I have a question for you guys about whether or not we should continue heating our house during a remodel. Maybe we have to but I’d just like to know some of your opinions on the pros and cons…
We are doing a major remodel of our existing home which includes a large addition. We will not be staying in the house during the majority of the work. We will basically be tearing out almost everything in the existing house down to the studs except for a few things. The whole roof and exterior is staying. Also staying will be our existing furnace, some ductwork and our existing bathroom (including the plumbing).
We are located in Michigan and temps drop below freezing at night and sometimes during the day too. If we turned off our furnace completely I’m worried that our pipes in the bathroom would freeze. If we turned off the main water supply to the house would this eliminate that concern?
The alternative option is to set the furnace to 50-60 degrees or so. However I’m doubting the furnace will be able to keep the house to that temp with no insulation, drywall, etc. Also, if we run the furnace wont all the dust get into our furnace and ductwork. Maybe we should just avoid running the furnace during the demo work and turn it on once the majority of the dust from it has been cleaned up. Then I’m back to the question about even being able to keep the house warm enough with no insulation.
What do you guys think? Any thoughts?
Thanks! -Kacy
Replies
Your pipes will freeze. Drain everything after shutting the main. You should check with the plunber or the town about the possibility of the main freezing from not being used. I don't know if that will be an issue.
Once the house is closed in, your workers will love you if they can turn some heat on, even occassionally while working inside the house. Once insulated, I would say restore the heat with some guidlines as to its use by the GC or whomever.
The ducts getting dirty will be a problem. I know that you can seal of the grilles or openings, but then no heat will come out. Once the demo is done, change the filter at least once a week. Good cleaning habits may reduce the amount of dust sucked into the system. Vacuum, rather than sweep.
Eric
I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
We have a house we're working on now but not living in. I keep the temp set on about 45°. That way it's not too cold if I want to work over there, but doesn't run the heating bill up too much.
I definitely would have the water shut off if it isn't going to be heated.
Who's going to be doing the work? If it's a GC, they may have portable heaters they could use during the day.
If you're doing it yourself,you may want to have a bit of heat it make working there a little more tolerable.
Doing the house in sections would complicate the project a bit. But that would allow you to keep some insulation in somewhere in the house.
Cleaning the furnace and ductwork will probably just have to be a part of the whole process. Not running it won't keep dust from getting into it.
Hopefully some others will step in with some more thoughts....
Keep one around long enough and your gonna want to shoot it.
I'd say to keep the heat on as much as practical. You're likely to get better work from warm carpenters, and your new lumber will dry faster. Also, your drywall will be in better shape with central heat because the CO2 from portable heaters reacts with the mud and weakens it. To keep the ducts clean, check out the register covers by Protective Products, Inc., designed for use during construction.
andyAndy Engel
Senior editor, Fine Woodworking magazine
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If you turn the heat off, you must drain the pipes, or you will have a disaster on your hands. I also strongly suggest that you use compressed air to clean out all the lines, since draining will not remove all the water. Don't forget about humidifiers and AC coils attached to the furnace, as well as water containing appliances and the lines running up to them, such as filters, dishwashers and refrigerators. You should also put antifreeze in all traps (including toilets and floor drains). If you are on a septic system, you will need to use a type of antifreeze that will not destroy the organisms in the septic tank and field.
You should consult a plumber to see if the main will be affected. My plumber responded a house under construction last week that had a frozen main that had burst and was dumping water into the sump pit. If you are on a well, check with your well professional to see if anything needs to be done with that system.
As to the furnace and ducts, you will need to change the filters at least once a week, and expect to have the ducts professionally cleaned when the job is completed.
Good luck.
Thanks for all your advice so far. So basically everyone's opinion is that even if we keep the furnace on, it will not be able to keep the pipes from freezing once we tear out all the insulation (even though the house would still be all enclosed)? Or do you think the furnace would be able to heat the house sufficiently but just that our heating bill (natural gas) would be ridiculous?
The advice you gave about keeping pipes from bursting is great and we will follow it if we do decide to turn off the furnace for awhile. The only thing is my husband is semi-determined to keep the furnace going the whole time. I'm just not sure it will work sufficiently.
By the way, to answer a few questions...we are our own general contractor and hiring out 90% of the work. We only have forced air heat currently (no AC, no humidifier). Only 1 sink, 1 toilet, and 1 tub/shower will remain.
Thanks for all your help!
-Kacy
Whether the house will stay warm is a function of how tight the outer membrane of the house is, how cold it gets, how windy it is, and other factors. I would try to keep the heat on for the reasons mentioned above. If the home won't stay warm, you will need to take the precautions I outlined to protect the plumbing.
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With no insulation, the furnace will be hard pressed to warm the house, AND, you still run the danger of frozen pipes!!
so; no insulation=drain the pipes
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Two thoughts come to mind
If you leave the heat on take some
extra filters and secure them over the intakes of cold air returns
that way you'll be able to tell when they need to be changed,
than with the filter furnace you should be able to keep the dust
out of your heater. I suppose you could do the same thing
over supply lines to keep junk out. Just pay attention to air flow
direction and use the cheap ones for this(less restriction)
Also, you could leave the water trickling(running) with low heat
to keep the water moving. Of course I'm assuming water
is cheaper than natural gas.
As others have kind of touched on, try to get the demo and insulation done quickly. As soon as that is complete get the main heat restored.
It would be terrible to hear you back in a month with a huge moisture problem. All the new materials wood, sheetrock, joint compound, paint ... will add moisture to the space. They also need the heat to cure.
-zen
kc....
in a remodeling job .. you need heat
you need a dumpster..
you need toilet facilities
.. you can use your hot air furnace as the construction heat... it's more efficient that job heaters.. and you can turn it on or off as you see fit.. if it were hot water baseboard heat... i'd probably still use it as the job heat... but i'd have the plumber fill the system with anti-freeze..
job heaters are dangerous.. and costly to run.. and not very efficient.. i know , we use them all the time
for toilet facilities.. i'd rent a porta john for a month or so.. then you have to decide if you want to use yor bathroom as the job toiletMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Leave the heat on low, and the water connected. You will get better attitudes from the trades if they can use the indoor facilities, and some will need water for cleanup etc. Just factor in the cost of a good cleaning of the furnace when you're complete, and/or change filters every week. If you plan to instyall a new toilet and bath sink, wait until the very end so you don't have to worry about how the slobs will treat them. Leave the old microwave in plsace also ... makes for a nice place to heat lunch or coffee.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Marie,
methods of dealing with this vary with every house. Here is what I think I wqould do in your shoes.
You need water for things like the potty and paint cleanup. There is a point in every job when we can do without water for a month or so, if a portapotty is there. that might dovetaill with the worst of the weather for you, so you cn shut water down for safety for awhile. Then you would not be losing sleep over a draft possibly causing a freezeup.
Of course it would be the GCs job to assure that no freezeups happen by having somebody on things around the clock more or less - at least to close up and open and ride herd during the days.
Which means you are beginninig to see how a GC earns his money...
anyways, I would probably leave the water on since all the work to drain and add antifreeze is not really worth it for a month or six weeks. I would use polastic drapes to try to contain the heat to areas where the water lines are. You also need to establish rules of the house for the facilites. Words like, "If you painters wash out your paint brushes in my kitchen sink or bathtub, I will personally bite your head off, chew it up and spit it out on the freeway" are not really strong enough sometimes...
We have a furnace with plenum that we haul from job to job and hook up temporarily for job heat. We put a double reinforced paper filter on the intake and the guy who gets there first to start every morning also has the job of vacuming the filter each AM. On especially dusty days, we vac it twice. We change it as needed.
Keep the thermostat set about fifty at night. Boss mentioned 45 but if a draft lets itself in or the power goes off, there is more residual heat to coast on before the pipes freeze up.
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Kacy,
Heat is not necessary. Shutoff all plumping to everything expect one toilet and maybe a utility sink that you might want to use then wrap those pipes with heat tape. If you need a toilet you will have have to turn the water off when you are not using it and make sure the tank is empty and put a cup of RV antifreeze in the bowl before you leave.
We did this at my friends house that we worked on and never had a problem with freezing and as you can see from the pics everything was exposed.
Not exactly sure where you are located, but you have to be right around the same area as me if you were using Nagy for the concrete. My friends house is located in Harrison Twp. on the Clinton River.
As you can see from the pic this method was crude, but it worked fine.... and heating the house really wasn't an option as you will be able to tell from the photos.
Thanks for sharing the progress of your house. It's cool knowing that you are so close. I can't really tell what city your house is in, but if I had to guess I would say Shelby or Rochester Hills. Sounds like it will be a great house when you are all finished.... looks like you have a nice size lot too.
Good luck on your project and keep us posted.
~Chad
wow... sorry about that big file size. Let me try that one again.
I'm sure you are putting as much money as you feel you can afford into the job already, but what a good time to put in some alternative to hot air heat. With everything exposed a new heating system will never be easier to install. In my mind, just about any system is better than hot air.
oldfred