This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a room
would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?


Tracy

"James Repetski" wrote in message
...
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a room
would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?


Tracy

Heat rises, doesn't it? The higher the ceiling the more the heat rises to
fill the space.

James Repetski wrote:
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a
room would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?

It depends - while heat loss is a function of room volume (among other
things), the slope of the ceiling doesn't matter. So if you compare two
rooms of equal volume - one with 11' ceilings against a room with a
linear 8' to 14' cathedral ceiling for example, the heat loss will be
the same.

Travis Jordan wrote:

...heat loss is a function of room volume

Nono. It's proportional to wall and ceiling surface exposed to the outdoors.

Nick

wrote:
Travis Jordan wrote:

...heat loss is a function of room volume

Nono. It's proportional to wall and ceiling surface exposed to the
outdoors.

A fine point, but one which I will concede willingly.

Travis Jordan wrote:
wrote:
Travis Jordan wrote:

...heat loss is a function of room volume

Nono. It's proportional to wall and ceiling surface exposed to the
outdoors.

A fine point, but one which I will concede willingly.

And I omitted....don't forget about the floor / slab.

Travis Jordan wrote:
James Repetski wrote:
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a
room would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?

It depends - while heat loss is a function of room volume (among other
things), the slope of the ceiling doesn't matter. So if you compare two
rooms of equal volume - one with 11' ceilings against a room with a
linear 8' to 14' cathedral ceiling for example, the heat loss will be
the same.

That's not exactly correct, but the OP is asking about keeping warm,
not heat loss. He's also not asking about which size room is easier to
heat. The only variable is the ceiling configuration.

Higher ceiling, more volume, more heat required to keep a person
warm...unless said person was bitten by a radioactive spider and spends
quality time scurrying around the ceiling.

R

James Repetski wrote:
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a
room would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?


Tracy

There are a lot of factors and construction details will make a big
difference.

I would say that in general there would be a little difference and it
will require more heat in the winter. You may or may not be able to recover
some of that with lower cooling cost during the summer.

Good construction will minimize the differences.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Mech Engineer on bowleing alley project talked about stratification..
As I understand it, if the air is introduced at a given level with
enough momentum / volume,
zones of temperature above and below are separate.
Is there an HVAC expert in the house?
TB

"James Repetski" wrote in message
...
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a room
would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?


Tracy

I had cathedrals in my last house some places were almost 20 feet high.
Summer time it seemed like the a/c worked longer than the previous house.
Bills were about the same. Winter was comfortable to me. I live in Phoenix
so the location your talking about would have a lot to do with the
situation.

Personally I will not have high ceiling again. Just to echoie for me.

This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a room
would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?

Heat rises, doesn't it? The higher the ceiling the more the heat rises to
fill the space.

So you need a fan up there to push it back down

Travis Jordan wrote:

...if you compare two rooms of equal volume - one with 11' ceilings
against a room with a linear 8' to 14' cathedral ceiling for example,
the heat loss will be the same.

Room A is 20x20x11, with 4400 ft^3 of volume and 2(20+20)11 = 880 ft^2 of
walls and 20x20 = 400 ft^2 of ceiling, ie 1280 ft^2 of heat-losing surface.

Room B is 20xL, with V = 20x8xL+2x1/2x10x6 = 220L = 4400, so L = 20, with
2(20+20)8 of walls + 2sqrt(6^2+10^2)20 of sloped roof + 120 ft^2 of gables,
ie 1226 ft^2 of heat-losing surface.

Room C is 20x20x8, with V = 3200 ft^3 and 2(20x20)8 + 20x20 = 1040 ft^2 of
heat-losing surface.

Nick

wrote:
/snip/
Good analysis, Nick....thanks.

Travis Jordan wrote:
wrote:
/snip/
Good analysis, Nick....thanks.

Playing at math to show that a larger room has more surface area is an
analysis...? More like a waste of time.

R

Travis Jordan wrote:

...if you compare two rooms of equal volume - one with 11' ceilings
against a room with a linear 8' to 14' cathedral ceiling for example,
the heat loss will be the same.

Room A is 20x20x11, with 4400 ft^3 of volume and 2(20+20)11 = 880 ft^2 of
walls and 20x20 = 400 ft^2 of ceiling, ie 1280 ft^2 of heat-losing surface.

Room B is 20xL, with V = 20x8xL+2x1/2x10x6 = 220L = 4400, so L = 20, with
2(20+20)8 of walls + 2sqrt(6^2+10^2)20 of sloped roof + 120 ft^2 of gables,
ie 1226 ft^2 of heat-losing surface.

RicodJour wrote:

Playing at math to show that a larger room has more surface area is an
analysis...? More like a waste of time.

Some earlier RicodJour seems to have contradicted you... :-)

Article: 723407 of alt.home.repair
From: "RicodJour"
Subject: Cathederal Ceiling
Date: 2 Jul 2005 16:52:21 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com

Travis Jordan wrote:
James Repetski wrote:
This is a dumb question, but if you put in a cathedral ceiling in a
room would it require more heat in the winter to keep the room warm?

It depends - while heat loss is a function of room volume (among other
things), the slope of the ceiling doesn't matter. So if you compare two
rooms of equal volume - one with 11' ceilings against a room with a
linear 8' to 14' cathedral ceiling for example, the heat loss will be
the same.

That's not exactly correct, but the OP is asking about keeping warm,
not heat loss. He's also not asking about which size room is easier to
heat. The only variable is the ceiling configuration.

Higher ceiling, more volume, more heat required to keep a person warm...

Nick