Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Extra heat needed, help

Hi all:

I have a bedroom that is too cold. It's about 10 degrees lower than my thermostat. It is the farthest away from the forced hot air furnace, and measures 22 x 13 with 8.5 foot ceilings. I just ripped up the rug and think it's a good time to consider radiant heating to get those last 10 degrees of warmth.

Any ideas of what to do?

Other info: there is no basement below, but a 3 foot crawlspace that is block and slab cement (IOW it is dry). There is insulation between the floor joists, but it is 50 years old, so in many spots it has dropped/ripped off. The floor is scrap T&G with plywood subfloor above. Total floor area: 300 sq ft. Heated by ducting: 3 feeders, and 2 returns.

I am thinking of radiant heating (electric or hydronic), perhaps electric baseboard, maybe even a small fireplace. Trouble is, it's a large area and poorly designed. I want to do this right and of course, not pay too much. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Theo

PS: I did try a heated ceiling fan, and that did not work. Search for my other posting today to read about those findings.

Id look at fixing the crawl space insulation and doing a heat load on the home to see if your unit is large enough to heat the space.

I don't think the unit is the problem. Other rooms warm up quick and stay warm. The issue is that the 3 ducts run about 40 feet from the furnace to the room. By the time the air gets there it's not warm enough. ALSO, three sides of this room are exposed (exterior), and the 3 ducts are on the remaining interior wall. Bad design, I would guess.

I will look into the insulation, that's a good start.

Thanks.

theodocious you are correct in your assumption about the design. Heat Loss which determines Heat Load is determined by the amount of heat is loss through one square foot of material per hour. You not only have the calculate the square footage of the walls exposed to the exterior but also the floor above the crawl space and the ceiling if there is a attic above it. Clearly the amount of surface area that influences your heat load for this room is considerably more than double than the rooms in the rest of the house. While insulation may retard heat flow and an increase in heat to the room may alleviate your situation they cannot compensate for the surface area disparity. In other words to maintain a desired temperature in this one room using a central heating system would mean you will have to over heat the rest of the rooms in the house.

FYI the R-19 rating in insulation stands for 1/19th of a BTU traverses one square inch of this material per hour under controlled conditions for standardization purposes. This explicitly implies that insulation does not stop heat flow, it retards it. Nor does insulation produce any heat.

Supplemental heat for this room is ideal under your circumstances, regardless of the type. I would suggest spending a bit more for a unit that had a programmable thermostat.

I always enjoy the debate between more insulation or more heat as either will provide the desired results. IMO, today's concerns about energy use and costs weigh in on airmans suggestion, button everything up as best you can. The old adage, you buy insulation once, or you pay for heat year after year. The trade off may come down to, can the insulation be improved enough at a reasonable enough cost. If not, then resercons suggestion to add some supplemental heat may also be required.

I don't recall you stating where those three feeders and returns are located, attic, walls, or crawl space. If they are in an unconditioned or semi-conditioned space, then they definitely need to be sealed and insulated. Since you state the crawl is dry, some perimeter rigid wall insulation would be worth considering plus air sealing the house to foundation. Once that crawl warms up the rooms above will feel the difference.

There are many more simple weatherizing steps that can button everything up and perhaps eliminate the need or quantity of extra heat.

Good Luck
Bud