Does my heat run too much?

[bsaint]

Or is it in my head? 1200 sq ft two story home was built in late 40's early 50's in the Midwest. Forced hot air.

Today ambient temperature is 21* (with wind chill 5*)
Home set to 65*

The furnace runs for 7 minutes.
Its off for 8 minutes then I hear the thermostat click back on

The thermostat swing is about 2-3*.

Does all this sound right? There's always been a draft in the house but this year it feels worse.

The thermostat is an Emerson (not sure the model) but very popular in a lot of home. It was installed with new ac system in 2013. The furnace itself was not replaced.

 

[nehog]

...
Home set to 65*
...

I'd die at that temperature. We keep our house between 74 and 78.

I'd look for air-leaks as a starting point.

 

[Flatland Dave]

Old houses are not sealed well at all. Walls insulated? Basement or crawlspace cracks? Old windows?

Probably not a furnace issue.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

windows are the worst at air leaks and heat loss. doors too.

 

[bsaint]

Well the windows and doors are newer but most likely its something with the basement.

 

[James-W]

Some people prefer to have a person come out to their home and do some checking with special equipment. Basically the equipment can "see" cold areas in walls, around windows, doors, etc. They can then tell you where the cold air is coming into your home and once you know that you can do whatever it takes to fix the problems. You can start with the worst areas and get them done first because that will save you the most money in heating bills. You can continue to work on the cold areas as time and money permits until you have them all fixed.

 

[tdkkart]

Have you looked at the insulation at all??
Friend just bought a house that was built in the 50's, has a whole 2" of rock-wool insulation in the attic, side walls are an unknown at this point, but surely need insulation too.

Has the furnace ever been replaced?? Some installers will put in only "just enough" to get by, which means when your weather is at or below the "design temp" the calcs were done for, your furnace will run continuously.
Modern thermostats do have just a 2-3" delta, which in older homes will make the furnace run a lot.

 

[Falcon67]

You could probably benefit from a blower test. We keep it 68 here. We cut our cycling in winter by about 20% by sealing up air leaks and sealing ducts. It'd also be good to have someone scan the inside with a thermal camera. Our house is a 2001 and I know exactly where they cheaped out on the wall batts.

 

[larry_g]

If you live in a drafty house then this is about right. The house I grew up in was the same, no insulation, single pane windows, and loose fitting doors. We went through the house a couple of years ago sealing, insulating, upgrading what we could. Now a good fart in the morning warms it enough for the whole day now. Exaggerating a bit there but the comfort level of the house went up a lot and the heating/cooling cost dropped as well.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Jakkle5]

It's 5* and you're only running 50% of the time? You're doing well. If the system design point was 0* for that heating system, it should run 100% of the time at 0* to keep the heat set point at 68-70*. Running only 50% of the time shows you're well within normal run times for that temperature unless your system design point was -20* or something obscure like that.

 

[Mike007]

Sounds to me like your furnace is way oversized.

 

[JohnK007]

...... Now a good fart in the morning warms it enough for the whole day...

Oh now that is just plain golden! I have to remember that one!

 

[bsaint]

Okay thanks for the replies.

We rent but if there's an issue my landlord likes for me to make him aware of it.

 

[domain]

I agree with the oversized statement

 

[ishiboo]

I'd die at that temperature. We keep our house between 74 and 78.

I'd look for air-leaks as a starting point.

Wow.

My heat is set for 62 in the winter, Nest puts it down to 58 when I'm away and during sleeping hours.

Or is it in my head? 1200 sq ft two story home was built in late 40's early 50's in the Midwest. Forced hot air.

Today ambient temperature is 21* (with wind chill 5*)
Home set to 65*

The furnace runs for 7 minutes.
Its off for 8 minutes then I hear the thermostat click back on

The thermostat swing is about 2-3*.

Does all this sound right? There's always been a draft in the house but this year it feels worse.

The thermostat is an Emerson (not sure the model) but very popular in a lot of home. It was installed with new ac system in 2013. The furnace itself was not replaced.

As many have said, it sounds like it doesn't run ENOUGH at that temperature, being somewhat oversized. It's not a particularly big deal for you, but it was not the proper size.

What often happens is people replace a 80%, 60k BTU unit... with another 60k BTU unit. Makes sense, it worked before... right? Except the new furnace is 95%. And this has happened twice in the last 30 years, so the last one was probably a bit oversized too as people tend to go big.

I have two furnaces, one upstairs and one downstairs. I had a bunch of reputable quotes when I got a new furnace, and the BTU ratings varied by each one. In the end, I went with the higher BTU rating (they agreed that the lower was correct for the design temp) but went with a modulating furnace. In sub-freezing temperatures it runs basically continuously, which is what you want. But it may only be at 30% output most of that time. I like having the extra capacity as a buffer for really cold periods, and for a sudden warmup when getting home... and with modulating furnaces, as long as they're CLOSE to the "correct" size the extra BTUs are essentially a freebie since they only use them when they're needed. The upstairs is MUCH more comfortable and energy efficient.

 

[nehog]

Wow.

My heat is set for 62 in the winter, Nest puts it down to 58 when I'm away and during sleeping hours.

...

I'll admit the drugs I'm on do make me very intolerant to temperatures... Below 70 I'm literally shivering and shaking.

 

[DEnd]

Well the windows and doors are newer but most likely its something with the basement.

I'd say your looking at the wrong end of the house, unless you have ducts in the basement.

In the Winter the Stack effect is the main driver of air flow through the house. Heated air rises to the ceiling which creates + air pressure in relation to the outside air. This forces air out through cracks at or near the top of the house. By heating the air we also create a - pressure issue at the floor (in relation to the outside air) this draws in air through the basement and into the house.

The first step (unless it's really difficult to do) is to slow the air escaping out of the upper part of the house, this also slows the amount of air infiltrating the house from the basement.

Then worry about air sealing and insulating the basement. On the other hand if you have hvac ducting in the basement then you are probably better off focusing on the basement first, as you are mechanically creating pressure differences that contribute quite a bit to air leakage in the house.