Why is my living room so cold!

[Batferg]

It's double glazed with thermal curtains, including over the door (which is new and no discernible drafts). It has a radiator at each end and a woodturner in one end with an open fireplace (chimney blocked and insulated as the aerial wires come down it). It is next to the utility which has a thermal curtain over the door on each side!

The house is 18/19 century brick and flint with loft insulation in every part of the roof we can access.

Even if the fire is in overnight, the room is the coldest in the house! What can I do to make it more pleasant?

I have my eye on a heated blanket but making do with double tog weimaraners at present.

Damn you and your practical advice. I think we could insulate one wall but carpet could be the answer. Could I do it with rugs/floor coverings instead of carpet?

@Batferg yes rugs would work too if you really don't want to cover the floor. Our bathroom (we just refurbished and put thick lino down) had a concrete floor with awful old 70s vinyl tiles on and in the winter we used to put a large rug down in there to help raise the temp a bit. We carpeted our main room because we had dogs with mobility issues who would have been a complete nightmare with rugs.

And don't rule out wall insulation, but do make sure you get expert advice about if it's suitable. We have a couple of rooms that building control insisted had to be insulated to regs, but our heritage expert grumbled massively about we lost inches to gaps for airflow. I don't really understand the ins and outs. We are in fenland too though so damp is slightly more of an issue for us because our footings are sitting in ground prone to a high water table.

Fab, thank you @queenrollo the way the layout is (four farm cottages now knocked into one - you can imagine the number of straight lines we have in the house... ) could easily do rugs in one half of the living room and half of the other half whilst still giving the hounds access to both sofas. They are both in good health but doesn't hurt to future proof.

They are both so sound asleep on my legs at the moment I had to ask DH to pass me a tissue from the box which is just out of my reach. Lovely.

Was going to say the same thing 😂

Underfloor heating? You can get low profile wet underfloor heating that can run off your boiler, retro fit on top of existing floor, profile is 16 or 18mm I think.

Interesting. There is a discrepancy in the height of the floors - 3 inch step in the middle of the room so that could definitely work in the colder half. I will investigate.

Another easy insulating option for your floor that might be a bit more dog friendly than carpet or rugs is cork.

In the meantime a heated throw will make evenings on the sofa much cosier. If your dogs are like our cat they will be glued to you when you have it on.

We had a similar problem and bought a dehumidifier, it is the best thing ever. The humidity of our house was over 65% which is too much, after a week of running it in various rooms the whole house is much warmer without the heating on and the coldest room, the living room is much better. On a plus they also help to dry your washing quicker when its inside.

Definitely get heated throws (great Black Friday deals on now at Lakeland), weims feel the cold and they’ll love them

You really need to be careful with insulating old properties though as it can lead to problems with the damp just sitting in the walls.

Yes! Please heed this! Old houses are built to breathe a certain way, and if you prevent that you can get huge problems.

It'll be the slate floor.

Slate was used before refrigeration to keep dairy's cold. Stately homes used it in their food storage areas too. It was also commonly used in larders for the same reason.

If you use rugs bear in mind anywhere not covered will still chill the air.

I'd honestly bite the bullet and carpet.

My house is Victorian and draughty, and external walls keep the living room cold. I agree that lots of rugs are the answer, as well as thick socks and woolly jumpers. Also, after a couple of years you just get used to the cold.

A big plus for me is that it’s never too hot, even in a heatwave. I hate being too hot, but if I’m cold I can always add another layer of clothes.

Heated throw en route!

Ive brought the dehumidifier in, will see how much it picks up.

@TheYearOfSmallThings yes, I’m slowly finding that Mr Bodge who we bought from did not heed anything of any value!

@erikbloodaxe ugh. Really don’t want to carpet downstairs but accept it might be inevitable.

@GrumpyOldCrone agreed, it’s fab in the summer, we all come in here to cool down!

Quick update, one of the radiators was turned off. That might have contributed. FML. All other suggestions still apply. Thank you 🤦🏻‍♀️

I have a Victorian flat and can identify - except my flat traps the heat in summer. It needs new windows and doors, and I'm currently a) trying to work out a project for doing refurbishment work and a budget and b) buying up draughtproofing as an interim measure.

@Batferg

“I live in a Victorian cottage and my gable end living room was always like a fridge, despite the wood burner and central heating until I got internal wall insulation.
Makes a huge difference.
Did you DIY it? What type did you use?”

No we got it professionally done.
Not sure exactly what they used but is about 3 inches thick foam with foil on one side and vapour barrier. Got the 3 walls done.
(Yes you have to be careful because if not done properly you can create problems with damp.)
About 2 years ago.
No damp or condensation issues so far and my living room is toastie warm.

For drying clothes I got a heat pump tumble drier which is cheap to run( if a little more expensive to buy ) but the amount of water it collects is quite shocking when you think all of that would be in the atmosphere if air drying clothes in the house. Worse still if you put them on radiators because it affects the efficiency of your central heating and ends up costing you.

Can ABSOLUTELY BEYOND ANY DOUBT confirm that heated throw is very popular with weimaraners.

No. I can’t tell which way up we are either.