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Why can’t I get warm?
Construction Questions
By Menno Dueck
Is your house or commercial building hard to heat? Are you constantly adjusting the thermostat?
Yes, you may have an old, inefficient heat source, but before you start researching the latest and greatest heat products on the market, have you considered it might be the building itself that needs a boost in R-value (the ability of an insulating material to resist heat flow)?
Our 1970s bungalow never felt warm in the winter (or cool in the summer). Exterior walls were cold to the touch on the inside, windows were draughty, and when snow melted on the roof you could see the outlines of the rafters; definite signs of heat loss.
Most people think that changing to high efficiency windows is the first step in decreasing heat loss (and heat bills). Keeping in mind that windows cover a small percentage of the square footage of a building’s envelope, we opted to go after the main culprit, our house!
Air circulation in the attic was extremely poor. In fact, someone had blown in insulation right over the original plywood soffiting (which was now rotten). The original soffiting, along with the insulation over top of it, was removed; insulation stops and perforated aluminum soffiting was installed; and the old end-of-life shingles were replaced with metal roofing including full-length ridge vent. Phase 1 complete.
Phase 2 (done the following year) addressed increasing the R-value of the walls. Existing siding was removed and walls were strapped. Atlas 1 ½”rigid exterior wall insulation, foil on both sides, was added and to further increase R-value, walls were sheeted with ½” plywood. Typar weather resistant house wrap was attached, allowing the house to breathe, and new siding installed.
Addressing the main sources of heat loss in our house (attic and walls) has made an incredible difference to our comfort level. We kept the original furnace, set to only come on for an hour or two before we get up; the rest of the time we use a small infrared heater. Our house is cozy warm, our heat bills shrunk, and we’re cooler in the summer.
Phase 3, replacing our windows, is on the “to do” list.
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Menno Dueck, Ask Menno Consulting; Dueck Enterprises Inc.; DueckEnterprises.com
