Rooms with high ceilings are nice and cool during the summer, but when winter rolls around it doesn’t magically become the warmest spot in your house.
Why is that? Tall rooms increase heat dispersion. Since heat rises, most of the warm air is trapped all the way toward your ceiling, leaving you shivering at ground level.
Consider these methods of heating to help you heat a room with high ceilings.
1. Change Your Ceiling Fan Direction
Your fan direction in winter matters. If your high-ceiling room has a ceiling fan, you should change the direction of its rotation to warm up the room. The best ceiling fan direction for winter is a clockwise motion at a slow speed. This redistributes the air by pulling the cool air up and pushing the warm air down.
This method of heating is more efficient the lower your ceiling is. Therefore, if your ceiling is extremely high, it won’t significantly heat up the room. If this method does work in your home, it can drastically reduce your heating costs. You can also install a heater into your ceiling fan to increase the amount of warm air it pushes downward.
2. Purchase A Space Heater
A space heater should not be your sole source of heat for a room due to safety hazards associated with overheating. HVAC professionals recommend limiting their use to short bursts of time and in smaller rooms.
However, space heaters as a supplement to another heat source can be quite effective. Benefits of space heaters include they require little storage space, there is no installation, and they can be energy and cost efficient. Choose the best space heater for a large room based on the dimensions and conditions of the space you wish to heat.
3. Partially Shut Unused Vents
Since heat rises, rooms upstairs will naturally be warmer than rooms downstairs. If the airflow in your home is poor, and there are rooms in your house you don’t frequently use, partially close the vents in those rooms so the heat will redirect to the rooms with fully open vents. This will make the heat release more powerful in your room with high ceilings.
A common misconception is that you should close some vents entirely to redirect heat to the open vents. If you do this, you risk damaging your HVAC system due to a high-pressure buildup in certain areas. It’s safer to only partially shut some vents if redirecting heat is your goal.
4. Use Natural Sunlight
During the day, keep your blinds open and curtains pushed to the sides. Let the natural sunlight pour into the room as much as possible. Simultaneously, ensure your windows are fully shut so there is no cold air sneaking in or warm air sneaking out. If your windows fail to do this, consider installing double-pane windows. These windows have two sheets of glass in the frame to better insulate a room.
If there is a fireplace in your room with high ceilings, don’t neglect it! Fireplaces are a great resource for warmth, especially when lit for several hours, giving the heat time to disperse throughout the room.
5. Radiant Heating
Radiant heating is an eco-friendly and cost-efficient method of heating. There are two main forms: electric and hydronic. Both methods of heating deliver heat through the walls or floor of a room. It not only directly warms the surface of the area it’s heating, but also indirectly warms the adjacent air.
Electric radiant heating is typically used for tile floors. This is done by installing cables that generate heat between the visible layer of flooring and sub-flooring. The stronger the charge, the hotter the temperature.
High Ceilings Call For High Temperatures
Rooms with high ceilings are typically very nice and aesthetically luxurious. However, none of that matters if they’re not properly heated. Who wants to spend time in a cold room? Try out some of these tricks to heat a room with high ceilings. If you’re considering the efficient and effective radiant heating option, call the trained professionals at John C. Flood for a quick and smooth installation at 703-214-5611.
