maurice wrote:

Hi.

I live in a 40 year old bungalow in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, up
north where the winters are very cold. I've got three forced air
furnaces in my house, one that heats the basement, one the main floor,
and one the addition. All of the furnaces seem to work just fine.
I've been in the attic, which is insulated uniformly with wood chips.
I will blow in some more insulation once I've finished some potlights
and wiring, but the insulation is likley adequate up there (the snow
on the roof doesn't melt any faster than the neighbours, and actually
a bit slower than most, which is generally a good sign).

The heat in the addition and the basement are just fine. However,
parts of the main floor are always cold, especially the living room,
which has some pretty big windows and, though it has three heating
vents, is the farthest room from the furnace. I figure it will always
be a battle to heat it.

Anyway, I am doing some work in the basement, and the ceiling is
mostly open during the reno. The previous owners insulated every
interior wall cavity in the basement, as well as the entire ceiling,
with fibreglass batts. They were musicians / music teachers, and I
assume they insulated everywhere more for sound than anything else. I
haven't removed the insulation, but it occurs to me that perhaps with
a warm basement, removing all of this insulation would make for a
warmer main floor?

Just wondering if anybody out there has any experience on this, or an
informed opinion? thanks in advance for your help.

Maurice

Hi,
Let me ask first what is your typical winter gas bill? You did not say
how big your house is. My fully developed 2 story house in Calgary built
in the mid-90's to my spec, runs on one furnace and winter gas bill is
~100.00. Very warm in winter and cool in summer inside this house.
Your house was built B4 the time of updated building code
insulation. Spend some money and do an energy audit, then you'll know
what you need to do most economically.