Window Issues

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

There should be a switch somewhere near you main thermostat in the house that turns the fan on and off, without kicking the furnace on. If not near the thermostat then check for switches in the basement near the furnace itself. And if somehow you don't have any dedicated switches for that, if you upgrade to a smart thermostat then it should be able to toggle the fan without engaging the furnace. I can turn my fan on through my Google Home app (Nest thermostat) and schedule it to turn off after a few hours

Ok... I think I found it on the Honeywell thermostat. I basically turned on the fan and turned off the system (toggle between heat/cool/off). I can hear the fan running. And since the system is off, no heat is being generated by the furnace.

[Barnes]

This is a new house, there wont be a wall switch to control the furnace fan it will have an HRV. The HRV control should be set to run constantly above a certain humidity level or just have it run all the time and turn off the humidifier completely. Try 10 min fresh air, 50 min re-circulate. Raise all the blinds at least a few inches.

HRV's aren't great at removing moisture despite what your homebuilder tells you they do, it's a Heat Recovery Ventilator, but it does pull some moisture from the air.

EDIT: To add... 34% is prob to high at this temperature and I bet your humidistat is probably off anyways. Mine is almost off by -10% from actual humidity. New houses have a tonne of moisture in them still so having the humidifier off and relying on your house drying out and just having your family breath would be sufficient enough to add humidity for the first winter. It was for me at least when it was this cold.

[GordonBlue]

This is a good example of why I like when people start a thread instead of just trying to get answers from google.

I learned something useful that I can use going forward.

[zzibradleyizz]

Here’s a little cheat sheet for you that is a good rule of thumb for most people without going deep into the science behind it all.




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[Barnes]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

This is a good example of why I like when people start a thread instead of just trying to get answers from google.

I learned something useful that I can use going forward.

It's pretty crazy how much houses have had to change as they get more and more efficient and the challenges that are a result. Over my adult life, I have experienced 4 completely different HVAC setups with new builds and the evolution of how they deal with getting fresh air in and the negative pressure that results from them getting more efficient and sealed up. Depending on the houses you live in and move to, one may go up or down these (and probably more) types of setups.

Mid 90's (parents new build) - Literally a vent and pipe to the furnace room that allowed fresh air to enter the furnace room whenever.

Early 2000s (parents house retrofit) - An electronic baffle on the vent that opened when the furnace fan activated to provide outside air.

Late 2000s (My first house) - An electronic baffle that was interlocked with exhaust fans and the furnace fan to provide outside air and deal with the negative pressure of the exhaust fans.

2017 ( My second house) - An HRV that is interlocked to the furnace fans and exhaust fans that provides fresh air, balances negative pressure, and recovers the heat from all he air that is exhausted so the house is no longer pulling in cold air directly to the furnace.

If you think about it, now that we are mostly home all the time, a household with 4 people home will add 4 liters of water to the air just from breathing a day. Add in showers, running the washing machine and dishwasher, cooking, pets and a crappy builder grade humidistat you can very quickly get to the point were there is too much water in the air and no system to deal with it other than the HRV in all but the newest of homes and even then, the moisture pulled from the air is a result of the heat exchange and not a primary function of the HRV.

[indes]

Again I appreciate the info guys! I set the HRV to 30% - the lowest setting yesterday and it seems to be helping!

I do have a follow up question about your newer houses, is your upstairs colder than your main floor? The main reason I was looking into the windows is that my upstairs is freezing! At 22.5 degrees on the main floor, my upstairs is 16-17 degrees and I have all the registers open.

I was considering hiring someone to check out the heat loss before my 1 year check up comes up in March.

Every house I've ever had is way hotter upstairs, so I'm not sure if it's a newer house thing, but both my kids have to have heaters in their rooms just to keep their rooms at 19 to sleep.

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[JohnnyO]

Turn down your humidifier.

I am always a day or 2 behind doing this and end up with the same problem.

I open the blinds up in the morning, clean up the water, run your bathroom fans or furnace vent fan, or even turn on a standing fan, basically move the airflow, which will clear it up before it starts to freeze on the glass.

The water will do damage to the window casing or any wood materials around it.

Best to stay on top of it.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by indes

Again I appreciate the info guys! I set the HRV to 30% - the lowest setting yesterday and it seems to be helping!

I do have a follow up question about your newer houses, is your upstairs colder than your main floor? The main reason I was looking into the windows is that my upstairs is freezing! At 22.5 degrees on the main floor, my upstairs is 16-17 degrees and I have all the registers open.

I was considering hiring someone to check out the heat loss before my 1 year check up comes up in March.

Every house I've ever had is way hotter upstairs, so I'm not sure if it's a newer house thing, but both my kids have to have heaters in their rooms just to keep their rooms at 19 to sleep.

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Upstairs is colder. I run the bonus room ceiling fan on the lowest setting, I find that makes a big difference in evening out temps.

If your basement is exposed I recommend sealing all the ducts you can get to with mastic (code) or aluminum tape (NOT DUCT TAPE) - which isn't up to code but hey it's better than nothing. Builders are supposed to do this but I've seen plenty of new houses where this hasn't been done.

Also adjust your vents, your first floor bathroom probably doesn't need so much heating. Same with your basement vents.

[indes]

Okay thanks! My last house was a bungalow with a pellet furnace in the basement and wood stove in the living room...in Castlegar BC so this has been a bit of a learning curve for me.

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[Sliver]

It's 100% about playing with your vents. Even if you are just closing a bunch of main floor vents half-way. Maybe some will be 3/4. You can get a totally even temperature doing this, though.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by indes

Okay thanks! My last house was a bungalow with a pellet furnace in the basement and wood stove in the living room...in Castlegar BC so this has been a bit of a learning curve for me.

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Nice. I stayed in a house in Victoria once and all it had was one split duct heater/AC unit lol.

[Fuzz]

Do you keep the bedroom doors closed? Are they carpeted? If there is no cold return in the bedrooms, and carpet is tight against the bottom of the door, you won't get much heat through the vents as the air needs an exit path.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by indes

Again I appreciate the info guys! I set the HRV to 30% - the lowest setting yesterday and it seems to be helping!

I do have a follow up question about your newer houses, is your upstairs colder than your main floor? The main reason I was looking into the windows is that my upstairs is freezing! At 22.5 degrees on the main floor, my upstairs is 16-17 degrees and I have all the registers open.

I was considering hiring someone to check out the heat loss before my 1 year check up comes up in March.

Every house I've ever had is way hotter upstairs, so I'm not sure if it's a newer house thing, but both my kids have to have heaters in their rooms just to keep their rooms at 19 to sleep.

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The heat differential is weird. I assume you only have a thermostat on the main floor? Are the Kid's rooms above the garage?

I would pop your head into the attic to make sure the insulation is spread out appropriately and there's a reasonable amount. Since you've had a lot of moisture in the air, look for ice building on the roof of the attic which would indicate warm, moist air leaking from somewhere.

For a new house, a 6 degree difference is not acceptable.

[DoubleF]

Are your windows properly locked? I think for those windows design, if the lock isn't turned correctly, it doesn't push down properly and there isn't a proper window seal.

In your pictures, I see those lock levers in all sorts of directions. Could this be contributing to cold air seeping into the upstairs from the outside?

I was also told that in the first year of home ownership, the home "sweats more" so there might be more condensation in the first year of ownership (if you haven't tried dehumidifying it with an AC) as the moisture from the inside begins to seep out and disperse. I have no idea if this is actually true, or if someone was pulling my leg, but I do seem to recall having more condensation and ice on my windows in the first year than later years.

Agreed on the comment about having the blinds open. Airflow helps a lot to keep the condensation at bay. Occasionally grabbing a fan and pointing it at the window to evaporate the condensation helps to reduce the work of wiping several times in a row. Instead you can point the fan and just wipe the accumulated water once.

Another thing to do is play with the vents on the main floor and close the ones you don't need as much and see if there's deflectors in the vents in your basement that can divert more air to different floors. The pressure to the top might be a reason for the differential. My old place was like 1-2 degrees difference. 6 is too much.

[indes]

Thermostat is on the main floor and everything is wide open, all the doors and I have a vaulted opening to the upstairs as well.

I just tried getting into the attic this morning but the hatch won't budge (I did take the screws out).

What a pain, I tried hammering it open and using a small pry bar. This is turning into quite the nightmare haha.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm going to keep trying to get to the bottom of this because I don't think my house should be this cold upstairs. I'll keep messing with vents too

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[puckedoff]

There's definitely a hobo living in your attic holding the hatch shut. Make sure you have that pry bar at the ready if you are able to get it open.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Semi-related question, we have French sliding doors on the back deck and I found out in the summer that the frame is warped when I had to get the screen doors repaired. The guy did the best he could but they'll never roll smoothly because of the warping. And now with the cold wind tonight I can feel a significant draft coming from those doors, which I'm guessing is also due to the warped frame. So what's the ballpark figure to get the whole thing gutted and replaced? I know I'm not going to like the dollar figure either way, just wondering if it's something we could budget for next year or if I'll just have to deal with a cold draft for a few years

[Shazam]

Around $2K for a good unit when I asked back in 2019.

I suggest you try adjusting the rollers on the bottom of the sliding door first.

[bossy22]

we used to have that happen in our master bedroom. Humidifier turned right down, fan going all day. Nothing fixed it. Finally got the windows replaced with triple pane. When they pulled the windows out they showed us how the builder installed the windows poorly. They had to replace some of the rotting wood. We were getting a lot of moisture just sitting there. Now we don't have any issues. Cost a small fortune though.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Ecobee Smart Thermostat for the win here. Properly installed, it will automatically adjust humidity levels based on outside temperatures.