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Old 12-11-11, 03:59 AM   #48
JYL
Heat recoverer
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Quebec, Canada
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Early 1950 original houses are the worst to heat. Some are merely made of a sandwich of 1/2 Inch cider clapboard, 2X4 and a single layer of 1/2 inch Gypsum board. No sheeting material, no plastic and no insulation at all.

The ceiling is often limited to a single layer of 1/2" gypsum board mounted on 2x4. The roof made with tongued and grooved 1x5 or 1x6 mounted on 2x6. They sometime have a cathedral ceiling.

The windows are usually fit in framing with at least 1/2 Inch all around the windows frame. The only insulation is often the 3/8" of pine molding on the interior and some storm plank on the exterior.

More often then not, to reach the 2500 SF mark, they did build an add-on (such as a dinning room or an extra bedroom) that is almost impossible to heat.

These houses are actually pretty well build with floors that are still level. The foundation are often of high quality poorer concrete They are just using a minimum of material for the wall and roof. The energy consumption was not very high on the agenda.

Their is a lot of them to retrofit on the market.

Those house (often call Rambler/Bungalow/or American Dream development) have been build in large quantity (development of 20 or more for a single location) in Seattle (WA), Surrey (BC), Toronto(ON), Burlington (VT) and Montréal (QC) Area (and I am sure in others area in Canada and USA).

It is true that I know little about WI. The only thing I ever did in that state was to hit a deer in Ashland... and because I had an Honda Civic Hybrid, it took some time to get the spare part. However, I thanks RED Rent a Car to provide me with a Chevy so that I could finish my trip to Montana.


IMG_2199.JPG by JYL.CA, on Flickr
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