Home Heat Retention

[lukem]

It is getting chilly in the evenings, but I'm really surprised at how well the house holds heat. Just want to see if my expectations are on target.

Last night at 9:00 it was 73* in the living room. Overnight the temp dropped to 43*...temperature in living room dropped to 71* by sunrise.

Does this sound good, bad, or about right? I'm thinking good, but can't remember how previous houses have compared.

 

[Don2222]

It is getting chilly in the evenings, but I'm really surprised at how well the house holds heat. Just want to see if my expectations are on target.

Last night at 9:00 it was 73* in the living room. Overnight the temp dropped to 43*...temperature in living room dropped to 71* by sunrise.

Does this sound good, bad, or about right? I'm thinking good, but can't remember how previous houses have compared.

That is a great way to measure how well a house is insulated, I will ck my livingroom and let you know.

But on this issue I found that if your house does hold the heat well, then you only need to add heat in the early morning in the shoulder seasons!

 

[Bad Wolf]

Bear in mind that you are also adding heat in the form of lights, refrigerator HX and yourself. I forget the exact number but when doing heat loss calculations there is a factor for people and appliances.
But yes that’s pretty good.

 

[lukem]

Bear in mind that you are also adding heat in the form of lights, refrigerator HX and yourself. I forget the exact number but when doing heat loss calculations there is a factor for people and appliances.
But yes that’s pretty good.

But technically in an isolated living room, overnight, none of this should play, or play a minimum.

 

[Don2222]

It is getting chilly in the evenings, but I'm really surprised at how well the house holds heat. Just want to see if my expectations are on target.

Last night at 9:00 it was 73* in the living room. Overnight the temp dropped to 43*...temperature in living room dropped to 71* by sunrise.

Does this sound good, bad, or about right? I'm thinking good, but can't remember how previous houses have compared.

Hello lukem

Well it is 11:27 pm here and the outside temp has dropped 44.6 Deg F and the Livingroom temp close to the outside wall is 70.3 Deg F. The Livingroom Temp on the T-Stat on the inside wall is 71 Deg F. See pic below:

Where were your measurements taken in your livingroom?

I will save the low temp inside and outside tonight.

 

[lukem]

Living room temp measured on inside wall right by t-stat.

 

[Don2222]

Living room temp measured on inside wall right by t-stat.

Hi Lukem

Ok, now we have equal measurements.

So the Low Temp outside this morning was 39.4 Deg F and the Temp in the Living Room near the outside wall was 64.9 Deg F so about 66 Deg F on the interior wall. Which was fine for us for sleeping, no need to turn any heat on last night!


We have a split entry house with a walkout basement and the basement low temp was 68.4 Deg F. I also record the attic low temp witch is above the insulated attic floor. So the attic low temp was 47.3 Deg F last night

I think recording the attic temp which is inside but above the insulation helps to see how the insulation is performing. So if the living room low temp was approx 65 Deg F and and the attic low temp was 47.3 we would have really needed to turn on the heat if there was no insulation

So the R53 insulation in the attic is saving approx 18 Deg F of heat loss. That is good! Can you measure that?

That is a good rule of thumb that inside a cabin or uninsulated structure, the temp diff is about 10 degrees warmer except for my old friend's ancient metal trailer home. If it is freezing outside it is freezing inside with no heat!!

So what style home do you have and do you monitor other temps to check heat retention?

 

[lukem]

I don't really measure any other temps. This is a brick ranch with partially finished below grade basement.

I'm just trying to get a feel for how well/poorly insulated this house is. Hard to do that when the stove is running.

 

[Don2222]

I don't really measure any other temps. This is a brick ranch with partially finished below grade basement.

I'm just trying to get a feel for how well/poorly insulated this house is. Hard to do that when the stove is running.

Hi

Yes, ranches seem to be a little warmer than a split because they are lower to the ground. I do not have my stove running yet because it would be too hot.

What heat setting is your stove running on?

I have found that any additional amount of insulation you can add to that attic floor space is worth every penny. Does not cost much if you can do it yourself.

I ripped out the R7 and added 2x2s to the 2x4s to make 2x6s then air sealed it with R4 foil.
Then rolled down R19 Faced Fiberglass, then Criss-Crossed it with Unfaced R30 Fiberglass ! Difference is Huge!
See pic below! Old stuff on Right and new stuff on left!

 

[lukem]

Stove isn't running during the measurement...that's what made it interesting to me...how warm will the house stay all by its self.

 

[Swedishchef]

Sounds like the house holds heat well. Something you must consider are sources of heat before you go to bed. For example: was the oven on? How hot was it outside? How many people in the rooms before bed, etc. I find that in my house, this makes a difference. If it was a warm day, the thermal mass of the inside of my house (lots of windows) tends to keep things warmer for longer.

Usually my house is 70 degrees and if we didn't use the oven, stove, etc. it will drop to 66 by the AM (from 10 PM to 6:30 AM). If we have people over and the oven going until late in the evening, the temp tends to drop much slower.

Either way, I think you are well insulated!

Andrew