I have a heat pump and wood stove and live in central Virginia. While I am sure I could do better, my electric bills are reasonable and I've taken some steps to upgrade appliances, use CFC bulbs, etc. My concern now is less about energy consumption and more about keeping the heat in the house.
My house was built in 1987 and was some kind of energy star certified when built. I have a bonus room on one end of the house that is always 5 degrees colder and is where my wood stove is located. I get this room cozy when I am burning nights and weekends and get a little extra warm air circulating in the rest of the house from it, although not much due to cathedral ceilings and inherently poor air circulation from room design. I'm using the biggest wood stove I can without running me out of that room.
I use a programmable thermostat to keep my heat pump set to 68 for hours when I am home. I set it to 64 when I am asleep or gone. My heatpump is old but I'm still getting a 15+ heating improvement coming out of the vents when it is running. I think 15 degree increase over ambient air temps is considered satisfactory. The house is still slow to warm up and cools down quick. I have not replaced any windows or added any insulation. I don't have any noticable leaks around doors or windows.
I have several large sliding glass doors and bay windows. Air adjacent to them feels cold like a leak but I think it is cold air sheeting down off of it and not a leak. Still, obviously colder around them with the aluminum frames and such.
Is it cost effective to replace these doors/glass? Seems like a long payback period. I'm pretty unknowledgeable about attic/wall insulation. I would think an energy star certified house would have had adequate insulation.
Any ideas to keep it warmer besides 'turn up the heat'? I just feel like I am losing the heat - like the house is one big cold sink.
My house was built in 1987 and was some kind of energy star certified when built. I have a bonus room on one end of the house that is always 5 degrees colder and is where my wood stove is located. I get this room cozy when I am burning nights and weekends and get a little extra warm air circulating in the rest of the house from it, although not much due to cathedral ceilings and inherently poor air circulation from room design. I'm using the biggest wood stove I can without running me out of that room.
I use a programmable thermostat to keep my heat pump set to 68 for hours when I am home. I set it to 64 when I am asleep or gone. My heatpump is old but I'm still getting a 15+ heating improvement coming out of the vents when it is running. I think 15 degree increase over ambient air temps is considered satisfactory. The house is still slow to warm up and cools down quick. I have not replaced any windows or added any insulation. I don't have any noticable leaks around doors or windows.
I have several large sliding glass doors and bay windows. Air adjacent to them feels cold like a leak but I think it is cold air sheeting down off of it and not a leak. Still, obviously colder around them with the aluminum frames and such.
Is it cost effective to replace these doors/glass? Seems like a long payback period. I'm pretty unknowledgeable about attic/wall insulation. I would think an energy star certified house would have had adequate insulation.
Any ideas to keep it warmer besides 'turn up the heat'? I just feel like I am losing the heat - like the house is one big cold sink.
