Heating unused rooms, is it worth it?

[Hiram Maxim]

I have 2 unoccupied bed rooms that in years past I shut the door in the Fall and don't open them back up until Spring time.

This is what my Grandparents always did so I followed suit.

They average about 52° during the Winter.

My friend said that I may be hurting my heating situation because he believes they radiate cold air and should be heated.

My Stove is in the largest room in the house with all the rooms adjacent to it. The house is warmed to about 72° on average during the Winter.

What do you guys think?

To heat or not to heat this is the question?

 

[fossil]

Interior walls typically have no insulation in them, though there are exceptions. Heat from the warm area of the house adjacent to the cold rooms will transfer through the walls into the colder areas (the greater the difference in temperature, the greater the rate of heat transfer), so you will lose some heat to them. Cold doesn't "radiate", heat is conducted through the walls from warmer to colder. I'd suggest you try it both ways for a while & see whether or not you can discern any difference. Rick

 

[Mmaul]

I have been wondering the same thing I have one room right off the room with the stove I leave shut but at night I can feel a draft from that room.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

If you have baseboard forced hot water, then be careful not to freeze pipes.

I find that my house stays a bit warmer (heating with wood) if I close off rooms, but in below 20F weather, I worry about pipes.

 

[Mmaul]

I do have forced hot water pipes but I have my pump running 24/7 so the pipes wont freeze.

 

[jbrown56]

If the heat will migrate to these rooms, I say heat them. I think maintaining consant temps in the house is better for your home.

Jim

 

[RedRanger]

Depends on your climate to some degree. If you live in a damp winter climate like this area-Mould will become your enemy.

Check the window channels,corners of rooms that are not heated. Just keep an eye open for that nasty stuff.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I have natural gas forced air furnace, with about 60% basement and the rest crawl space. So no problems with pipes (cross fingers...) yet.

As far as mold goes its to cold for much of that stuff. Even with all the snow we get the humidity levels are crazy low here in the Winter.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

If the heat will migrate to these rooms, I say heat them. I think maintaining consant temps in the house is better for your home.

Jim

I opened them up........we will see!

 

[edthedawg]

Yeah cold doesn't radiate. If these "closed" rooms share adjacent walls w/ the heated space, then yes - you will lose some heat to those rooms. But not nearly as much as heating the air, having it circulate into those rooms, and then having those exterior walls lose the heat.

I say keep 'em closed.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Ed- yup. A closed room acts like one big buffer with some extra insulation as compared to the open room (and that has more wall surface).

 

[karri0n]

I keep them closed. I've found that leaving the "cold rooms", as we call them in our house, open all the time is a huge detriment to my heating ability for the rest of the house.

 

[Highbeam]

Cheaper to close the doors. It takes btus to heat that air to 72 and less btus to heat it to 52. The btus all come from the stove.

Take this to an extreme and build a tent around your stove and see how much less wood you need to keep the tent at 72.

 

[karri0n]

Cheaper to close the doors. It takes btus to heat that air to 72 and less btus to heat it to 52. The btus all come from the stove.

Take this to an extreme and build a tent around your stove and see how much less wood you need to keep the tent at 72.

This is also a good solution to misbehaving kids. 5 minutes in the hotbox and they will think about what they've done...

 

[Corey]

The way I look at it...if you close the door and the room gets cold, that says there is less heat going into that room than there would be if the door was open. Therefore, that 'saved' heat must still be in the main part of the house...which means you need to generate a little less heat in the main part to keep it warm.

I try and keep all unused spaces closed unless needed...spare bedrooms, bathroom, closets, etc. You aren't going to cut your heat bill in half or anything like that, but every little bit helps.

 

[kenny chaos]

The way I look at it...if you close the door and the room gets cold, that says there is less heat going into that room .

God I love a little common sense. As far as baseboard hydronics freezing up, I had glycol added to mine and I recommend it for anyone who thinks THEY should.

 

[LLigetfa]

Depends on your climate to some degree. If you live in a damp winter climate like this area-Mould will become your enemy.

Check the window channels,corners of rooms that are not heated. Just keep an eye open for that nasty stuff.

Buildings will deteriorate if not kept heated. There is generally no vapour barrier between rooms so condensation will form in partition walls/floors/ceilings where there is a significant temperature difference.

My parents built a huge house thinking that my siblings and I would all live there. When we all moved out, 80% of the house was left unheated and I watched the deterioration over the years. The place burned to the ground anyway so in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter.

If you can't afford to heat a big house you should sell and down-size.

 

[kenny chaos]

If you can't afford to heat a big house you should sell and down-size.

How about the millions who have a hard time heating a small home. Got a thoughtless suggestion for them?

 

[Summertime]

Why heat unused ares, even if you have baseboard heat I doubt it would ever get cold enough to freeze them as there is heat still seeping into those rooms from the main living areas.

 

[LLigetfa]

If you can't afford to heat a big house you should sell and down-size.

How about the millions who have a hard time heating a small home. Got a thoughtless suggestion for them?

They could buy full cords and resell them as face cords.

 

[kenny chaos]

If you can't afford to heat a big house you should sell and down-size.

How about the millions who have a hard time heating a small home. Got a thoughtless suggestion for them?

They could buy full cords and resell them as face cords.

I knew you'd have the answer.
Thanks-

 

[RedRanger]

If you can't afford to heat a big house you should sell and down-size.

How about the millions who have a hard time heating a small home. Got a thoughtless suggestion for them?

Look before you type Kenny.

Don`t put my name in front of someone elses quote.

Bet you are not man enough to apoligize??

 

[ansehnlich1]

I'd hate to see this thread head to the great ash heap in the sky

As for this ole boy, I keep 2 bedroom doors closed up near all winter unless we have company that's stayin' over.

 

[kenny chaos]

Don`t put my name in front of someone elses quote.

Bet you are not man enough to apoligize??

It was NOT intentional and I am certainly man enough to apologize.
With all due respect, I am sorry.

 

[RedRanger]

Don`t put my name in front of someone elses quote.

Bet you are not man enough to apoligize??

It was NOT intentional and I am certainly man enough to apologize.
With all due respect, I am sorry.

Thank you--accepted.