My house is so cold!

[MissIndecisive2023]

House was built in the 1980's. It's a 3 storey house - I'll attach a floorplan. One side of the house, which faces south, is usually ok/warmer comparatively to the side of the house. The other side of the house not only faces north, but has the garage (which is not well insulated) on the ground floor, and 2 bedrooms above it (one on each floor, so one above the other). The garage and 2 bedrooms "stick out", so they each have 3 outside walls.

The heating in the house doesn't seem to be terribly efficient, but we had the boiler serviced less than a year ago and it didn't make any difference. The radiators are tall ones that go from almost floor to ceiling, but don't ever seem to feel very hot, regardless of what I set the boiler radiator temperature to be. I can't set the max temperature to be any higher on the thermostat - not the temperature that it is aiming for, but there is some sort of maximum boiler/hot water/heating temperature that the heating engineer had a look at on the thermostat monitor thing, and it's already on the max.

My DC's room on the top floor is so cold! I came home from work today at 2pm and it was 12 degrees. I've had the heating on ever since, and it's currently at 14.5 degrees almost 5 hours later. I have a fan heater which I will put in there later before bed, but the temperature drops very quickly once it's turned off.

I don't know where to start with trying to improve things.

I've recently become a single mum, so I don't have a lot of money to increase the amount I have the heating on, which at the moment is 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night. I could try leaving the heating on and put it on a thermostat, but it never seems to reach the required temperature anyway so I feel like it would be on 24/7 which I can't afford.

Do I try and better insulate the garage and hope that it helps with the rooms above it?

Do I get someone into the roof to see if I can insulate it better?

Do I change radiators?! Would that make any difference?

My DS has ASD and due to sensory issues won't wear any pyjamas, so he is waking up cold in the night (not surprisingly!). I've got an electric blanket to put on his bed, but again due to sensory issues I'm not actually sure he will tolerate it very well.

What else can I do?

I put the fan heater in DS’s room at the top of the house and it got up to 20 degrees. In less than 15 minutes it’s now 17.2!

You have my sympathy! Our house has been 9 degrees all day.

I ended up turning on the hob to get some warmth and make cleaning the kitchen bearable. And the wood burner has finally warmed up the living room after being lit for 12 hours. We don’t have radiators which doesn’t help.

Have you got decent, thick curtains that you can close when it’s cold like this to keep the heat in? And perhaps a curtain over your front door? Hopefully this cold snap doesn’t last too long.

It's my job. I recon I've spoken to way more people than you with houses and businesses of all shapes and sizes who have needed meter and supply upgrades love.

Double check what setting your radiator temperature is set at on the boiler. Ours was 5 when we moved in, but I changed it to 4 which still seems hot. My SIL hardly has heating on and their boiler is set at 2, the radiators are luke warm.

Also, as others have suggested look at the power of the boiler in relation to the size of the house.

Another thing, I'd consider - is the boiler the original - could be coming to the end of it's lifespan if 20 years old.

Despite the above, it's really cold outside, so any house is going to get cold if heating isn't constantly on. We had ours on for two hours first thing, DH put it on sometime over lunch and it came on timed at 4pm and switched off when got to temperature. Have had heat from cooking since, but can feel it's cooling off without heating on.

I was going to suggest checking the temperature of the boiler itself - we turned ours down as the radiators got too hot but yours might be too low.

But the fact that the rooms cool so quickly suggests an insulation issue. Definitely get someone in to insulate loft and garage. Also, are your walls insulated? We took advantage of a government scheme a few years ago to get ours done and it made a surprising difference to heat retention. I don't know if similar schemes still exist but worth a Google?

For ds, we got a heated blanket. He has sensory processing disorder and he loved it (hes hitting puberty now and almost never cold so he doesnt use it anymore). He could snuggle in but also push it away or to places he needed it more/less. Better than an electric blanket I think for him.

Sounds like the house is loosing heat very quickly, faster than the boiler and radiators can supply it!
First off, find and block drafts. Obviously you need ventilation, but stuff like rattly windows and gappy floorboards should be sorted (very cheap to fix, very effective).
Are you elligible for grants for cavity wall insulation and upgraded loft insulation? Its fairly likely you will be. If not, then the loft you could do yourself.
Could you add secondary glazing - if the windows are from 1980's theyll not have a big airspace between the panes of glass, so arent very insulating. Magneglaze are good. Way more affordable than new double glazing (not as effective, sadly, but still good).
Thick curtains and cellular blinds.

Im slso freezing, our new house has crap insulation and single glazed windows... we're working on it!

Insulation and get someone to check your window seals. I’m pretty sure I can feel a draft around some of our windows so think the seals may have gone (moved in as a new build 11 years ago), I’m getting a chap out to check them next week.

Try a dehumidifier, I have similar issues and it has helped. The air is dry so heating is more efficient, heating up dry air is easier than damp air. Also helps with condensation.

It is hard when the weather is relatively cold for Britain. I wouldn't worry about most of the house at night but get a little oil filled radiator for your son's room- they are safe to leave on overnight.

Take care with that. My husband insisted on doing that a few years ago and we ended up with damp on the outside walls of the rooms with no heat and those rooms then had to be redecorated. MUCH more expensive than heating them a bit!

@MissIndecisive2023 it won't help with heating the house, but what about an extra blanket under you / the DC when you go to bed.

I always find my bed is cold and having a blanket between me and the mattress helps. That and a couple of hot water bottles

You can try the heated blanket under the sheet or you could try a heated throw over the top. My youngest doesn't like the heated throw on her (as in touching her)- so it goes over the top of her duvet and it has a timer- so at bedtime it goes inside the bed on high before she gets in, so the bed in warm, then I pop it over the duvet but on low. It is then on for 3 hours and then when I go to bed, I take it off.

Her room has single glazing so the heated throw is really helpful.

Thanks for all replies. Just sorting out bedtime so will reply properly later.

Truing the heated blanket (under sheet) tonight. Fingers crossed!

Three level houses I’ve found have sludge type thing in the radiators give them a bleed also may need a full flush don’t think this is done in a boiler service.

My last house had couple of rooms with those tall radiators. They never heated the rooms that much at all. Changed one of them before I moved and it made a massive difference. It could be that x

@MissIndecisive2023 a little early for a full update, but did your DS like the heated blanket? Did it help?

No, he said he was too hot!! I will try a heated throw instead that’s easier to move off and removes the heat immediately. He didn’t like that his bed stayed warm when the blanket was turned off!

Are you in a hard water area or do you have microbore pipes. If so speak to your heating engineer and ask whether a power flush or something to soften the water might help. Our house is four storey (tall and narrow) and the sludge used to sink to the basement to the extent that the radiators there did not work at all.

My asd son has fleece bedding. He won't wear pj's.

We found sleeping on top of a furry blanket to be good for SPD/ASD and good for free warmth. When my room is 10 degrees i'm too hot with the heated blanket, but on top of a fleece blanket and under a 10 tog duvet is perfect.

@MissIndecisive2023 another thought I had. Could you move your DS into the room above the kitchen / dining room?

I've tended to find these rooms warmer than most, without needing to have the heating on as it benefits from the heat rising from the kitchen.

Appreciate it would mean swapping furniture around, but is there family / friends that could help?