Experiences of adding heating to loft?

[flythewindmill]

I have a loft conversion that the previous owners put in, or always had (they designed and built the house themselves) and so far have only used it for storage so have not added heating - there is no source of heat up there. Ds is looking to move up there so I'll need to add some heat.

Does anyone have any experience of this in terms of cost (Google is saying about £500 per radiator?) and possible complications that can arise. I'm just wondering is this likely to be simple or is it likely to spiral into a very costly exercise and if so are there other options that are good, like freestanding heaters?

Thank you!

[PigletJohn]

What colour is your hot-water cylinder?

Does the boiler have a pressure gauge?

Was the loft conversion done with Building Regulations approval, and does it have stairs, windows and doors?

[flythewindmill]

Thank you for replying.

Hot water cylinder is green.

The boiler has very little on the front of it and I don't think it has a pressure guage.

Loft I think may not have been done as a conversion but has been there all along. Nothing about it was ever raised when we bought the house and it has a proper staircase, two windows, doors and also plumbing (there's a working sink up there, if it's relevant?).

[PigletJohn]

I don't think you will be able to have radiators in your loft because it sounds like your boiler and cylinder run off loft tanks, so there will be no pressure in the loft. You could get cold water from the incoming mains supply, and possibly a weedy electric shower. Next time you buy a new boiler you could have the radiator pipes extended because a new boiler is likely to be unvented with no cold tank in the loft.

If it has staircase, doors and windows it was probably built to a proper standard (unless 30 years old) so reasonably insulated.

It will tend to receive heat rising through the floor from the rooms below.

[flythewindmill]

Oh well! Yes, it gets ridiculously hot in the summer but less so in the winter, but that;s partly because the main window is broken and doesn't shut properly. Sounds like my best bet is to replace the window then look into freestanding heaters.

Thank you.

[PigletJohn]

on a sunny day, feel the sloping ceiling on the sunny side. Is it surprisingly warm? can you feel heat radiating off it onto your face and hand? That is a bad sign suggesting it is not well-insulated.

An uninsulated loft is too hot to work on a sunny day, the sweat will be dripping off you, because the sun shines on the tiles and the heat goes straight through.

Also bitterly cold in winter.

If necessary and worthwhile, this can be changed, at a cost.

Try to find out when it was built, and if the council still has plans on file. I once got some going back to about 1960.

[Toodeloo]

I looked into heating for the loft and although my boiler would support it I opted against it because of the cost (£600). We have an electric heater installed on the wall. It is programmed to come on depending on the temperature in the room at various times (ie not when no one is home mon-fri during the day or colder at night). I’ve been worried about the electricity cost but it has worked out fine.

[Toodeloo]

Also, we installed insulation after the loft was already boarded (not by us). We used insulation boards to allow for airflow and were able to slide them in from the eaves. Has made a huge difference!