Please help me warm up my home

[Gwenhwyfar]

So I have central heating and when it's been on for a while it can get nice and warm. It takes about 3 hours to get properly warm though and I can't put them on a timer. I have to get up to put the heaters on then go back to bed.

I've got a few problems:

1. the areas with no heating, every time I open the door to the hallway the room I'm in gets cold or I myself get cold while passing through. Should I bother trying to heat there or is it a lost battle? I could potentially put an electric heater there on a timer to come on twice a day or something

2. I have a narrow sofa that's only comfortable if I sit on it as if it were a chaise longue with my back against the wall. This means I have to sit the opposite side of the radiator by the French window so it's cold because of the distance from the heating and also because of the draft. I have blinds and I'm thinking of asking the LL if I can put up some curtains. I already have thick curtains, but would need to buy the bar and pay someone to put it up. I don't suppose a tension rod would be strong enough for thick curtains? That would avoid having to drill holes. Or is there another solution?

3. I have a 3 bar heater in the bathroom. Even if I put it on half an hour before having my shower and I don't get into the water until it's hot, I'm still really cold in the shower. The water doesn't cover me totally and because it's a walk-in shower, the shower itself is too big to warm up. I'm wondering if the solution would be a spirella curtain just around me and the showerhead. Has anyone tried this? I read that a larger showerhead could work, but I need one that has a hard water filter inside the showerhead.

I really hate being cold :(

Tips I can offer are:
Put curtains across the front/back door. As heavy as you can afford. I did this with my front door and the difference is huge.

Draught excluders along the bottom of internal doors. You can buy long pillow-like ones that can be moved around, or you can get the brush-like ones that you screw along the bottom of the door

Curtains on your windows. Blinds are great for blocking sunlight but curtains really do help to retain the heat.

Blankets! I have a storage pouffe and its full of blankets that are in regular circulation between the kids and myself.

Hot water bottles, particularly at bedtime. I put one in bed 20 mins before I'm going up so its toasty for me.

Electric blankets. I don't own one but I've requested one for my Christams present. I'm quite excited at the prospect!

Electric blankets that go under your bottom bed sheet are amazing!
Curtains across doors make a huge difference, I have a thermal one over my front door and you can feel the cold come from behind it when you open it. If it's not sunny then I leave my curtains closed during the day when I'm out.
It sounds horrendous, I'd seriously be talking to your landlord about improvements or be looking for somewhere else to live.

Yes ask about curtains, accept you may have to leave the curtain pole if/when you move. The tension rods tend to leave scuff marks all over the wall so aren't much better really, you'd still have to make good the wall if you moved.
I also have a box of blankets.
Heat holder socks are great, really keep your feet toasty
Would the landlord let you install a wall mounted fan heater in the bathroom? We did that in our old house as the towel rail was useless, my FIL wired it in through the ceiling into the loft, was a bit like this one, really helped:
www.screwfix.com/p/winterwarm-wwdf20e-wall-mounted-fan-heater-2000w-229-x-242mm/409fv

Definitely ask for curtain poles.

Frankly, get a new sofa if this one isn't a working and is uncomfortable. There's lots on Facebook marketplace for a song, especially with people who buy a new sofa "in time for Christmas".

Hallways - either heat the whole house (seems pointless and expensive) or accept the hall is cold.

Also ask the landlord for a towel heater in the bathroom so it's connected to the central heating, and for a radiator in the hallway. It's not that expensive to do - I've done it in two houses and it's never been more than about £350, with labour and the radiators. The worst they can do is say no.

If you have any windows with no enjoyable view, or are made of obscured glass, get some bubble wrap, cut it to,size, clean the window, let it dry then spray all over the glass with water.
Apply the bubble wrap, bubbles against the glass. It sticks and stays on as if by magic. If you have lots of wrap (I got a big roll from Amazon) you can stick another layer on, over the first lot.

This makes a huge difference, is cheap, and very satisfying to do.

You can also deal with windows which you want to be able to see out of with double sided sticky tape around the edge of the panes then cling film stretched over. Give it a gentle warming with a hair dryer and any creases drop out.

Lots of videos about both on YouTube .

"Hot water bottles, particularly at bedtime. I put one in bed 20 mins before I'm going up so its toasty for me.

Electric blankets. I don't own one but I've requested one for my Christams present. I'm quite excited at the prospect!"

I actually cope no problem in my bedroom. I don't bother heating it most of the time and I have a really thick duvet. I think I might put the heating on before bed tonight (it's snowing here) but in general it's not a problem. It's the other areas I mentioned that get cold.

I have a draft excluder by the front door, but not in the other rooms so I'll look into that.

"It sounds horrendous, I'd seriously be talking to your landlord about improvements or be looking for somewhere else to live."

Not horrendous at all. Maybe my OP wasn't clear, but I tried to explain that I can warm up the room I'm in, but the hallway has no radiator and the shower is big so certain areas are colder in comparison.
Where I was working today was 20 degrees so not a problem. I'm not sitting here shivering, just disliking the contrasts between the well-heated room and the non-heated ones.

"Would the landlord let you install a wall mounted fan heater in the bathroom?"

Pretty sure he wouldn't because there is already a wall-mounted heater in the bathroom.

"Frankly, get a new sofa if this one isn't a working and is uncomfortable"

It's not uncomfortable. I've always been quite limited on second hand sofas because my last flat (and probably this one too) wouldn't accommodate something wide with arms as it wouldn't get through the door. I'm happy with this sofa and it's a sofa bed too.
The issue is just that I have to sit where the draft is so I'm thinking of working on the draft issue.

"If you have any windows with no enjoyable view, or are made of obscured glass, get some bubble wrap, cut it to,size, clean the window, let it dry then spray all over the glass with water.
Apply the bubble wrap, bubbles against the glass. It sticks and stays on as if by magic. If you have lots of wrap (I got a big roll from Amazon) you can stick another layer on, over the first lot."

I like my windows and if it's sunny they actually warm the place up.

The cling film idea I'll have to look into. It sounds complicated. Can you still open the windows then?

"Definitely ask for curtain poles."

I will buy my own. I'm just scared about getting the right length, what if I measure incorrectly? Can I get a handyman to do it all? ie he would come and measure, order/buy the curtain rail and put it up? I'm seriously awful at DIY.

Thanks for your help everyone, but I obviously wasn't clear. My bed is warm with the huge duvet and I can put heating on before bed if I want to as well. The rooms I'm in warm up, it just takes time and I can't programme the heating.
Then I have some really cold areas, the hallway and the bathroom so it's not that the whole flat is cold.
I have a hot water bottle, but rarely have to use it and I would consider it a failure in terms of heating if I did need to.
The irony is that my rent includes the heating so it doesn't cost me any more to have it on, but I'm still cold!

Cushions (you do not get better value than George Asda), throws (Asda or dunelm), candles, house plants and lamps.

@redbigbananafeet

Cushions (you do not get better value than George Asda), throws (Asda or dunelm), candles, house plants and lamps.

Confused with another 'cosy' post. Apologies

Hi OP you could certainly get a handyman to put the pole up, but I expect you’d have to measure then order it yourself.

Or… could your LL possibly do it, or recommend someone? LLs are usually well connected to various tradespeople and have a little black book of good ones!

@Gwenhwyfar

"Definitely ask for curtain poles."

I will buy my own. I'm just scared about getting the right length, what if I measure incorrectly? Can I get a handyman to do it all? ie he would come and measure, order/buy the curtain rail and put it up? I'm seriously awful at DIY.

You won't measure it incorrectly. Have you got a measuring tape there?

Rather than fork out on draught excluders, try using your (cleaner) laundry, eg worn jeans etc folded so as to exclude draughts this is my top tip from my poorer days. Then if it works, you can get nicer ones.

And draught excluding tape for windows and doors is excellent.

Is the floor in the hall hard flooring?

my rent includes the heating so it doesn't cost me any more to have it on, but I'm still cold!

Leave the heating on at a lower temperature so that the whole flat gets warm - including the hallway.

Ask the landlord of you can have a thermostat fitted as well as curtain poles.

I wouldn't bother trying to heat the hallway, it just seems like a waste of energy. Just close the doors when you go in and out to keep the heat in the other rooms. If you're wearing good clothes (layers of wool, basically) then you shouldn't get cold just passing through.

Thick curtains sounds like a good idea for the drafts in the living room. Again, layers of woollen clothing will also help to keep you insulated. There was a Guardian article on staying warm while home working recently in the context of the energy price rises, and the gist was basically "heat yourself, not the house".

The bathroom sounds pretty awful, no idea about that! How big is the room? A heated towel rail might help to heat the room further if LL would let you install one, plus at least you can walk straight out of the shower into a heated towel?

@TheSpottedZebra

Rather than fork out on draught excluders, try using your (cleaner) laundry, eg worn jeans etc folded so as to exclude draughts this is my top tip from my poorer days. Then if it works, you can get nicer ones.

And draught excluding tape for windows and doors is excellent.

Draught excluding tape is a new one for me. I'll have to look that up. I think draught excluders only cost a few pounds so I can probably afford that though it won't help the hallway.

"Also ask the landlord for a towel heater in the bathroom so it's connected to the central heating, and for a radiator in the hallway. It's not that expensive to do - I've done it in two houses and it's never been more than about £350, with labour and the radiators. The worst they can do is say no."

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do this. They used to live in their own part of the building without heating everywhere. And I wouldn't spend that much myself without knowing how long I'm going to be here.
The last tenant was a young man so was probably warm enough.

"You won't measure it incorrectly. Have you got a measuring tape there?"

Yep, got measuring tape. I was just thinking that if I measured it as 1.5m or whatever and then get a pole that is 1.5m exactly that might be slightly too big, but then if I get one at 1.4 it would be too small.

@TheSpottedZebra

Is the floor in the hall hard flooring?

I have wood everywhere. I have a bamboo mat in the living room and a little mat under my feet where I work. When I'm on the sofa my feet are in warm slippers and then actually on the sofa. I can't cope with carpets or too many mats because of allergies. Bathroom is tile of course, but I have a bathroom mat.

"here was a Guardian article on staying warm while home working recently in the context of the energy price rises, and the gist was basically "heat yourself, not the house".

Rising energy prices don't concern me though and I'm a person who feels the cold. I can't just be in warm clothes. I need the air around me to be warm as well and to not have a cold nose/cheeks/hands, areas that can't be covered all the time.
Even though the cost of heating doesn't bother me, I couldn't bring myself to leave the heating on low at all times. It just feels wrong.