True story.
I bought my current house about 4 years ago (1960's vintage ranch, with major update renov), and ripped out the gas log insert last year to build the hearth, surround, and to install the Jotul. So, I'm liking that that my winter heating bills have been slashed roughly by 50%, the bottom of that not being reached only due to a lack of ability to stockpile wood last summer while handling all the other chores. At least that was what I thought until recently. This coming winter, I'm really going all in. Anyway, so I'm sitting and looking at the hot air registers for my HVAC vents, which are mounted on the ceiling, ducting coming through the attic. Hmm, I'm wondering (Ever notice how much unplanned labor starts with that thought?) how well are those ducts sealed around the vent openings. So I take one down to take a look. As it turns out, the answer is: "Not too damned well at all." Frankly, I'm wondering how any heat/cool actually made it into the living space. I took down all 14 of them and found anywhere from a 1/4" to 3/4" gap on almost all edges in the rought opening. To make matters worse, bubba siliconed each register to the ceiling, I guess just to make sure that as much air as possible would be blown back up into the attic. That and because he secured the vents only up through the sheetrock, the openings not being framed out or anything. I had to invent a device out of plywood clips to get those suckers back up after spending a joyous weekend spraying foam and taping the openings to some approxmation of airtight.
Word up, if you think your stove is heating well now, check your building envelope, especially the ceiling.
Next up: Recessed light fixtures. Modern convenience, or spawn of the Devil?
I bought my current house about 4 years ago (1960's vintage ranch, with major update renov), and ripped out the gas log insert last year to build the hearth, surround, and to install the Jotul. So, I'm liking that that my winter heating bills have been slashed roughly by 50%, the bottom of that not being reached only due to a lack of ability to stockpile wood last summer while handling all the other chores. At least that was what I thought until recently. This coming winter, I'm really going all in. Anyway, so I'm sitting and looking at the hot air registers for my HVAC vents, which are mounted on the ceiling, ducting coming through the attic. Hmm, I'm wondering (Ever notice how much unplanned labor starts with that thought?) how well are those ducts sealed around the vent openings. So I take one down to take a look. As it turns out, the answer is: "Not too damned well at all." Frankly, I'm wondering how any heat/cool actually made it into the living space. I took down all 14 of them and found anywhere from a 1/4" to 3/4" gap on almost all edges in the rought opening. To make matters worse, bubba siliconed each register to the ceiling, I guess just to make sure that as much air as possible would be blown back up into the attic. That and because he secured the vents only up through the sheetrock, the openings not being framed out or anything. I had to invent a device out of plywood clips to get those suckers back up after spending a joyous weekend spraying foam and taping the openings to some approxmation of airtight.
Word up, if you think your stove is heating well now, check your building envelope, especially the ceiling.
Next up: Recessed light fixtures. Modern convenience, or spawn of the Devil?
