We purchased our home eight years ago, and the previous owners added an addition in the 70s. This space is about 500 square feet and includes our bedroom, bathroom, and sunroom, but there's no basement underneath it. After examining the outside, my husband discovered that there's insulation beneath plywood, but the floors are freezing in the winter. Living in New England, it gets brutal, especially with a kid and another on the way. We've piled up bath mats in the bathroom, and it feels like we should just install carpet instead! We need advice on how to make this addition warmer and retain heat. There's a heating zone with baseboards, and one suggestion was to install radiant heating mats under the floor. We also had a company inspect our home and seal some gaps, but they didn't have any concrete solutions for our addition.
2 Answers
It sounds like your addition might not have enough insulation. You could try adding more insulation to improve heat retention, but keep in mind that this might increase your heating costs since any heat will escape quickly without proper insulation.
I'm guessing your husband found a way to check for insulation from a crawl space or another access point? Insulating a crawl space is different than walls, but it's usually a DIY-friendly task. It’s worth getting quotes though, as I’ve found professional insulation can save more money in the long run. Have you checked if your utility company provides discounted energy audits? They can often do thermal imaging to pinpoint spots where insulation is lacking. Around here, it typically costs about $100 through utility programs.
There isn't a crawl space; it's directly exposed to the elements underneath. We have a door in our basement that leads under the addition, but it’s pretty cramped. We already did an energy audit, but they couldn’t offer any help for the addition itself, only for other parts of the house.