We don't have heat in our upstairs either. We have GFA on the first floor, and then there are openings cut in the ceiling/floor where supposedly heat is supposed to rise through them. This was done in each of the 3 bedrooms. They're about 12 x 16 openings.

That said, it does NOT heat the 2nd floor. We do have blown in cellulose insulation in our walls and ceilings and new windows, and it is cold up there (zone 6a) all winter. We supplement the heat with oil-filled electric radiators in each room (not terribly expensive to buy) and it works out fine.

Putting in a separate heat pump for the 2nd floor would cost us about $6,000, and someday we will probably do it. Maybe....

We live in Z5--winter temps can go below zero easily, and mostly hover around or below freezing. Our house is uninsulated and has no heat upstairs other than grates (like yours) that allow heat to rise through the house.

Our investment was in some lovely, very warm down comforters and slippers. For extremely bitterly cold nights we did purchase a ceramic heater but only used it once or twice.

We were actually very comfortable, although I will admit that sometimes it was hard to crawl out from under those warm comforters and be greeted with 55-degree air!

Flannel pajamas or flannel sheets and a warm comforter can go a looooong way toward making the winter comfortable! I'd almost even call it cozy. :)

I agree that you would not find the upstairs comfortable under the heat rising arrangement.
The woman selling the house grew up there and was used to the cold rooms in winter. My mother sleeps in a room that can go down into the 40's on cold winter nights and she just plugs in an electric blanket when it's really cold. She could move to another bedroom that has a working radiator, but she likes the room she's sleeping in now.
She keeps her thermostat set low and feels quite comfortable. I spent a weekend at her house last winter and found myself put layers of clothes on and stuffing my hands under my armpits to warm them up. Warmth is relative, I guess.

we use a pellot stove so we don't have heat upstairs either. We also have down comforters and are very warm, sometimes too warm at night.
it may be cold upstairs but we only go up there to sleep so I guess it doesn't bother us. I think it is something you get used too. I am very used to wearing sweaters and layers now. When I go to someone else's house I am so hot!
I am sure you will adjust. With the rising heat costs I am sure alot of people are adjusting.
-renee

Thanks, everyone. I'd love to continue hearing from others as they find this thread.

I feel torn. On one hand, I'd love to have a $108 gas bill in January. I like the idea of keeping the house's systems as simple as possible, and if this works, then why change it?

On the other, I want to raise babies in this house and I don't want to worry about whether they're shivering in their crib at night. I want my kids to be able to play in their rooms during the day as well-- not flee downstairs for warmth. Maybe if we laid more insulation in the attic and did some caulking, that would be sufficient-- we are in the south, after all, and a chilly bedroom night two or three times a year would be fine. But if we have to tear the upstairs down to the studs to get drywall laid (see my post on slat/wallpaper walls), wouldn't that be the very best time to put in any new heating/cooling systems?

Arrgh. I want this house. But it's so hard to gauge how much it would cost us. (I want to be a stay-at-home mom more than I want the house...)

Oh, and to clarify- There are no holes or grates in the upstairs floors; the heating grates are in the floors of the downstairs. I think the heat just magically somehow rises through the ceiling to the 2nd floor, or something like that.

The first old house I lived in had a forced air system and actually a few registers with ductwork to the upper bedrooms, but they were still freezing in the winter. We ended up putting a separate forced air furnace/ac in the attic with registers in the ceiling and that worked out perfectly, plus allowed some zone control.

The house I currently live in has a hot water system with radiators. Two of the bedrooms upstairs plus the bath have radiators and they are toasty in the winter (warmest in the house). The two south facing bedrooms do not nor did they ever have radiators. (We didn't even notice this lack when we bought the house - DUH!) I guess the assumption was that the south sun would provide sufficient heat in the winter - NOT! We are in Zone 5 and it can get pretty cold here. We do supplement with the oil filled radiators and on moderate days it is sufficient. But when the temp drops, the only place you want to be in these rooms is under the covers. I would certainly check into some sort of supplementary heat if you want to use these rooms for more than sleeping. A good heating contractor could probably offer some viable solutions.

Hi,
In Arkansas, I can believe that this arrangement may be satisfactory (I lived near Batesville for 9 years), since the winters are short and not bitter cold, by northeast standards anyway. Currently I have two separate heating systems, one for the main floor and one for the second story. (The place was two apartments) The downstairs boiler basically heats the entire house, the upper one only running a few nights a winter. The upstair radiators stay cold most of the time. So, the warm air rising theory works here in practice. I would not be able to count on the downstairs system to be able to cold-start the house, though, by itself.
Casey

Hi, Couldn't resist this post. We purchased a house (OHIO zone 5 - COLD) built around 1850 and heating system appears to be about 1960's or earlier. This is a natural gas furnace and ONE heat vent upstairs which blows into the hall (huge) and 1 of 3 bedrooms. Our one grandson was born in Feb and his crib is upstairs in his parent's room. We did fine but they did have a small electric heater for that room for the coldest months. It's NOT warm and too cold for children to play up there in the coldest of winters, but we sleep fine. Electric blankets and comforters are wonderful! Wouldn't trade it for anything, BUT daughter, son-in-law are BUILDING a new house because of all the inconveniences - heat upstairs included - of our home. Hope this helps. marlita

In our first house, there was only one radiator on the 2nd floor, and it was in the bathroom. We kept the doors open and it was fine. I keep my house at 72, just to give you a reference for my cold tolerance. We had small children so the doors would have been open anyway, and it never bothered us. Now that our kids are older, we like to close the doors. We did need an electric heater with closed doors. We ended up moving because we outgrew the house. The first couple interested in buying our home backed out once they realized there was only one radiator up there. It might make it harder to sell later on, but it was really no problem living in it. Since you know the person, perhaps they'd let you try it out?

ps: our first house was in massachusetts.

I'm zone 4b Iowa and we have no heat upstairs.

We use electric mattress pads and turn them on about an hour b/4 going to bed so they are toasty warm. Top that off with a down comforter and a quilt and flannel sheets, you will sleep great!

One thing that we have noted, we have a lot less flu and colds going thru our household than the homes of our friends. We think that our immune systems are stronger or the cold air does not "incubate" some of the viruses. Not a Dr. (nor do I play one on tv!) but I think I'm healthier than I was in the past.

Cathy

It's encouraging to notice that many of you live in much colder places with a similar setup. I'll ask more questions of the house's owner, but as the furnace is just 6 years old I think we'd probably give it a try as is or (and this is more likely) install a heat pump as the a/c upstairs so that we could use electric heat when needed in the winter. (ie, Casey's solution sounds like something we could emulate.)

Thanks for all the input!

Like Cathy, I'm in zone 4b, and have an unheated upstairs. I discovered heated mattress pads this yearÂlove 'em! I've been using down and flannel all along, and love those, too.

We do have small grates in the floor of a couple of the rooms, but not all of them. We raised three kids here, plus a granddaughter for a few years. I don't remember the cold being an issue, but I know when they were older I got them heaters for their rooms (the electric radiator type).

I often work on my bedroom computer in the evening, and during the coldest months I use one of those heaters myself. But I always turn it off before going to bed.

What? You haven't bought the house yet? :-)

Susan

I wouldn't worry about the bedrooms being too cold to sleep in, as we use down duvets and like a cold room. What i would worry about is air quality. Unless the rooms are drafty, not having the house air circulate can make them stuffy. It can also allow mold to build up.

Susan -- I don't know about your old house but drafty is the perfect word to describe mine!! I know, we have no problems with air circulation --- regardless how hard we try!! LOL!

Cathy

Ours too, clink. I couild replace every window and door in the place, and I know that we'd still have enough drafts to fly a kite indoors....LOL

We do use heavy comforters and down duvets as well. There isn't anyone that has a problem sleeping around here....LOL

I have a walk-up attic (900 sqft) that I finished off a few years ago. Half the space is for the TV, the other half a game room for the kids...ping pong, fosball, etc.

I'm in CT, it was a typical attic space, open framing with FG batt insulation...hot in the summer (110-120 degrees), cold in the winter (50-55 degrees).

When I finished it off, I used sheets of 2" thick polyisocyanurate foil-faced foam insulation on the ceiling rafters, and 1" polyiso board on the gable end walls.

I installed furring strips 16" on center over the foam insulation, then drywall was screwed to the furring strips.

I have radiant floor heat in the rest of the house and was going to add two loops to the system to warm the attic. The two additional loops were planned for in the oiriginal plans when I designed the house.

Ended up not having to install the loops. Winter temps the attic gets to a low of about 66-68 degrees. As soon as anyone goes up there or turns on the lights, the room warms up a few degrees.

During kid parties or sleepovers, they open the windows to cool the attic down, even in winter.

The polyiso is a great radiant barrier, stopping heat gain in the summer. High summer temp up there is about 77 degrees. Since the air handler for the second floor of the house is behind the attic kneewall, I did add a few supply and return outlets to move air and to keep the attic from getting stuffy in the summertime.

At R-7 per inch, polyiso is quite effective. Better than that, it stops air infiltration and eliminates drafts, resulting in an even more effective R-value than when compaed to fiberglass. It also is an effective radiant barrier.

Cellulose would be my second choice for insulating an attic.

Best, Mongo