Furnace/heat solution?
Monday, 21 January 2008 09:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fatrockstarNew insulation in the attic and the surrounding underfloor.
New furnace.
New thermostat.
Uncomfortably warm temperatures inside my home.
A gas bill that has doubled from the same time period in the year prior.
The furnace rep came out and gave everything a good look. Nothing is wrong with the furnace itself and the installation of it was solid. He could find no gas leaks. Inside he tried to suggest that by having vents closed it was distorting the thermostat readings, something I shot down quickly because the rooms with closed vents also have closed doors, which restricts cold air flow from those rooms. He walked around the house one more time to take temperature readings. His hand thermostat was consistent until he put the sensor up close to the the one on my wall -- a 10 degree discrepancy. Interesting. He opens up the thermostat to find that the installer had widened the hole in the wall to pull the new wiring through (standard procedure) but the wall itself was not insulated. Cold air was blowing out of the hole into the chassis of the wall thermostat and telling the temperature gage it was colder than it really was.
I didn't experience the extreme temperature changes until after Garret moved out because that wall is shared with the office's closet wall. With that closet full, and the entire room warmed up by computers and other home electronics the air blowing out of that hole was anything but cold. Without that variable, the air blowing through my walls is a bit chilly.
Local temperatures dropped below 30 last night, making this morning very uncomfortable. They won't get much warmer than that for the rest of the week. Instead of paying the young man who came to find the problem $200 (house call fee + 1 hour minimum of labor) I opted to take care of the matter myself. All he was going to do was seal the hold with silicone and cardboard -- I can do the same for less than $5. There's a temporary seal in there now made of duct tape and cardboard. The furnace is back on. We'll see how things go over the next day or two.
But it was definitely not the vents, and sadly not a warranty issue -- even though enlarging the hole in the wall was the main problem.
New furnace.
New thermostat.
Uncomfortably warm temperatures inside my home.
A gas bill that has doubled from the same time period in the year prior.
The furnace rep came out and gave everything a good look. Nothing is wrong with the furnace itself and the installation of it was solid. He could find no gas leaks. Inside he tried to suggest that by having vents closed it was distorting the thermostat readings, something I shot down quickly because the rooms with closed vents also have closed doors, which restricts cold air flow from those rooms. He walked around the house one more time to take temperature readings. His hand thermostat was consistent until he put the sensor up close to the the one on my wall -- a 10 degree discrepancy. Interesting. He opens up the thermostat to find that the installer had widened the hole in the wall to pull the new wiring through (standard procedure) but the wall itself was not insulated. Cold air was blowing out of the hole into the chassis of the wall thermostat and telling the temperature gage it was colder than it really was.
I didn't experience the extreme temperature changes until after Garret moved out because that wall is shared with the office's closet wall. With that closet full, and the entire room warmed up by computers and other home electronics the air blowing out of that hole was anything but cold. Without that variable, the air blowing through my walls is a bit chilly.
Local temperatures dropped below 30 last night, making this morning very uncomfortable. They won't get much warmer than that for the rest of the week. Instead of paying the young man who came to find the problem $200 (house call fee + 1 hour minimum of labor) I opted to take care of the matter myself. All he was going to do was seal the hold with silicone and cardboard -- I can do the same for less than $5. There's a temporary seal in there now made of duct tape and cardboard. The furnace is back on. We'll see how things go over the next day or two.
But it was definitely not the vents, and sadly not a warranty issue -- even though enlarging the hole in the wall was the main problem.
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21/1/08 18:39 (UTC)no subject
21/1/08 19:20 (UTC)