I'm struggling with how cold my kitchen is. It has three exterior walls and windows or a French door on each, making it feel pretty chilly in the mornings. I rely on my solar system and new heat pumps for warmth, and we also have a fireplace nearby in the family room, but I end up having to use fans to push the hot air into the kitchen. The rest of the house is older, built in 1871 from stone, while the family room is a concrete block addition from 1977. The kitchen part that was built more recently is wood frame, insulated, and done up with fiber concrete over stucco. Even with all this, it feels like I need to dress like it's freezing outside just to stay warm in there! This morning, it started at 62°F and barely made it up to 67°F by bedtime. I was thinking about getting some cellular shades to help—any other ideas? Thanks for your help!
3 Answers
Have you checked what’s under the kitchen? If it's a dirt crawl space, that could be part of the problem. It might be worth looking into your flooring as well.
Could it be that your fireplace is actually cooling your kitchen due to convection and air leaks? If the thermostat is influenced by the fireplace, it might be causing the heat pump to turn off too early. You might want to evaluate the airflow in the kitchen too—there could be an issue with that.
A quick fix could be getting a space heater! Those electric radiators can really help bring up the temperature without much fuss. PS: I’m jealous of your awesome house!
That does sound like a good idea, but I’m not sure where I’d even put it in the kitchen. 🙂
Yeah, it’s actually a Mexican tile floor over a 12-15" dirt crawl space. So maybe that’s letting the cold seep through?