I just moved into a new rental house and found a problem with the heating.

I set the thermostat to 68 degrees, it heats up the small five room house (900 sq ft) quickly. But the inside temp drops 2 degrees in 3 to 4 minutes, so the furnace starts again. I turned the furnace off at 69 degrees and saw these temps: 67 in 5 min, 62 in 55 minutes.

I suspected cold air was getting in. I checked the doors and windows and found some leaks that I plugged with plastic grocery bags. I now feel no drafts around the double-pane windows or the two door, but the temperature loss is the same. Outside temp is 46 degrees. The house is old and it appears the furnace was added after construction as the vents are all in the ceiling. The walls have paneling on them and do not feel that cool. The ceiling does not feel any colder than the walls. The roof is newer and the attic has no obvious vents. I don't know how you would add insulation. I have noticed that outside sounds are not very muffled, so maybe the walls are very thin.

The rate of temperature loss is confusing to me. I wouldn't suspect something this rapid, even with the front door open.

Thanks for your help. It's going to be a long cold winter in Utah. Thankfully I will be at work most of the day.

~Ron in Utah

What you have is a high heat loss situation. Many small items add up to one large item under this type of situation. Uninsulated or under insulated pipes in the attic space for the celiing registers, Ineffective crawl or slab insulation along with non insulated side walls will all effect the amount of heat loss you are experiencing. All cures for this type of problem will be expensive and usually rental property owners will not be inclined to spend the money so that you can save on your heat bill.

I hope you checked on the utility usage before you entered into a rental contract but if not you can mention this fact to the landloard and see if some rent adjustment can be made.

There is no magic cure for this type of problem.