The colder it is outside the harder to keep inside above 70

Do the block off plate and if this is an outside chimney think about insulation for chimney.

When it's that cold, you can literally feel the battle between the warm and the cold air. Even in a well insulated house, you're trying to maintain a big temperature difference. Sure, there are things you can do to help some, but at the end of the day there will still be a battle.

Actually a huge part of the heating equation depends on the quality of your insulation, doors, and windows. When it gets really cold, say 10 degrees to -20, I have no problems maintaining warm temps in the house. The only difference is that I need to burn the stove a little more aggressively and consistently; I can still overheat the house when it is -20 and windy. A drafty house or poor insulation will hurt you immensely when the temps really drop.

The rate of heat transfer from inside your home to outside your home (when inside's warmer) will always be directly proportional to the temperature differential, even if it's airtight (which it's not). You can slow this rate of heat loss by eliminating air leaks and by increasing the insulation properties of your home. A block-off plate is a good thing, as is better insulation anyplace it can be added, as is sealing (weatherstripping around doors, caulking or sealing around wall penetrations, and a number of other things. BeGreen stated the other day on another thread that if you have an 1/8" unsealed gap around a standard exterior door, it's equivalent to something like 30 square inches of house open to the outside. I'd never thought of it quite that way, so I checked his numbers and he was spot on. It's like having a 6" diameter hole in your wall. Windows, doors, any other through-wall penetrations need attention. Outside air can infiltrate into walls in any number of ways, so even all the interior wall penetrations like wall switches, outlets, etc. can also be sources of cold air entering the home. Rick

fossil said:

The rate of heat transfer from inside your home to outside your home (when inside's warmer) will always be directly proportional to the temperature differential, even if it's airtight (which it's not). You can slow this rate of heat loss by eliminating air leaks and by increasing the insulation properties of your home. A block-off plate is a good thing, as is better insulation anyplace it can be added, as is sealing (weatherstripping around doors, caulking or sealing around wall penetrations, and a number of other things. BeGreen stated the other day on another thread that if you have an 1/8" unsealed gap around a standard exterior door, it's equivalent to something like 30 square inches of house open to the outside. I'd never thought of it quite that way, so I checked his numbers and he was spot on. It's like having a 6" diameter hole in your wall. Windows, doors, any other through-wall penetrations need attention. Outside air can infiltrate into walls in any number of ways, so even all the interior wall penetrations like wall switches, outlets, etc. can also be sources of cold air entering the home. Rick

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Wow! That really, really puts things in perspective, Rick. Amazing that something so seemingly small can result in such a huge heat loss.

last fall i sealed my house by hooking up a blower from my oil furnace.i put the blower in a basement window so that it would suck the air from inside the house.so then i went around the house with calking looking for leaks.i didnt keep track but i easily used 30 tubes of caulking.its amazing were the leaks come in.then i insulated my basement and put more insulation in the attack.dont forget to calk around the attack trap door to.people spend alot of money on windows but just leave the attack door sitting there not sealed.also i think i remember a single pain window has a R value of 1 and i think a 3 pane window has 6.also one day i was cleaning the fireplace chimney on the roof.i noticed how much warm air was coming up the chimney.so i checked the oil furnace chimney for warm air.yup there was so i sealed the chimney since i dont use my furnace.another thing i did was insulate the inside of my chimney and i put a r8 styrofoam on the exterior of the chimney up to the eve.i have a exterior brick chimney.anyways after all this it made a huge difference in keeping the house warm.i have pe summit in the rec room in the basement.i keep the basement and mainfloor in the 70's even when it got down to -20c.my house is a brick bungalow around 1200square feet each level and built in 1962.and the summit insert is hardly even working.

fossil said:

The rate of heat transfer from inside your home to outside your home (when inside's warmer) will always be directly proportional to the temperature differential, even if it's airtight (which it's not). You can slow this rate of heat loss by eliminating air leaks and by increasing the insulation properties of your home. A block-off plate is a good thing, as is better insulation anyplace it can be added, as is sealing (weatherstripping around doors, caulking or sealing around wall penetrations, and a number of other things. BeGreen stated the other day on another thread that if you have an 1/8" unsealed gap around a standard exterior door, it's equivalent to something like 30 square inches of house open to the outside. I'd never thought of it quite that way, so I checked his numbers and he was spot on. It's like having a 6" diameter hole in your wall. Windows, doors, any other through-wall penetrations need attention. Outside air can infiltrate into walls in any number of ways, so even all the interior wall penetrations like wall switches, outlets, etc. can also be sources of cold air entering the home. Rick

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Not to be picky but Fossil and I are engineers and know that in the field of fluid dynamics there are a few rules in regard to the theory that all of that wetted perimeter around the door crack causes resistance to flow by friction. Much more friction than is present with a very small wetted perimeter around a 6" circle. So while sealing cracks is good and all, you can't say that the area of a thin crack will flow anywhere near the volume of air per minute as the equivalent hole. Details I know....

So far in this heating season (it's still early I know) the only time where I noticed a real difference in heating was when the temps were in the teens and it was wicked windy out . . . then I had to run the stove a little hotter and feed it a bit more. The wind was the major factor though . . . we've had other days with temps in the teens and there have been no issues.

yes, my old homestead house is like swiss cheese but I ahve been working on it alittle here and there each year with lots of silicone caulk and sprayfoam. It is amazoning how much warmer you can keep a house if you seal up all of those cold drafts that come in. I still have some that is for sure btu am woking on them. My house is bascially insulated less than 1/2 of what a newer house is, i mean, R-13 in the walls and that isnt even taped or put in correctly that is for sure. One 1/2 of the house I took R-38 bats and put them perpendicular to the old R-13 that was in there and tht made a huge difference. Unfortunatly I cant get into the attic area where the 2 story is at all without cuttign a hole through my ceiling but I jsut may do that this spring.
My biggest problem has been the sill plates.

davenorthshorema said:

I have a regency I1200 insert with a full liner (15 feet) that drafts great and has seasoned wood. I have been trying really hard to keep the house consistant above 70 (when the outside temp is below 25 degrees) but feel the house may be too drafty. I will need to better insulate and replace some doors in the house (windows already done). I do not have a block off plate and plan to install one this weekend in hopes it will help retain the heat in the home. Any thoughts on this really helping either a little or alot? Thank you all again for you help

Best regards,

Dave

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Something that nobody seemed to notice, isn't that Regency's small stove? That small of a stove is only going to heat the room it's in and maybe a little more. It's tough to heat the whole house with small stoves especially when it gets real cold.

Highbeam said:

fossil said:

The rate of heat transfer from inside your home to outside your home (when inside's warmer) will always be directly proportional to the temperature differential, even if it's airtight (which it's not). You can slow this rate of heat loss by eliminating air leaks and by increasing the insulation properties of your home. A block-off plate is a good thing, as is better insulation anyplace it can be added, as is sealing (weatherstripping around doors, caulking or sealing around wall penetrations, and a number of other things. BeGreen stated the other day on another thread that if you have an 1/8" unsealed gap around a standard exterior door, it's equivalent to something like 30 square inches of house open to the outside. I'd never thought of it quite that way, so I checked his numbers and he was spot on. It's like having a 6" diameter hole in your wall. Windows, doors, any other through-wall penetrations need attention. Outside air can infiltrate into walls in any number of ways, so even all the interior wall penetrations like wall switches, outlets, etc. can also be sources of cold air entering the home. Rick

Click to expand...

Not to be picky but Fossil and I are engineers and know that in the field of fluid dynamics there are a few rules in regard to the theory that all of that wetted perimeter around the door crack causes resistance to flow by friction. Much more friction than is present with a very small wetted perimeter around a 6" circle. So while sealing cracks is good and all, you can't say that the area of a thin crack will flow anywhere near the volume of air per minute as the equivalent hole. Details I know....

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What Highbeam sez is absolutely true. They're not equivalent...maybe more like a 2 1/2" diameter hole in the wall. But it's an eye-opening (if somewhat sensational and semi-factual) description to toss out to drive home the point. Great, now I've got my wife and Highbeam trying to keep me honest all the time. Rick

fossil said:

Great, now I've got my wife and Highbeam trying to keep me honest all the time. Rick

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I feel your pain .

I get really bad drafts from my outlets? Is this normal and How can I fix this?

I just finished an energy audit and was SHOCKED at the air leakage improvements. We went from an air change rate during the blower test of 4700 CFM to 900 CFM after changing windows and sealing the basement sill. 900 CFM is still a huge amount of air, but apparently is about as good as it gets in a 75 year old 1200 sqft house. Stopping the leaks in our basement was the biggest improvement we noticed - counter intuitive to seal the place we spend the least amount of time, but it worked.

yes my basement sill was bad to.what shocked me was behind the baseboards and around some door frames.when i first started sealing i thought it would only leak around the outside walls.any wall can leak.the air comes down from the attic.it was well worth the effort