JeffandSara
02-13-2005, 07:07 PM
Hey, all--
I know that in some of the other discussions about how warm a log house really is for colder climates, the concept of the "cold room" was mentioned. Just thought I'd give a quick update on our first couple of days' results with ours.
The side entrance of our house is through a tiled, unheated "mudroom" with laundry, freezer, etc. Day before yesterday, we finally hung the door that separates the mudroom from the kitchen. It's a 10-light (or is that "lite"?) french door, so nothing special. Just a simple barrier between the cold air that comes in as you come and go, and the heated part of the house.
We closed the door right away once it was hung, and immediately the temperature started to climb in the kitchen-- evidently because the heat from the woodstove that made its way to the rear of the house wasn't being "lost" in the mudroom? We set the thermometer in the mudroom, for a few minutes later in the day, and found that the mudroom temperature was 13 degrees colder than the other side of the door in the kitchen!!!
Now, it's been snowy here, but not particularly cold, and we've been heating inside, but just with a single woodstove at the opposite end of the house. So we thought that it was pretty impressive that we could keep so much cold out and keep so much heat in these adjoining rooms with just a regular old french door.
Since the rest of the interior doors are now hung, we're also trying to keep track of how much more efficiently we heat when the pantry and closet doors are also kept closed. First indications are that it's also a considerable difference. (Those doors are solid wood.)
Our house is an absolute box, so the mud room (cold room) is within our log walls, but with interior walls insulated for sound and paneled with 5/8" drywall, it's obviously still possible to retain much of the cold that gets into that room. I am happy that this has worked out well for our climate (lowest temps any year usually single digits), but I imagine that in a truly cold climate it would be even more important.
My mother is from New England, and she said that several of the houses she lived in had cold rooms, but I think that some were "outside the envelope" of the main house. We're very pleased to see that it works "within" the log "envelope" as well. (Though I never thought about it in designing this house, it just worked out well that our closet is above the mudroom, because that room DOES get some of the cold air from below because of the t and g flooring. I'm glad that it didn't end up being our sons' bedroom above it, as originally planned! Something to consider in the design process!!! :wink: )
Anyway, we're now true believers in the "cold room" concept. :D
Sara
I know that in some of the other discussions about how warm a log house really is for colder climates, the concept of the "cold room" was mentioned. Just thought I'd give a quick update on our first couple of days' results with ours.
The side entrance of our house is through a tiled, unheated "mudroom" with laundry, freezer, etc. Day before yesterday, we finally hung the door that separates the mudroom from the kitchen. It's a 10-light (or is that "lite"?) french door, so nothing special. Just a simple barrier between the cold air that comes in as you come and go, and the heated part of the house.
We closed the door right away once it was hung, and immediately the temperature started to climb in the kitchen-- evidently because the heat from the woodstove that made its way to the rear of the house wasn't being "lost" in the mudroom? We set the thermometer in the mudroom, for a few minutes later in the day, and found that the mudroom temperature was 13 degrees colder than the other side of the door in the kitchen!!!
Now, it's been snowy here, but not particularly cold, and we've been heating inside, but just with a single woodstove at the opposite end of the house. So we thought that it was pretty impressive that we could keep so much cold out and keep so much heat in these adjoining rooms with just a regular old french door.
Since the rest of the interior doors are now hung, we're also trying to keep track of how much more efficiently we heat when the pantry and closet doors are also kept closed. First indications are that it's also a considerable difference. (Those doors are solid wood.)
Our house is an absolute box, so the mud room (cold room) is within our log walls, but with interior walls insulated for sound and paneled with 5/8" drywall, it's obviously still possible to retain much of the cold that gets into that room. I am happy that this has worked out well for our climate (lowest temps any year usually single digits), but I imagine that in a truly cold climate it would be even more important.
My mother is from New England, and she said that several of the houses she lived in had cold rooms, but I think that some were "outside the envelope" of the main house. We're very pleased to see that it works "within" the log "envelope" as well. (Though I never thought about it in designing this house, it just worked out well that our closet is above the mudroom, because that room DOES get some of the cold air from below because of the t and g flooring. I'm glad that it didn't end up being our sons' bedroom above it, as originally planned! Something to consider in the design process!!! :wink: )
Anyway, we're now true believers in the "cold room" concept. :D
Sara