to ask if your heating is struggling in this cold snap?

[ohbigdaddio]

We've just moved to a Victorian terrace and are bloody freezing. The thermostat is struggling to get to 17 degrees in the double glazed kitchen and the heating has been on all day. There's no way it's 17 degrees in other parts of the house!
Only been here a week so no idea what it's like in normal winter temperatures.
Trying to work out if it's our new house or if it's due to the unprecedented weather! We have wooden floorboards throughout all 3 floors, single glazing at front of house (conservation area so can't change this) and a lot of the house is open plan which I know will be contributing to the cold but is anyone else having this issue?

Our house definitely seems colder when it's really cold outside, even though most of the time we can get it quite warm!

It’s definitely partly the weather. Mine hasn’t been reaching the 20degrees it’s set to for a couple of hours in the morning and it comes on at 16 overnight to stop it getting so cold that it never warms up again. It sounds like part of it will be due to your floorboards, single glazing and open plan layout though.

Yes, our boiler keeps going off (only had a full service last year) and dh keeps having to top up the pressure. They really need bleeding too...

Atm I have the heating on full blast, an electric fire plugged in next to me, thermal socks and a fur rug over my knee! I’m still cold!

It’s the weather. The condenser pipe on our boiler froze up last night and the house plummeted to Arctic temperatures. DH (who is totally incompetent at anything manual) was out with a watering can of hot water desperately trying to defrost it. Worked in the end, but he did come back looking rather blue around the edges...

Not too bad, our flat is in an old building that doesn’t have wall insulation or double glazing, we do however have the luxury of heat coming from the flats below.

I always have our heating set to a certain temp, so I think the flat not going cold during the night helps.

Wooden floorboards were never meant to be the final flooring. We lived in an Edwardian house with beautiful wooden floors but added rugs and carpets upstairs which helped. Open plan won’t really help. You could add secondary glazing panels to your single glazed windows; I think some are removable in the summer.
It’s definitely very cold right now. Also check your loft insulation. My house is colder than usual this week. Just keeping the heating on all the time and lighting the fire every day is helping.

We live in a 1900s semi and it's also freezing. Double glazed throughout but struggling to get to 17 degrees. The kitchen's completely Baltic! I dread to think what our energy payments will go up to because the heating's been on constantly.

The room the thermostat is in was 12 degrees when I got up this morning (I don't have the heating running through the night).

Relieved to hear others are finding the same.

I can’t help with your heating OP but get some heavy curtains up at those single glazed windows (all windows in fact!) and your door ways. Use two pairs of curtains if you need to. Get rugs on the floors. Even blankets will do on the floor to stop drafts. Make some draft excluders out of tights/stockings. Get yourselves warmed ASAP in the morning with hot showers, put your clothes on the radiator before dressing, warm breakfast- porridge, tea etc and keep yourselves layered up to retain as much of that heat as possible. Plug in halogen heaters are great for heating a room too if you need it.

I have a Victorian terrace but it’s double glazed throughout. Usually it’s no problem heating it but it’s been a bit harder this week - struggled to get up to the 20.5 I like!

Our heating does not cope well... especially given that we went for floorboards in the hallway and main back space which is large and open plan and (where on heater doesn't work) - we can't be in there without wearing a coat or blanket when it gets under 5C. I think by next winter we might put down a wood floor over it!

It's really become acute today, I can't get warm anywhere and it'll take a good few days to get back up to hear next week.

I'm in the relatively warm front room, but the thermometer on the clock next to me says it's 16C, which is not great for indoors.

When it’s this cold I keep the heating on to a min of 19 at night otherwise it never heats up during the day

I live in a detached 1930s house and I've consistently kept the temperature at 20-22. Only have heating on a few hours a day.

Yes, our flat's struggling to go above 20 whereas its usually that without trying. I feel awful for anyone living on the streets right now or who can't afford heating.

@ohbigdaddio you can get double glazing in a conservation area (speaking from it here in my doubled glazed front room). There are companies that specialise in super slim glazing that matches the original so don’t rule it out!

We’re in an old house as well, but are cosy. When you can it might be worth looking at ways to insulate your house. Secondary glazing and thermal lined curtains will help. Old floor boards can have the gaps filled, draught excluders round doors. It might be worth having the boiler assessed for efficiency.
We spent the first winter in this house with CH running full on, underfloor heating in the kitchen, wood burning stove and open fire on! We were still cold. That summer we addressed all the insulation and heating issue. So warm now.

No issues here.

Large open plan area plus other rooms off hall way, Double glazing, GCH.

its sounds like floorboards, open plan and single glazing will be playing it's part. How olds the boiler?

17 is chilly! Put your thermometer up!!

Wow I'm glad someone has thought this. My house is usually over-toasty but I'm now checking radiators and boiler every 5 mins thinking they've broken down. Next week should be a balmy 11-13 degrees so hopefully everyone's houses will go back to feeling warm and toasty.

We’re in a 200 year old stone cottage which is difficult to heat anyway, but like you, the thermostat is struggling to even get to 18° at the moment even if on for hours.

Upstairs is roasting but downstairs is really struggling to heat up properly (hard floors downstairs and carpet upstairs).
The room I'm working from home in is positively arctic. Getting that room to warm up means the rest of the house feels like the Bahamas.
We're moving soon and that house will be a nightmare to heat due to the huge rooms and 35yr old boiler :(

You can have secondary glazing put in.

Your house sounds just like ours. We had exactly that the last 2-3 winters since we moved in. This year though we have a brand new (large, expensive) boiler, and smart controllers on every radiator (rather than just a central thermostat) and it’s AMAZING.

Yes - Victorian terrace that was cheaply renovated (living here temporarily) and some parts of the house are really draughty and freezing at the moment even though heating is on.