# House warmer with snow on it



## rudysmallfry (Feb 8, 2014)

We were hit with two storms this week adding about 1' of snow to my house and surrounding area. Suddenly my furnace is not running as often since my house is holding the heat better. My wood stove that is normally not effective under 20 degrees is now heating the house with ease on 17 degree nights. I know that snow has insulating factors to it, but what does it tell me about my house? I just had an energy audit last year, and they said I did a very good job of insulating and filling any leaks. If the difference weren't so dramatic I wouldn't even be posting this, but I went from cold house to walking around in a T-shirt. Should I be thinking about adding attic insulation, or is this purely a snow insulation effect? Anyone else experiencing this?


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## DougA (Feb 8, 2014)

Snow is full of dead air which is the best insulation. It also is a lot less windy the last few days in our area. Wind and drafty houses are the worst culprit.
It's super cold today but my stove is keeping us warm, which it was struggling with a week ago when it was so windy.


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## GENECOP (Feb 8, 2014)

Common and normal, Snow is an excellent insulator , most people who are aware do notice a big difference in consumption....Maybe we should all add Snowmakers to our garages so we can layer the roof on those cold snowless days....


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## toddnic (Feb 8, 2014)

Winter survival actually uses snow as a insulator.....think igloo, snow cave, etc.  Obviously works on the house also!


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## pen (Feb 8, 2014)

The concern would be is if the attic is staying too warm that it may not be ventilating and the cold snow against the roof w/ the attic side warm could mean condensation / mold issues.

You could do like a guy in Virginia I know does and put a remote outdoor thermometer up in the attic and see how the temps compare to outdoor temps in different conditions.

Moving this over to the DIY room,

pen


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## rudysmallfry (Feb 8, 2014)

Oh I have no intentions of knocking any snow off the roof with those results. I just wanted to know if it has uncovered a flaw in my insulation, or if I should just enjoy the added warmth until it melts.


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## woodgeek (Feb 8, 2014)

A lot of houses lose heat out the foundations and slabs....they can be insulated by snow too.


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## Frozen Canuck (Feb 8, 2014)

rudysmallfry said:


> I just wanted to know if it has uncovered a flaw in my insulation



That you would be able to see when the snow on your roof melts while it remains on the roofs of those around you. Esp. if it only melts in certain areas. AFA the snow it's just like a blanket on a bed, retains more heat than one without. Only a worry if it gets close to the max load of your roof structure.


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## yooperdave (Feb 8, 2014)

The snow on your roof has little or no insulating effect.  That is, if you had a heat loss going through your ceilings (attic/roof) the amount of snow on the roof would quickly melt and then form ice on the eaves.
More than likely, the snow you mentioned is probably insulating the lower portion of your house, specifically, the foundation and rim joist area.  That is why you still see many houses in this area that are poorly insulated with the snow "banked up" against their house..the higher the better.


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## GENECOP (Feb 8, 2014)

Good read, it mentions snow as insulator

http://bct.eco.umass.edu/publications/by-title/preventing-ice-dams/


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## Warm_in_NH (Feb 9, 2014)

I'll use the snow blower and bank snow against my outside walls when I clear my paths. Insulates the exposed foundation and blocks any air infiltration that may try to get by the sills. 
No doubt about it that it makes a difference.


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## pen (Feb 9, 2014)

Warm_in_NH said:


> I'll use the snow blower and bank snow against my outside walls when I clear my paths. Insulates the exposed foundation and blocks any air infiltration that may try to get by the sills.
> No doubt about it that it makes a difference.



That's also going to show the homeowner if the footer drain is working once the weather breaks.


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## Warm_in_NH (Feb 9, 2014)

> That's also going to show the homeowner if the footer drain is working once the weather breaks.



Well, my yard takes off UP hill away from the house, built in 1929, dirt and stone floor in the basement. 15 pitch metal roof that also dumps all that snow between the house and up hill side. Footer/perimeter drain consists of a sump pit on the high side of the basement that pumps it over to the old clay pipe on the low side and comes out on the down hill side of the house by the road. Only saving grace is a good deep frost within inches of the foundation keeping most of the snow melt above ground. As I do have about 18 inches of proper grade before it starts to collect all the water off the hill side.

They apparently thought a straight line would be easier than actually going around the house. I am currently in negotiations with a friend trying to trade off hammer time for tractor time this year.


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## bsruther (Feb 9, 2014)

Warm_in_NH said:


> I'll use the snow blower and bank snow against my outside walls when I clear my paths. Insulates the exposed foundation and blocks any air infiltration that may try to get by the sills.
> No doubt about it that it makes a difference.


Same here. I fill the basement window wells up with snow and cover the windows, also pile the snow up on the back wall where the kitchen water pipes are. Seemed to help a lot during the last few sub-zero spells we had.


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## parthy (Feb 9, 2014)

I just had 2' and more in some places removed from my roof.  Mostly congragated at the overhang.  Too early to tell if if will make a difference in my heating.  But i do have 2 leaf bags high and 2 leaf bags out around the perimeter of my crawl space and 4' of snow on that that fell and stayed.  That has helped with the costs.

I had it removed due to having my stove installed early March and that is when we get the heavy wet stuff and usually a lot of it. And for safety reasons.  In 9 years never had this much snow.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 10, 2014)

It is a common practice in many areas of Michigan to use a tractor to push snow up against the house. Usually this is farmers whose house has little or no protection from the winds. It does provide some insulation. As for snow on the roof, if it gets deep enough, it should be removed. As Dave stated too, it is common for those with not enough attic insulation to see the snow melt then refreeze on the overhangs or eaves. Then it becomes a problem as it can ruin the roofing. Heat tapes are common on the eaves.


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## TradEddie (Feb 10, 2014)

Frozen Canuck said:


> That you would be able to see when the snow on your roof melts while it remains on the roofs of those around you. Esp. if it only melts in certain areas. AFA the snow it's just like a blanket on a bed, retains more heat than one without. Only a worry if it gets close to the max load of your roof structure.



See for example my picture:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/its-snowing-free-energy-audits.119744/
Now fixed by sealing around a leaking HVAC duct, or repacking an open bay with fiberglass in a shopping bag (I'll never know or care which it was).

TE


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## 1750 (Feb 16, 2014)

I was just reading about this.  Light snow has an R-value of about 1 per inch.   So, your foot of snow is like laying an R-12 blanket on top of your house.

We have several feet of snow on our roof, which I thought was great until an ice-dam formed downstream of the furnace stack and pushed water back up under the flashing and ended up in the middle of our kitchen ceiling.   When I got up there I found about 18 inches of solid ice at the eaves.  When I cut through it with a cold chisel (a very cold chisel) and sledge hammer, I bet 30 gallons of ice water gushed out of that dam.   Damn.


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