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 :(

"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?"

The room's not very big. I just think that because it's a walk-in shower with screens rather than a curtain, the shower 'area' never gets warm. I was away last week, stayed in an Ibis and an even cheaper hotel and in both the shower was much warmer. In the Ibis one I banged the wall if I moved my elbow, but just letting the water run for a couple of minutes was enough to heat up the small shower so I'm thinking of ways of making my shower 'smaller' and saw the spirulina/umbrella shower curtain idea.

OK, the curtain pole if you get an extendable one (one pole fits inside the other and you can adjust) then you can be quite rough on the measurements. www.dunelm.com/product/trumpet-extendable-16-19mm-metal-curtain-pole-1000105455?colour=Chrome&defaultSkuId=30372322&length=120-210cm

Eg this one - there is 90cm to ‘play’ with. So between 120-210cm.

Good idea on the pole. Thanks.

I hope shops have some that are appropriate for heavy curtains though.

I am pretty sure you can cut wooden poles to size anyway so buy slightly bigger than you need.

Maybe you can, but I can't. I'd need a saw and DIY skills! I think extendable is a good idea as long as they're strong enough for heavy curtains.

If you aren’t particularly bothered by spending a bit more on heating, then leave your doors open to heat the hall.

I have a modern and very well insulated home. Despite that and getting a new front door last year which has helped, our hallway is still cold. Add to that I feel the cold, particularly when tired and dh is always warm. At this time of year I always have a hot water bottle in the evening and a throw over me if needed. It isn't a failure of heating, it's cheaper than heating the whole house up and dh getting really warm. We have an electric fan heater in the lounge which I occasionally put on rather than the central heating.

@SheWoreYellow

If you aren’t particularly bothered by spending a bit more on heating, then leave your doors open to heat the hall.

I sometimes do when the room I'm in has had enough time to warm up properly, but I obviously can't do that in the first few hours of having the radiator on in the room I'm in. The hallway seems to just go really cold again very quickly again.

"At this time of year I always have a hot water bottle in the evening and a throw over me if needed."

I do think it's a failure of heating and I live alone so no need to worry about a warm person. I use my hot water bottle if I've come in after a day outside and I'm still waiting for the place to heat, but I wouldn't need to if I could put my heating on timer.
Doesn't help with the bathroom problem at all either.
I've always been told that electric heaters are more expensive than gas central heating so I don't see why I'd put one of those on rather than put the radiator on.

To strengthen the pole have three brackets, left, right and middle so it can bear more weight.

For measuring up a curtain pole measure the length of the window then add on about 16 inches to each end. Not hard and you can't really go wrong. A handyman would put up a curtain rain in half a hour. You could get heavy velvet curtains with thermal linings. You will soon recoup the outlay. Also get a heated soft fleece throw so when you are sitting on sofa you will keep nice and snuggly. I got a good Woucher deal last year. Do you have good lagging in the loft? If not ask LL to upgrade it.

@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.

For curtain poles, measure the width of the window recess and add at least 15 cm either side (so you can open the curtains).
If you're putting thick, heavy curtains up I'd go for 20 cm each side as they need more room when open.

If the landlord will put up the poles that's great, or if you can afford it I'd pay a handyman (get a local recommendation) to put the pole up.

You can sometimes get velvet or other heavy, lined curtains in charity shops or on Facebook marketplace relatively cheaply (curtains are shockingly expensive!).

For sitting on the sofa, have you considered a heated throw? I don't have one but apparently they're lovely and toasty .

Forgot the curtain length - measure the length of the recess and down to where you want the curtains to finish (and don't forget to add the distance at the top between the top of the recess and the pole!)

@Gwenhwyfar

"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.

No you add a bit extra, so if you measure from one side of the window recess to the other then you want the next size up of pole.

Measure it there and we'll find you a pole that fits. Dunelm do white wooden ones that are v cheap and look really nice up, I had them in my house before we moved.

Or you could just fit a curtain rail and hang curtains on the little hooks. Rails are very cheap and light, easier worked with.

I live in a very cold house with just electric heaters which are very costly to run. To help with the cold I have put up thick curtains over my front door to keep any draft out, I have archways not doorways into each room meaning the heat just disappears so I got some tension rods and put up curtains. This helps a bit. I have also bought a fan heater which I use at times during the day to boost heat. I have a really thick duvet and a weighted blanket on my bed which is super cosy. I have also invested in a heated throw.

If you get it right (i.e right temperature) leaving the heating on low all the time is more power saving than turning it on/off all the time, because getting it from freezing to warm takes more energy than maintaining just right. I dunno what that temperature is though.

@HappyBackHome

Forgot the curtain length - measure the length of the recess and down to where you want the curtains to finish (and don't forget to add the distance at the top between the top of the recess and the pole!)

I've got the curtain already so that length won't change. It's the curtain pole I need to buy.

"If the landlord will put up the poles that's great, or if you can afford it I'd pay a handyman (get a local recommendation) to put the pole up."

I will pay a handyman. There is no reason why the LL would or should do it for me.
For the length of the curtain pole, there's a sort of recess for the French window so it's not something I can choose. I would have to get it absolutely right. That's why I'm now thinking of asking the handyman to come and measure up, buy the rail and then come back to make the holes and put the curtain up. I already have the curtain from a previous home.

" I have put up thick curtains over my front door to keep any draft out"

I'm in a flat so my front door doesn't open to the outside. I really think I have worst draft coming from the French windows to the balcony so I'm going to start there with the curtains.

@ThePlantsitter

If you get it right (i.e right temperature) leaving the heating on low all the time is more power saving than turning it on/off all the time, because getting it from freezing to warm takes more energy than maintaining just right. I dunno what that temperature is though.

I can see how you might be right, but I just would feel bad having heating on all day and night. I don't have a thermostat so can only choose between 1 and 5 - I almost always have the radiators on 5 if they're on because I'm always trying to get the temperature up to 20/21.

Does the hallway have a plug socket or one in a room your could an extension cord from without tripping? I'd recommend a slim convection heater with timer and thermostat. Would be enough to keep the hallway warm without costing a lot to run. You can also get free standing panel radiators that do the same thing but convection is faster. Ditto the bathroom - before your shower you could warm the bathroom up with the convection (use an extension cord if necessary) but just remove it before you shower to avoid the heater getting moisture in it. Alternatively a fan heater?

Our block of flats has communal heating that goes on and off at specified times of the year. If we get a cold snap when it's off, we have no heating. So I've had to get some electric heaters for those times. My kitchen also has no heating at all and big metal framed windows so gets freezing cold. Convection heater takes the chill off without being too expensive.

I’m considering buying a pack of cork tiles to put down over our current freezing bathroom tiles. I don’t know if it’s going to help much. Looks as if I can get a pack for about twenty quid.

An extendable pole should be strong enough for quite heavy curtains as long as it’s supported in three places.

I have made a shower enclosure smaller with a curtain before & it did get warmer. You do run the gauntlet of wet shower curtain wrapping itself round you mid shower though shudder