?need help insulating / finding cold spot / draft

[DigDog]

guys, i need some help here or i'm going to die. house = cold. heating on full blast, still freezing.

i have 5 windows and a door, and i have looked but i can't find where the f my hot air is going.

i have been thinking, maybe colored smoke? i have checked all 5 windows and i can't feel a draft on any, and the door has a little "step" in front specifically to block drafts. i'm going crazy. halp?

(i dont own the house. i can't do any major work in it, maybe silicon + mats tops)

 

[highland145]

Is the heater working correctly? New place for you? Insulation in the ceiling?

 

[Jeff7]

I've heard rumors that you can rent a thermal camera from.....places.
I'm not sure where though. Maybe a local HVAC place would have one available?



....or maybe just Home Depot or Lowes.
$150 deposit, and $75/day, or $53 for up to 4 hours.

If you do get one, be careful if using it on smooth, shiny surfaces, or metal. Smooth, shiny surfaces can reflect some of whatever's behind you. Metal surfaces can be very reflective. Aluminum and copper are good reflectors in infrared wavelengths. Copper can be used for IR mirrors.
If you need to get a rough idea of a metal's temperature, stick some regular scotch tape (matte-finish, not gloss) to it and measure the tape.

From the inside, check the walls for cold spots. Then have a look at the house from the outside for heat bleeding out.


If you've not used one before, set aside some time to play with it.
These things are really neat, at least I think so. They can show very small differences in temperature.
They're not high-res though. That Home Depot one is low-res, even for thermal cameras. 120x120 pixels. It beats the hell out of an IR thermometer though, like comparing a camera to a really good stick.

If it's partly cloudy, point it upward. The clouds will be pretty cold, but the blue sky will be much colder, possibly below the limit of the camera.

If you're pointing the camera at anything hot, you might find that a lot of hot things seem to have the same temperature. Not quite. The camera's also got an upper limit.


(I've got a mid-range IR camera at work. They're fun. It opens you up to a whole part of the spectrum that's otherwise invisible.)

 

[Imp]

Is the heater inadequate?

Borrow an infrared camera. Or use it as an excuse to buy one... you can get a cheap model for under a grand now. Renting's pretty insane, last I checked it was like a grand to rent a good model for a month here.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Are the windows double paned?

 

[Strk]

Is the heater inadequate?

Borrow an infrared camera. Or use it as an excuse to buy one... you can get a cheap model for under a grand now. Renting's pretty insane, last I checked it was like a grand to rent a good model for a month here.

A lot of utility companies will do an audit of your house for free and do all that stuff for you.

 

[highland145]

Are the windows double paned?

IIRC, single pane=R1, double=R2. About the best is R5, triple pane/arg/film....

I'm blaming the heater or no insulation in the ceiling.



And keep in mind he's in Scotland.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

IIRC, single pane=R1, double=R2. About the best is R5, triple pane/arg/film....

I'm blaming the heater or no insulation in the ceiling.



And keep in mind he's in Scotland.

Windows are the number one source of heat loss.

 

[highland145]

Windows are the number one source of heat loss.

No doubt but heavy curtains are probably better than going from a R1 to a double pane R2.

Aside, we have white blinds in the living room and dark in the den. Same outside wall. During the summer the dark, duh, are 5 degrees warmer than the white, ie letting in more heat. Can't be helped. I'm not the decorator, just the installer.:\

 

[Elixer]

Is the air coming from the vents hot? If not, then furnace isn't producing hot air...which could be a thermostat problem, or...

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The old school solution is to tape heavy plastic over the windows.

 

[Humpy]

LOL @ Scotland the Brave. Just drink more ya big pussy.

 

[DigDog]

i am starting to suspect it is the entire house; walls, ceiling, floors. the boiler works, heaters are hot but not too hot to touch. i will try the incense stick trick tomorrow, see if i can find the culprit. otherwise i'm going to have to get a ton of carpets.

 

[highland145]

LOL @ Scotland the Brave. Just drink more ya big pussy.

Heh, Scrumpy Jack, FTW. Right Dig?

 

[DigDog]

i already drink too much. can't down a bottle every day and expect to live long.

 

[Jeff7]

Is the heater inadequate?

Borrow an infrared camera. Or use it as an excuse to buy one... you can get a cheap model for under a grand now. Renting's pretty insane, last I checked it was like a grand to rent a good model for a month here.

Why get it for a month though?
It shouldn't take more than a few hours to sweep the house with it

 

[Imp]

Why get it for a month though?
It shouldn't take more than a few hours to sweep the house with it

Store set the terms. You can return it same day but you be paying the same.

 

[NoTine42]

Boiler and heaters... Is this hot water heated radiators?
1) make sure they are clean (fins not dusty) and that air can naturally rise from bottom on up.

2) You may just need to bleed air out of the radiators:
http://www.diyonline.com/servlet/GIB_BaseT/diylib_article.html?session.docid=1484

 

[Ken g6]

the boiler works, heaters are hot but not too hot to touch.

What kind of heaters? Baseboard? Cast iron? Do you know if the boiler makes just hot water, or steam?

 

[DigDog]

the radiator close to the heater is quite a lot warmer than the one in the bedroom, 15 feet away; i'm pretty sure the boiler only makes hot water, not steam. it's a cheapo Ariston e-combi, and it looks like it maxes out at 90c.
i can't find the bleed valve either on any of the radiators. maybe there is one for the whole system?

btw, the windows do not feel particularly cold to the touch. they are also mostly double-glass.

 

[sdifox]

You have a leaky house.

 

[boomerang]

Or use it as an excuse to buy one... you can get a cheap model for under a grand now.

Yeah, so reasonably priced I got one for every room in the house so I wouldn't have to walk far when I needed one.

 

[Newell Steamer]

Start off by telling the cold spot / draft it is like every other cold spot / draft out there. Point out how it's a failure and no one respects it. Call it a joke and it won't amount to anything other than... oh... INSULATING.

I read it as insulting.

Sorry.

 

[mvbighead]

Yeah, so reasonably priced I got one for every room in the house so I wouldn't have to walk far when I needed one.

Honestly, if I was even considering a weekly rental from Home Depot as someone suggested (which runs $300), I would have a very hard time not justifying another $100 and just buying a lesser model from the same company:

http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-TG165-Sp...qid=1447934931&sr=8-4&keywords=thermal+camera

 

[boomerang]

Honestly, if I was even considering a weekly rental from Home Depot as someone suggested (which runs $300), I would have a very hard time not justifying another $100 and just buying a lesser model from the same company:

http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-TG165-Sp...qid=1447934931&sr=8-4&keywords=thermal+camera

I didn't explore the pricing but typically when I see under a grand I think $999. $400 is obviously well below that.

Your logic is sound IMO.