Heat retention insulation question

[Wisneaky]

I'm hoping someone can explain why my house retains heat so much. I have an older house built in the 50s. We completely remodeled last summer. New windows, new roof, new insulation in walls, new doors. Everything is practically new except kitchen. R13 insulation in walls, poly vapor barrier on exterior walls. Blown insulation in roof to r38 white steel roof, white vinyl siding. My house retains heat like crazy now. Like today it is 64 outside and 74 degrees inside. Someone please explain to me why it is so warm in here.

 

[Former Farmer]

No more drafts to remove the heat generated by all of the appliances and lighting.

 

[Wisneaky]

No more drafts to remove the heat generated by all of the appliances and lighting.

do you think I should install roof vents?

 

[Former Farmer]

How is your attic vented now? Soffit vents, ridge vent, gable end vents, etc?

 

[Wisneaky]

How is your attic vented now? Soffit vents, ridge vent, gable end vents, etc?

Soffit and ridge vent. No gable vents. The roof is completely new also including new trusses.

 

[Former Farmer]

You shouldn't need any additional venting for your attic if it was all installed properly. Are you concerned that the attic is holding too much heat and this is part of the reason for the warmer house?

 

[Wisneaky]

You shouldn't need any additional venting for your attic if it was all installed properly. Are you concerned that the attic is holding too much heat and this is part of the reason for the warmer house?

Honestly I don't know. I doubt it's the roof. I'm assuming because of all the extra insulation and vapor barrier. I wouldn't say its a bad thing during the winter because it will be easier to heat, but I constantly have to have the ac on when its hot out. I wonder if there is a way to vent out the extra heat when not needed.

 

[Wisneaky]

I specifically went with a white roof and siding to keep my house cool in the summer to help save money and with the extra heat retention it's a flop.

 

[Former Farmer]

What type of lighting do you use? Incandescent, CFL, LED? Do you leave you lights on a lot? You would be surprised at how much heat are generated by incandescent lights.

 

[Wisneaky]

What type of lighting do you use? Incandescent, CFL, LED? Do you leave you lights on a lot? You would be surprised at how much heat are generated by incandescent lights.

Most of my house is leds, except in my living room area there is a drop ceiling with three 2'x2' cfl light fixtures. I know they generate a lot of heat and I try to keep them off.

 

[Former Farmer]

I think that I would wait and see what the winter brings. If you have problems with a lot of condensation on your windows, then you may want to look into a air to air exchanger to take out air from your house and bring in fresh air. The exchanger transfers some of the heat/cool from the inside air to the outside air being brought into the house.

 

[Wisneaky]

I think that I would wait and see what the winter brings. If you have problems with a lot of condensation on your windows, then you may want to look into a air to air exchanger to take out air from your house and bring in fresh air. The exchanger transfers some of the heat/cool from the inside air to the outside air being brought into the house.

Sounds good. Thank you

 

[brenndatomu]

What's wrong, A/C not gettin the place cold enough to fire up that new wood burner yet?!

 

[Wisneaky]

What's wrong, A/C not gettin the place cold enough to fire up that new wood burner yet?!

Well I was hoping to get a fire going tonight, but with it being so warm in here I was contemplating turning the ac on. Might have to have them both running at the same time.

 

[Wisneaky]

59 degrees outside now and still 74 degrees inside. With the way this is going I may not be burning at all this season.

 

[begreen]

What is the solar gain through windows like? How much southern and western exposure does the house have vs tree shading?

 

[brenndatomu]

Well I was hoping to get a fire going tonight, but with it being so warm in here I was contemplating turning the ac on. Might have to have them both running at the same time.

Ha! Yeah I did that inadvertently when I fired up the lil fireplace stove during a cold snap a couple weeks ago. In threw in some bark and a piece of pine just to take the chill off. Went to bed with only a small fire left, decide to get up and double check everything since this was the first fire of the season and all...realized the A/C had just kicked on, oops, gotta turn that off now!

 

[Wisneaky]

What is the solar gain through windows like? How much southern and western exposure does the house have vs tree shading?

There isn't a lot of windows, but there is practically no tree shade though.

 

[Wisneaky]

I remembered though we did some major air leak sealing. There is a crawl space that runs under part of the house and there was bad air flow. We put poly down and spray foamed the entire walls. Also in the basement area we sealed some air leaks. I think we are going to have to put a fresh air intake down there now before we fire up the wood furnace.

 

[woodgeek]

I had that problem once....its was the waste heat from my oil boiler running my DHW. 100 gallons of fuel oil over the summer needed a good bit of AC. Got rid of the boiler, and then the problem went away.

Now the neighbor is running his central AC when it is 65°F out, but not me.

 

[brenndatomu]

I think we are going to have to put a fresh air intake down there now before we fire up the wood furnace

Sounds like a good idea. The simplest air intake I have hard of was a dryer vent installed backwards, and then just a screened hood on the outside. I did one when I installed the Yukon (they require it) I used 6" "tinfoil" flex duct to run the intake tube close to the baro on my stovepipe. Some people just run a tube into a bucket for a "trap"

 

[Wisneaky]

I had that problem once....its was the waste heat from my oil boiler running my DHW. 100 gallons of fuel oil over the summer needed a good bit of AC. Got rid of the boiler, and then the problem went away.

Now the neighbor is running his central AC when it is 65°F out, but not me.

I don't think it's my water heater. It's an LP power vent, but the basement is never hot.

 

[Wisneaky]

Sounds like a good idea. The simplest air intake I have hard of was a dryer vent installed backwards, and then just a screened hood on the outside. I did one when I installed the Yukon (they require it) I used 6" "tinfoil" flex duct to run the intake tube close to the baro on my stovepipe. Some people just run a tube into a bucket for a "trap"

Why did you run it to the baro? Shouldn't it go close to the air intake on the front of the furnace?

 

[brenndatomu]

My house retains heat like crazy now. Like today it is 64 outside and 74 degrees inside. Someone please explain to me why it is so warm in here.

Anybody baking/cooking much? That makes huge difference in the summertime for us.
I know some people who purposely drag their feet this time of the year on lighting a fire so that their wives will start baking...

 

[brenndatomu]

Why did you run it to the baro? Shouldn't it go close to the air intake on the front of the furnace?

Massive CFMs up the baro compared to the intake...