All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:33:31 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Close the windows

wrote in message
...
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Anything is possible, including the heating unit being undersized for the
building

wrote in message
...
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Couple of possibilities. Heaters are designed for a certain temperature
rise across the coil or heat exchanger. If the leaving air is above the
entering air by the correct degrees, the heater is running properly.

Next is wind chill. The wind chill factor does not apply to inanimate
object, only or skin where evaporative cooling makes us feel colder than the
actual temperature. Wind will though, chill a house faster if there are
leaks, poor windows, defective door weather striping etc. Check all of that
stuff. Even a simple fix like a towel rolled up against a leaking door
threshold helps.

Next factor is the design of the heating system. At some time the builder
should have run the calculations of how much heat is required to keep your
house at the design temperature under severe conditions. If -10 is the worst
it ever gets there, it is about the limit of the system. If you often get
say, -25, your system was not sized properly and should have been larger.

Fixes include adding more insulation and possibly some supplementary heat.
Even baking cookies is a good idea on a day like this as the oven will add
some heat to the house.

You did not say what type of fuel you have. Oil burners can be de-rated by
putting in a smaller nozzle. If you have oil, be sure you have the
appropriate nozzle for your burner.

RBM wrote:
wrote in message
...
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Anything is possible, including the heating unit being undersized for the
building


Hi,
Or house has poor insulation, or it could be as simple as dirty air
fiter if it is force air furnace. Here, it's been -30C with windchill of
-40C or so last two weeks. Our furnace has been running more than
usual but keeping indoor temp. at constant 21C.

the low for sac city was -4. but beside that, i'd say you might have some
serious air leaks. I'm sitting in a totally uninsulated house with no
interior walls and I'm maintaining 65 with a properly sized (for insulated)
system.

steve


wrote in message
...
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
Hi,
Or house has poor insulation, or it could be as simple as dirty air fiter
if it is force air furnace. Here, it's been -30C with windchill of -40C
or so last two weeks. Our furnace has been running more than usual but
keeping indoor temp. at constant 21C.

I've only ever seen it get close to that once in 27 years here in CT but the
house was still comfy. Tomorrow my new boiler is being installed and
tomorrow night will be a good test. Prediction is 5F (-15C) overnight.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Couple of possibilities. Heaters are designed for a certain temperature
rise across the coil or heat exchanger. If the leaving air is above the
entering air by the correct degrees, the heater is running properly.

Next is wind chill. The wind chill factor does not apply to inanimate
object, only or skin where evaporative cooling makes us feel colder than
the actual temperature. Wind will though, chill a house faster if there
are leaks, poor windows, defective door weather striping etc. Check all
of that stuff. Even a simple fix like a towel rolled up against a leaking
door threshold helps.

Next factor is the design of the heating system. At some time the builder
should have run the calculations of how much heat is required to keep
your house at the design temperature under severe conditions. If -10 is
the worst it ever gets there, it is about the limit of the system. If you
often get say, -25, your system was not sized properly and should have
been larger.

Fixes include adding more insulation and possibly some supplementary heat.
Even baking cookies is a good idea on a day like this as the oven will add
some heat to the house.

You did not say what type of fuel you have. Oil burners can be de-rated
by putting in a smaller nozzle. If you have oil, be sure you have the
appropriate nozzle for your burner.


If the windows are old or drafty you could cover them with plastic. Also one
of those electric oil filled heaters that look like a radiator might help...

On 2008-12-21, wrote:

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

A heating system should not be designed to maintain the set point 100%
of the time. Instead it should maintain the set point, say, 99.5% of
the time. Otherwise, that extra capacity that you installed to get
from 99.5% to 100% would only be used 0.5% of the time, which is not
cost-effective.

So if your heater is only outpaced once every two years, there's no
problem with the sizing. Others have mentioned ways to reduce your
house's heat loss, which would decrease the frequency that your
current heater is outpaced by the cold weather.

Cheers, Wayne

Next factor is the design of the heating system. *At some time the builder
should have run the calculations of how much *heat is required to keep your
house at the design temperature under severe conditions. If -10 is the worst
it ever gets there, it is about the limit of the system. *If you often get
say, -25, your system was not sized properly and should have been larger.

Windchill applies to any object, but not the same way. It draws heat
faster out of anything the creates heat.... but only down to the true
air temperature, not below it.

Mark

The Wind Chill Factor was designed to measure how cold blowing air
feels on bare skin, and if I remember right the folks who originally
created it just took a bunch of military recruits and blasted cold air
at them and asked a lot of questions. It's not very scientifically
accurate but it's better than nothing when deciding how much clothing
to wear on a cold day.

As others have said, if a house is poorly insulated and/or has a few
leaks, wind will cool the house down much faster. It's pretty easy to
walk around a house on a cold, windy day (try it barefoot) and see
where the air leaks in. It's pretty cheap and easy to caulk gaps, to
put (or replace) weather-stripping in the windows and usually not that
much work to unroll some extra insulation in the attic (Home Depot has
been selling 25 feet of R-30, which is a lot of insulation to add, for
around $16 a roll).

Oh, and if you have closets on outside walls, keeping the doors closed
with help a bit since closets rarely are heated except for what comes
in from the room. Though you might want to take out your clothes the
night before so they're warmer when you get dressed in the morning.

I assume you made sure that all the vents are open...

Shaun Eli
www.BrainChampagne.com

On Dec 21, 10:33*am, wrote:
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. *This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). *Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? *The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Now tell us when was the last time it was serviced, by anyone.

On Dec 21, 2:16*pm, ransley wrote:
On Dec 21, 10:33*am, wrote:



All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. *This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). *Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? *The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

Now tell us when was the last time it was serviced, by anyone.

It was serviced about a year ago.. They installed a new blower and
checked everything out while they were in there.

On Dec 21, 12:43*pm, "Steve Barker"
wrote:
the low for sac city was -4. *but beside that, i'd say you might have some
serious air leaks. *I'm sitting in a totally uninsulated house with no
interior walls and I'm maintaining 65 with a properly sized (for insulated)
system.

steve

wrote in message

...



All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. *This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). *Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? *The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"I'm sitting in a totally uninsulated house with no interior
walls ..."

Why?

had a new blower furnace motor installed and it wouldnt heat
house. he hooked heat side of it to the low speed wire,needed to be on
the med speed motor wire.

----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:33:31 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.



What kind of system. One time this might be normal is if the system
is a heatpump with electric heat strips as backup. Our old unit would
let the heatpump take care of things until the indoor temp dropped
about four degrees below the setpoint on the thermostat, then it would
kick in the heat strips. If you are running a heatpump in this sort
of cold, switch it to emergency heat (the heatpump is wearing itself
out for nothing) and turn up the temperature until it reaches
something comfortable, ignoring what the thermostat setpoint shows.

137 yo farmhouse ripped down to studs and in progress. got tired of
freezing in the fifth wheel. been in it for 2 years and we finally got the
bath and kitchen functional in the house.

steve


"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...


"I'm sitting in a totally uninsulated house with no interior
walls ..."

Why?

On Dec 21, 1:01*pm, Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2008-12-21, wrote:

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. *This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). *Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? *The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

A heating system should not be designed to maintain the set point 100%
of the time. *Instead it should maintain the set point, say, 99.5% of
the time. Otherwise, that extra capacity that you installed to get
from 99.5% to 100% would only be used 0.5% of the time, which is not
cost-effective.

So if your heater is only outpaced once every two years, there's no
problem with the sizing. *Others have mentioned ways to reduce your
house's heat loss, which would decrease the frequency that your
current heater is outpaced by the cold weather.

Cheers, Wayne


Exactly what I was thinking. If it rarely gets down to -10 with
high wind, then having the furnace sized to handle a max 74 deg temp
differential sounds reasonable. At my house that would equate to
keeping it 70 inside, with it -4 outside. Here, I haven't seen that
low of a temp in decades.

If it does get that cold frequently and you want it to be warmer, you
probably need a larger furnace. But with that comes increased cost,
both upfront and potentially operating cost as well. Before I worried
about that, I'd carefully check insulation, ducting, widnows/doors, etc

On Dec 21, 10:33*am, wrote:
All,

Last night, the temp here in Iowa dipped down to around -10 with a -35
degree windchill. *This morning I noticed the temp was about 4 degrees
off of where I had the thermostat set (It was set for 68, but the
heater was running continuously to keep it at 64). *Right now, the
temp has risen to about -5 and the heater is running continuously to
keep the house at about 66-67 degrees.

When you look at the windchill, I think this is probably one of the
coldest days since I moved in 2 years ago.. Does this sound normal, or
could there be an air flow problem? *The amount of hot air coming out
the vents seems to be normal compared to warmer days.

Thanks,
Dan

With it that cold everyone was sucking Ng, you may of had poor supply
flow. To know get a load calculation, energy audit with blower door
test. Do everything recomended and cut your bill 50% if you have an
older home. Remember insulation code is minimum needed, the attic is
the cheapest and most effective start point.