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bob syr wrote:
>
> In the late '40s a few experimental steel frame houses were built in
> Syracuse. I bought one of them in 1972. I could afford the heat bills
> at first, but through the years energy prices have risen and I can no
> longer afford to heat the place. New York State winters are long and
> cold. It's a small place, with one floor; about 900 sq. ft. My latest
> heat bill was $380. With no end in sight, my choice is clear . . to
> either sell the place or to add more insulation and try another winter
> next year. My fear -- loading it up with insulation will be expensive
> and possibly not reduce energy bills that much.
>
> Has anyone insulated a steel frame house, and then did the heat bills
> drop substantially? -- Bob Syr
You give no indication as to the current level of insulation in the
house. Steel frame or wood frame make little difference with regards to
insulation, either it's insulated properly or it is not.
Both wood framing and steel framing provide sizable thermal bridging and
consequent heat loss. Steel has a little better thermal conductivity
than wood, however it is much stronger and therefore usually used in
smaller amounts and wider spacing negating most of the difference in
thermal conductivity.
If the house was built in the 40s it's likely it was built with little
or no insulation and is desperately in need of insulating unless it was
insulated at a later date. If it is currently with little or no
insulation a good round of insulating and weather-stripping will save a
huge amount of money in a pretty short pay back time.
If the house has original single pane windows they would be the next
likely target after insulating and weather-stripping as they are going
to be the second largest heat loss area. You do not indicate the type of
heat, but if you've still got a '40s vintage furnace running, replacing
that with a newer model will likely get you at least 10% higher
efficiency and save you more money.
Insulating is not that expensive and in most cases is a reasonable DIY
job. The worse the current insulating state, the faster the pay back
will be.
Pete C.
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Re: steel frame house cold
