My house won't get warmer than 64....

[luvwinnie]

anyone else living in the FROZEN ZONE whose house won't warm up? It was fine Mon-Wed, but now it's been too long.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Yep. it's finally become bearable in here. And right now that's not good because it's warming up outside and instead of snow we're getting ice and sleet.

 

[LoraJ]

Luvwinnie,
I just had a similar post and problem.

Is heat coming out of your vents or baseboards?

My place finally got up to 68 degrees. Slowly warming up since the guy bled my pipes this morning. But since it is very windy, there is a draft coming in from my air conditioner so it may take a while to get warmer. Heading to sears tomorrow to try and find a cover for the AC. I may try and drape a towel over it now but I don't think I have any duct tape.

Are you getting drafts in the house too?

 

[Jison]

Make sure the filter is new....even if you changed it recently....change it again.

 

[FINFAN]

I feel for you...ours is also that cold, but because we are choosing to, our heating bill is gonna be outrageous and need to cut back.

 

[always quiet]

We went through this exact thing this morning! The thermostat was set at 70º, but the house wasn't past 67º! My oven needed to be cleaned so I set it to self clean and that finally warmed it up! Maybe we'll be baking later today as well!

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

wow it is a good thing you do not live in my house I keep my upstairs on 60 degrees. Drives my son crazy. Once he saw a newstory about how people living in subsidised housing were complaining because the heat was not on 68 but rather 62 and the landlord was being fined .They were taken to a tempory shelter. He said, " gee even people in the projects have warmer houses than we do" I replied," "they are not paying for it we are!"

 

[twinmomplus2new]

We had this problem with a fairly new furnace last winter. Do you have forced hot water by gas? ( BAseboards) we have had a Zone/spill valve break and be unable to open for that particular zone. So there was jeat everywhere but the floor that zone controlled.

 

[Cinderellagrl]

It's 70 degrees in my house. We have electric heat AND a coal stove. Normally the coal stove makes it really warm in here, but it's been so cold outside that it isn't as warm in here as usual. I'd hate to see what my electric bill would be like this month without the coal stove.

 

[DWhittles]

My heat is cranked up and can't go any higher and my windows leak so badly it's still freezing in here. My bedroom is 59 degrees. I'm sitting here with a spaceheater glued to my leg...

 

[Laz]

A similar problem happen to my brother. His problem was that snow had covered both his intake and exhaust pipes on the roof. If you have had a lot of snow, check you pipes for snow and clear them.

 

[joats]

Our house is so drafty and the windows let air in that we can't get our downstairs above 60 in this weather. The upstairs though is quite warm and can get too warm at times.

I think this cold weather for so long is just too hard on the house.

 

[UncleScrooge338]

As has already been posted, air infiltration is the greatest source of heat loss (leaky windows, doors, air conditioners). Next there may be a problem with the heating system (dirty filter with HVAC, air in pipes with hydronic, any number of variables with steam). Of course there is always the simple - mercury thermostat way out of calibration, heat registers partially closed, furniture blocking baseboard or registers, baseboard fins covered with dust or animal hair or carpet or flooring added without raising the baseboard so that the air gap on the bottom is blocked.

However you may have come up against the design temperature of your house. When a heating contractor estimates how much heat to install in a house he uses heat loss tables and bases the design temperature on the part of the country it is located in. For example, in the Bergen County area of NJ the design temperature is 0 degrees. That means that he should install enough heat to keep the house at 68 when it is 0 outside. However, if it drops to -10 outside for an extended period then the heating system will only be able to keep the house at 58! Most good contractors will do a heat loss and then add more heat to allow for furniture blocking baseboard, etc. The last thing we want is a customer to call and complain that we didn't install enough heat to keep them warm!

BTW - the thermostat is a simple on-off switch, not a gas pedal! Turning it up higher won't make it heat up faster.

 

[luvwinnie]

Thanks everyone. We gave gas with baseboard and yes, the baseboards are warm. I think it's mainly a problem of older windows. The house is fine until it is THIS cold for THIS long. My upstairs is 68. The kitchen which is an extension with vaulted ceilings is just 62. This is why Old Navy invented FLEECE....LOL