Winterized Cottage – Heat in the winter or no?
Hey,
My family owns a small winterized cottage near Minden ON, also by Haliburton ON. The cottage is winterized and has electric baseboard heat and a propane fuelled fireplace. My parents have been heating it minimally during the winter months even though we are not there and it is costing a fortune. The cottage was built in the 60s with a mixture of siding and brick exterior. It likely has batt insulation in the walls. My parents are concerned with mould growth if the cottage is not heated. I’m of the general though process that a cottage this old by the lake is likely to have mould, and that turning off the heat in the winter months isn’t likely to do anything negative. The cottage is on a septic system and the pipes are drained before winter.
Basically in a nutshell, is it safe to turn the heat off for the winter without doing any serious damage or harm to the cottage?
Thanks
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Replies
Tim-x, the problem with leaving a place like that totally unheated is that you will have some warm, sunny days that heat the interior; cold, wet periods that deposit moisture, and dry, below-freezing days. The mix can cause moisture build-up in vulnerable parts of the house, leading to mold growth when the temperature is warm enough, and also puts the building components through expansion and contraction cycles. Depending on the specific conditions of your home it may or may not cause problems to leave it unheated, but unfortunately it's probably safer to leave it heated. If you want to reduce your heating bills, either you or an energy performance contractor could tighten things up and add insulation where appropriate. You could also consider an efficient heating source.
At least that's my view, having been in a lot of cold-climate vacation homes. But I would be interested in other educated opinions or experience.
My family has a cottage on Rice Lake that we leave unheated during the winter, it has fiberglass batts in the walls and attic has exterior vinyl siding.. We have had the walls open for repairs and never found mold issues The house is on piers with no floor insulation.( summer time only cottage).
The neighbors cottage keeps minimal heat on during the winter because they have a poured foundation and worry about the high water table cracking the foundation????
I also have a friend that has a cottage in Bancroft that leaves it unheated all winter, unless he is going up to snowmobile, then fires up the wood stove. NO water, brings jugs and use the outhouse.
My opinion is drain the water, put in anti-freeze and turn-off the heat, if your not going to use it.
Mold only grows when you have the combination of at least moderate warmth and moisture. An option to consider would be to leave it unheated over the winter and then start heating moderately in the spring, so that anything that needs help drying out can do so before it gets warm enough for mold to grow.
People fortunate to have had a summer cottage growing up will remember the smell that greeted them when they returned each year. The mildew on comic books left in drawers, any sheets not stored in plastic bags, and on wall paper. The faint rust on the wood stove.
Maybe this is entirely climate dependant? It happens in all parts of Canada, but is much worse in BC where any building left unheated will show visible signs of mold. I suspect the problem is entirely cosmetic, but it would be interesting to hear from posters who live in very humid regions what happens there.
My parents have owned the same cottage since the earlier 90's in the Sharbot Lake, Ontario area and they never heated the cottage during the winter months. I can recall ever seeing mold any anything (around windows, bed sheets, books, walls....) except a very light rush on the woodstove which is only visible once you're standing in front of it. I was up there a couple of weeks with my dad for the day and the woodstove was the only things that showed moisture "damage" with the light rust.