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October 16, 2007
Heating question
Hi, I'm reposting hoping there's someone with ideas that missed it previously.
Hi, last winter I noticed the new construction extension is much colder than the original apartment. The thermostat is in the original apartment area.
I'm not sure if it's something wrong with the baseboard heat vents, the insulation on the walls, the pipes running to the baseboards or something completely else.
Any idea how I could figure out what the problem is as a first step to solving the problem?
Comments
Woldn't it be better if the thermostat were in the coldest part of the house... hey, Master Plumber, where are you? we need real answers!
I remember reading something about your type of problem... and the solution had something to do with "zoning"...
Posted by: bren at October 16, 2007 5:59 PM
Might also have something to do with whether or not your addition is built on a slab of concrete, or has the cellar been extended out as well. Warm(er) air rises from the cellar space in the rest of the house, as opposed to rising damp cold air coming up from the ground without the large buffer of the cellar space to warm it up.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 6:21 PM
Bren is right. If the thermostat kicks in at 70 degrees in the other part of the apartment, that means it's probably only 65 degrees or so in the new addition, if it's drafty. First, is the heat coming on at all? If not, obviously it's the baseboards. If the heat works, but is not warming the area enough, it could be a number of things...not enough insulation, not a big enough heater for the area, windows that need caulking, etc. You'll just have to narrow it down. If it's too much of an issue to deal with immediately, you can always pick up an electric heater to temporarily supplement.
Posted by: rh at October 16, 2007 7:40 PM
This is often a problem when adding on to old construction. Let me guess: The extension has 3 exposed walls (walls not attached to an adjacent building) and a ceiling that stops somewhere after the first or second floor. Glass everywhere. A little, tiny radiator because you couldn’t spare the wall space and the whole thing is supposed to be in sync with the rest of the 120-year-old wood and masonry building.
The good news is: There’s a way to make this work. The bad news? You didn’t do it when you had the walls open.
If I’ve guessed it right, the room has a thermal gain, and loss, that is completely inconsistent with the rest of the building. The room needs to have its own heat source or a zone of heating that works independent of the rest of the system.
To provide a long term solution a qualified designer would need to get a bit more information like "What type of system is currently in place?" and "How many BTUs does the room require?"
Stuff like that.
Posted by: Master Plvmber at October 16, 2007 8:19 PM
We had exactly the same problem. Our extension has 3 exposed sides while the rest of the apartment is part of an attached house (ie.attached to neighboring houses on both sides). Hence the rest of the apartment is not exposed to as much cold as the extension and is more able to retain heat.
We had to install larger radiators in the extension. Also, where we could, we covered the pipes running to the extension with foam sleeves to help them retain heat.
Posted by: das at October 17, 2007 2:51 AM
OP here.
I think I need a pro to come take a look and evaluate. What kind of pro would you recommend?
I bought the place after the extension was put in. It goes the full 4 floors of the building but each of us has the same cold bedroom problem. The whole building is detached and the extension is over ground while the original is over a cellar.
But since all 4 floors have the same colder zone I think it's more the materials used in the extension and the larger window/wall ratio.
The baseboards are long and run along the interior wall, not under the window since that's where they put the a/c sleeve. So it doesn't seem to be that they're too tiny.
Many many thanks.
Posted by: guest at October 17, 2007 10:40 AM
It sounds like they didn't insulate enough. Before calling anyone, you can poke some holes in your walls to see what's going on. I'm assuming it's sheetrock, so you can cut it w/o doing too much damage. I don't want to make you nervous, but the main concern would be freezing pipes.
Keyspan does an energy audit, but I'm not sure if they could detect the problem. It doesn't hurt to do, though!
http://www.energyguide.com/ha/welcome.aspx?referrerid=150&sid=461_all.jsp
Anyway, not to worry...you can blow in insulation. We rented the machine and did it ourselves, but you can find someone to do it for you.
Posted by: rh at October 18, 2007 12:43 PM
Thanks rh. I have the insulation information in the offer so I can see if we can improve that. But the responses make me wonder if the baseboards are putting out enough heat (functioning as they should) or if we're losing heat.
Posted by: guest at October 19, 2007 10:35 AM
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