Hello,
My partner and I have moved into an old two-story house and are freezing to death. It's 13 degrees in the kitchen and even colder in the hallway with the stairs to the upper floor (and where the computer is... brrr). Despite this, we have maxed out the heating options we have available (air heat pump and electric radiators). Over 53 days, we average 73 kW/h per day........
Since we are not using the upper floor yet, we thought of covering it to avoid the icy cold coming down from above. Here to my first question. How is this done most easily? I was thinking of buying an OSB board or similar and gluing on some foam insulation. The hole is rectangular with the dimensions 2800 x 730 mm and, due to a railing, the board must be supported by the short sides. The boards seem to be sold in the length of 2440 mm. Can I splice with brackets, or should I reinforce the board? Do you think 50 mm thick foam insulation is sufficient?
Otherwise, are there any general methods one can use to temporarily heat a house now during the winter without sending the electricity bill through the roof? Soon hanging thick blankets over windows and doors... starting to get desperate.
Thanks
My partner and I have moved into an old two-story house and are freezing to death. It's 13 degrees in the kitchen and even colder in the hallway with the stairs to the upper floor (and where the computer is... brrr). Despite this, we have maxed out the heating options we have available (air heat pump and electric radiators). Over 53 days, we average 73 kW/h per day........
Since we are not using the upper floor yet, we thought of covering it to avoid the icy cold coming down from above. Here to my first question. How is this done most easily? I was thinking of buying an OSB board or similar and gluing on some foam insulation. The hole is rectangular with the dimensions 2800 x 730 mm and, due to a railing, the board must be supported by the short sides. The boards seem to be sold in the length of 2440 mm. Can I splice with brackets, or should I reinforce the board? Do you think 50 mm thick foam insulation is sufficient?
Otherwise, are there any general methods one can use to temporarily heat a house now during the winter without sending the electricity bill through the roof? Soon hanging thick blankets over windows and doors... starting to get desperate.
Thanks
73 kwh sounds very little, I think? I assume you don't have a 50m2 house at least
No, but seriously, you should calculate at least 70w/m2, so for a house of, say, 150m2 you can expect consumption of about 10kwh.
Over a day that would be 240Kwh
The smartest thing in the long run would probably be a wood boiler or stove because wood is at least free if you have the time to deal with it.
No, but seriously, you should calculate at least 70w/m2, so for a house of, say, 150m2 you can expect consumption of about 10kwh.
Over a day that would be 240Kwh
The smartest thing in the long run would probably be a wood boiler or stove because wood is at least free if you have the time to deal with it.
That can't be right. That would mean you'd use 7200 kWh per month just for heating costs. We have a 70s house with direct electric heating and an air-to-air pump, and we usually use around 3000 kWh during December-February, and then it steadily decreases, and that's including household electricity with several computers always running, washing machine/dishwasher for 5 people, etc. Our house is 180 sqm.
I don't think it seems to match with 70W/m2 either. We're at about half that, and we still have a completely uninsulated house from 1935. The house is 110m2, the basement is 60 but only half is heated by radiators. So I calculated based on 140 m2. I tested using the electric heaters the other day, and the house averaged 5kW when it was between -10 and -12 outside. That gives rather 35W/m2, and that includes household electricity.
Decamber.
We live in a house from 1976. Moved in 4 years ago. The first year was a disaster with the electricity bill. So I understand you.
If you're going to seal the attic, use 100mm Styrofoam. Or build a frame from old moldings in the opening and fill it with plastic and insulation. Like a big bag.
On the ground floor, you can tape all the gaps in the windows (if you have bad weatherstripping, we did). In spring you should start by replacing the window strips. I found that dust strips (the kind you mount between the panes) help even more with insulation.
p.s. The pump you have, is it an L/L pump?
We live in a house from 1976. Moved in 4 years ago. The first year was a disaster with the electricity bill. So I understand you.
If you're going to seal the attic, use 100mm Styrofoam. Or build a frame from old moldings in the opening and fill it with plastic and insulation. Like a big bag.
On the ground floor, you can tape all the gaps in the windows (if you have bad weatherstripping, we did). In spring you should start by replacing the window strips. I found that dust strips (the kind you mount between the panes) help even more with insulation.
p.s. The pump you have, is it an L/L pump?
It may very well be true, there is definitely a difference between houses. My poorly insulated (not completely uninsulated though, at least has about 20 cm of sawdust in the attic, a few cm in the walls, and now 20 cm of ground insulation around the basement below ground) currently uses about 120 kWh per day. The house is 71 sqm + basement of 71 sqm, and is heated partly with waterborne heat (from an electric boiler) and an air-to-air heat pump.
Today we had ice in the inner corners of the basement walls (above ground), and some ice on the inside of certain windows and exterior doors.
Perhaps it's time to add insulation to the facade and base, improve ventilation/air circulation, and perhaps replace windows, what do you think?
Today we had ice in the inner corners of the basement walls (above ground), and some ice on the inside of certain windows and exterior doors.
Perhaps it's time to add insulation to the facade and base, improve ventilation/air circulation, and perhaps replace windows, what do you think?
kamilenski:
100 mm cellular plastic does not differ much in price from 50 mm (if you are going to use as little as I am), so it might be just as well. How well does cellular plastic glue adhere? Is it sufficient to glue some pieces together into one single piece that I can place over the hole, or should I glue everything onto a board like OSB or plywood?
Taping the windows was a good tip! Before the real cold snap came, I managed to seal some windows with P-profile strips and replace window locks on some. There are still several with visible gaps between the frame and sash, so putting some strips of masking tape can probably do the trick!
By the way, I nailed shut a double window upstairs that had brutal gaps. It felt really good to put up the masonite boards, but it looks far from beautiful.
The pump is air-air yes! A Panasonic HE9GKE. Works perfectly when it's warmer than -15, but now that we have -25 here in Mälardalen, it's completely still.
100 mm cellular plastic does not differ much in price from 50 mm (if you are going to use as little as I am), so it might be just as well. How well does cellular plastic glue adhere? Is it sufficient to glue some pieces together into one single piece that I can place over the hole, or should I glue everything onto a board like OSB or plywood?
Taping the windows was a good tip! Before the real cold snap came, I managed to seal some windows with P-profile strips and replace window locks on some. There are still several with visible gaps between the frame and sash, so putting some strips of masking tape can probably do the trick!
By the way, I nailed shut a double window upstairs that had brutal gaps. It felt really good to put up the masonite boards, but it looks far from beautiful.
The pump is air-air yes! A Panasonic HE9GKE. Works perfectly when it's warmer than -15, but now that we have -25 here in Mälardalen, it's completely still.
Yes, but there is a huge difference if it's -25 outside the wall compared to -10, the consumption surely increases 4-5 times, I'd guess? You can at least halve the consumption if you lower the indoor temperature from 23 to 18 on an annual basis, so small differences can make a big impact.
BiFuel said:
Bygg Max and others sell foam adhesive. If you use 100 mm CP, it should be able to support itself. Buy an IR thermometer and hunt for leaks with it. It should get better.
Feel free to write how it goes. Good luck!
Feel free to write how it goes. Good luck!
Nothing glued... I have wedged styrofoam boards in the stair opening. Used some small pieces by the stair railing. When the day's work is done, I try to put on a blanket as best as I can when closing it up. Our stair opening is admittedly no larger than 110x200cm... got the tip from an old carpenter to rather lay a blanket than some board material on the styrofoam...Decamber said:
I live in Gothenburg and have a two-story stone house from the 1930s, 110 sqm, heated with direct electric heating. Partially insulated with 45mm internally in the exterior walls. 200mm of mineral wool in the ceiling. During the worst winter months of January/February, we average about 80Kwh/day in pure heating costs =727w/m2. Annual consumption averages about 109Kwh/m2 = 30w/day.
We had similar issues with cold when we renovated the roof and for a large part of the winter completely lacked roof insulation. Solved it by placing a frost guard (construction heater) in a bathroom and then loosely covered the opening at the stairs with sheets of 100 cell plastic. Worked very well. The first floor had about +15 degrees and the second floor around 0 degrees.
We had similar issues with cold when we renovated the roof and for a large part of the winter completely lacked roof insulation. Solved it by placing a frost guard (construction heater) in a bathroom and then loosely covered the opening at the stairs with sheets of 100 cell plastic. Worked very well. The first floor had about +15 degrees and the second floor around 0 degrees.
PL 200 works well for cellplast