous]

Radiant heat makes our house feel warm. We have radiant downstairs, forced air upstairs and radiant in all the bathrooms. It makes a huge difference when the floors are heated. We live in a really snowy area and we walk around barefoot because the floors are nice and toasty.