It’s not enjoyable to come home to a cold house, especially in the winter and when you’re paying for it to be warm! If you’re wondering “why is my house so cold?” and your house is giving you cold shoulders, it’s time to figure out why the heat is turned on but the rooms are frigid. Hopefully, the solution is something less than a complete furnace replacement.
Poor insulation, a malfunctioning furnace, rooms with high ceilings, or a heating system that does not cover the entire house could all be contributing factors to your home being cold even when the heat is turned on. Each of these factors can make it difficult for your home to heat adequately. After you have identified the problem, you can figure out how to fix uneven heating.
1. Your Heat Isn’t Working
If you have your heat on and one or more of the following issues are true, your house isn’t warming up because of a heat supply problem:
- There isn’t much heat coming from the vents or radiators.
- Even with the heat on, the rooms remain freezing.
- Rooms at home are unusually cold.
While insulating your home from the cold outside helps to preserve the heat inside, the heat must first be delivered. We hope one of these options, which range from free to more expensive home improvements, works for you so you can figure out why your house is so cold even when the heat is turned on.
Repair any ductwork that is leaking.
Apply a smoke pencil to the gaps in your open ductwork, which may normally be accessed from your attic, garage, or basement. Seal the leak with foil-faced duct tape if the pencil emits any smoke. Remove any cloth-backed tape from the rest of the ductwork and replace it with foil-backed duct tape. Wrap all of your ductwork in R-6 foil-faced fibreglass insulation, trim to fit, and cover the seam with foil-faced duct tape to prevent heat from escaping simply by travelling through a cold house.
Rearrange furniture and open vents
Check all of the vents in your home to ensure that they are fully open in the rooms you want to heat. To heat your home adequately, vents must be unobstructed.
The same is true for radiator heat: if the airflow is obstructed, your heating system will have to work harder and less effective to keep your home warm. Airflow is unbroken and can flow in and around your rooms if long drapes and furnishings are kept out of the way of your heat supply.
An open-door policy
While closing doors is useful for concealing clutter and providing seclusion, it is inefficient for airflow. Allow cool air to flow out of the main area to impact the temperature reading in the house by leaving your doors open. Sealed rooms are a common cause of cold rooms even when the heater is turned on.
Every home is (or should be) equipped with ductwork that allows for efficient airflow. It’s built around the size and arrangement of your rooms, as well as their proximity to your heat source.
2. Your Furnace Should Be Inspected
A yearly furnace inspection by a professional technician is recommended by the HVAC service industry and manufacturers for a healthy, smooth-running furnace. Modern furnace warranties frequently require a yearly inspection, and if you neglect to do so, your furnace is more likely to break down suddenly.
3. Insufficient Heat Insulation
There are several ways for heat to escape the home, from frozen flooring to warmth-sucking windows, preventing your home from warming up. While newly built buildings are generally airtight, older homes and houses with aged materials may require more attention to make the most of their insulation during the winter months.
4. High Ceilings and Chilly Walls
It’s not fun to sit about in a frigid house that won’t warm up. Cold walls are often caused by a lack of insulation, which may be remedied by doing some work in your attic. Heat passes through drywall, and if your top wall opens into your attic, your heat will travel straight up, never to return. Usually, all you need is a board to fill the gap and some foam to seal it. Set your ceiling fan to fan air down and enjoy a warmer lower level from this unexpected option if you have one.
5. The Heating System Isn’t Enough to Heat the Entire House
Your heating system may be mismatched with the size of your property if the heat is on yet the house feels cold. This is especially true in homes with two stories and no zoned heating.
Your home is separated into at least two “zones” with zoned heating. For a two-storey home, this is often an upstairs and downstairs zone. You may then set the temperature of each zone in your home individually.
How can you tell if your system is the proper size?
There are a lot of things to think about. The temperature in your area, as well as the size of your home, play a role.
These two parameters might assist you in determining the number of British Thermal Units (BTU) required to heat your home. High ceilings, the number of levels in your home, the insulation, the energy efficiency of your windows, and the number of them are all aspects to consider.
6. Filters that are clogged
Filters that are clogged not only contribute to poor indoor air quality but also place a burden on your HVAC system, reducing its output and increasing your energy expenditure. Clogged air filters can make a house feel cold even when the heat is turned on.
Changing your HVAC air filters regularly is undoubtedly one of the most important maintenance activities that homeowners should perform. Clogged air filters, on the other hand, can cause irreversible harm to your HVAC system over time. The air filter traps lint, fibres, mould and mould spores, pollen, dirt, and dust, among other things. Heat will not pass through as effectively if such particles and impurities have accumulated.
Martens Heating & Cooling can help you with your heating needs
Make an appointment with a furnace repairman from Martens Heating & Cooling for heating service and benefit from our superior service and professionalism. We handle a wide range of home heating and cooling difficulties and would be delighted to turn your cold house into a warm home for the coming winter. Make an appointment for hvac services right now!