Why is the kitchen freezing compared to rest of the house?

NSMOM36 asked:


Our house is 1.5 stories that we bought 10 years ago. The addition is our kitchen and living room and was built on 15-20 years before we bought it. The basement was under the original part and was only 6 ft high walls. The kitchen and living room were only on tubes. We have since put a brand new foundation under the kitchen/living room part and blocked up the original foundation to have 8ft walls.
Our problem is that the kitchen is ALWAYS 2-4 degrees colder than the rest of the house (we have an oil furnace forced air, thermotsat is in the living room on the wall between the kitchen and living room). There are 2 registers in the kitchen.
When we stand at the sink (which is on the wall that is facing where the outside of the house would have been befrore the addition), we can feel cold air coming in around our feet. The inside of the cupboards are freezing that are on that wall and the wall last year cracked from top to bottom in behind the cupboards.
We have checked the basement and no cold air is coming in from outside, as well have checked the crawl space and it’s all insulated.
My guess is that when the addition was built, something wasn’t done right and this is how the cold air is getting in. We have done renovations with new windows and vinyl siding and still has not helped. We have had carpenters look at it and they can’t see a reason why either. The wall is insulated as we have seen the insulation from when we renovated our kitchen with new cabinets, countertop, etc.

If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated. I’m tired of freezing my feet of in the kitchen and of possibly wasting money on oil. Thanks
I forgot to mention that after the new foundation was added and the old foundation blocked higher, that we had all of our ductwork replaced and installed fresh and the furnace is only 7 years old.
Thanks for the info so far. The cabinets and where the cold air are coming from are not on an outside wall. They are facing where the outside wall would have been before the addition. The outside walls are to the left, right and behind where the cold air is coming from. Our basement has open ducts for heat to circulate and is a bit cooler in the basement, but not freezing cold. About 10-15C.

We have sprayed the expanding spray foam along the basment in between the house and foundation along the whole perimeter of the house as well.

Katherina

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3 Responses to “Why is the kitchen freezing compared to rest of the house?”

  1. Simpleman Says:

    Wayne

    I would contact an expert in home energy efficiency or a home inspector that uses infrared cameras to locate drafts and air leaks. Another possibility is a duct work issue for that room. Check connections and make sure the blower unit is large enough for your homes square footage.

  2. Charlie F Says:

    Gwyneth

    Have you insulated around the water and waste pipes? Cold air ofen comes up around them. Your kitchen could be acting as a cold air return spot for the rest of the house too, a HVAC man should check your system.

    This may not help, but older homes didn’t have robust heating in the kitchen since stay at home wifes kept the room worm by running the oven cooking meals, cakes, pies, etc. I have a home built in the early 50′s with the same problem.

  3. paul s Says:

    Abbey

    in my opinion the air is coming from under the wall, the reason is that the foundation has a dip in it where the floor followed the dip and the wall stayed straight so, the air is coming from under the wall and under the cabinets also.to fix it would mean taking off the siding on that side of the home and stuffing the crack with insulation then caulking the crack replace the siding.
    to check if i’m right put a straight edge on the floor across that area and if i’m right there will be a void in the middle of it