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?

I have a Victorian terrace and it's maintaining 20 degress ok. But I have put a tonne of insulation in, in the loft, internally on walls, new external doors to block the drafts and chimny sheep in chimneys. I also put a new boiler in about ten years ago after the Winter of 2010–11 when it was still snowing heavily at Easter and some rooms went down to 9 degrees.

The single glazing is going to be the killer, unfortunately, and the open plan will compound it because it means you can't shut off those room(s.) If you can get some heavy curtains you can mitigate some of it, (or there is the internal plastic lining you can use - but I don't think it's much cop.) However, I am afraid the house will never be as good at retaining heat as a new build. It comes with the terratory.

Our house is bloody boiling, and the boiler is 30 years old!

Ours is a cold house, that’s why we’ve got the fitted carpets MN loves to hate.

If you don't mind looking a little crazy that layers of bubble wrap over single glazed or even double glazed windows add a little warmth.

I can't speak for what the neighbours thought but we did do it before the windows were double glazed in the back bedroom of the old house years ago It was absolutely freezing with 2 outside walls and it did help a little

No heating on here downstairs just wood burners running 24/7 and minimal in bedrooms 17 thermal curtains, door curtains & jumpers on

I live in a Georgian flat and my old boiler is a pain. It's not so much that the flat feels colder (though just got the radiators fixed 🙄), but the hot water feels cooler! We don't have an electric shower - it runs from the boiler - and I don't remember the last time I had a proper hot shower.
Old properties can be a total pain in the tits!

My heating hasn't once been off, and the original single-glazed sash windows don't help

Yes!

DH had to go out and pour warm water on a blockage in a condensing pipe outside earlier. Right ballache. Piss off cold.

We have a mid terrace victorian property - also our first winter. Our problem area is also the kitchen. We have an open fire in it but I’m waiting to get a log burner fitted before using. Our issue is the back door - it’s a fairly modern stable door type but doesn’t fit well and it blows a Gale! There is no door to the kitchen so the hall feels cold too. Log burner in living room is amazing. We also have wooden floors all over apart from the new loft conversion. At least the roof is well insulated!

We live in a 4 bed Victorian villa. Very high ceilings. Very draughty in general. Breeze whips up from the cellar despite the window down there being firmly closed.
Heating up full blast since 7:30am and the thermostat says it's 15.5 degrees in here.
We sit in the lounge with an open fire going. I wear 2 pairs of sweats, a vest, a jumper and a hoody or a dressing gown over the top but I am a really cold mortal anyway.
All the kids have dressing gowns which are fondly referred to as 'house coats', much to most other people's amusement and are generally worn over the top of normal clothes.

In the summer people think we have air con when they step in and it's truly lovely, but winter is especially brutal. Some days you can see your breath

We have a 1910 terrace but it’s more Victorian style than edwardian. We do have double glazing but have wooden floors throughout, open plan downstairs and an open fireplace and wood burner connection downstairs (don’t use due to kids with additional needs).

Usually our house is super easy to heat - we have these giant chunky radiators the previous owners put in and a new boiler two years ago (been here 3.5 years).

This last week or so is the first time we’ve ever struggled to keep the house warm so it definitely seems especially bad this year.

Rugs downstairs have helped and anything you can do to put in secondary glazing I would!

1970s MoD married quarter. It wasn’t this cold when we moved in last year! Currently minus 2 outside. Double glazed, 4 bedrooms, big house.

Unfortunately for people who don’t own their own homes, it’s not a simple matter of getting new windows / boiler / radiators / insulation etc.

We had open plan and laminate in one of our houses and during cold works it was never warm despite double glazing and being a terrace. Our 1930s house was a bit better. This apartment is freezing despite lots of insulation but I wonder if it's because the heating is electric and an eco system thing.

I live in a conservation area OP and we are allowed to change our windows. I'd double check with your council.

Our house is old and detached and it’s been freezing over the years. We sanded all the floors when we moved in but have since covered those with oak flooring and carpet in the lounge. We’ve put triple glazing in the front of the house and we’ve been under the house and and put insulation on the underside of all the floors. None of it made a difference - upstairs is boiling though 😂

Last year we had cavity wall insulation done and wow, what a difference. It’s finally warm downstairs too.

Good to know others are having the same issue as us.
We' ve just had a new boiler, have double glazing, but live in an old house with open fires high ceilings etc and it is cold! thermostat says its 20 degrees, which i don't believe! maybe it is in limited parts of the house like the lounge but everywhere else is freezing

Last year we had cavity wall insulation done and wow, what a difference. It’s finally warm downstairs too.

That’s interesting to hear! Was it very messy? And expensive??

I grew up in a freezing house which is why I'd never buy a period property. I like my double glazing!

Have you bled the radiators?

Yes freezing, we currently have no plaster on the walls in the corridors so that hasnt helped but the thermostat can barely make it to our set temperature downstairs even with doors shut.

I light the fire in the living room every day; we have back boiler too . We have oil fired central heating . To heat the entire house to 20/21 degrees eatery day would cost thousands a year.

70's semi here I turned the thermostat up to 20, it's reaching the right temp but we still feel cold. I'm getting out jumper and Dd is under a fleece blanket with the cat.

23 year old house, boiler was replaced probably 5 years ago, regularily serviced and yes I do think it's struggling

OH is up at 4am and it's set for to come on at 3am and he says it rarely is up to temp. We've got it set for 13 overnight and I am wondering if we need to up it om very cold days

Good to hear others are experiencing the same. I've had our heating on 24/7 for the last 4 days. Thermostat is set at 20 degrees but it rarely gets above 18! 🥶

It’s the same for us and my mum has mentioned it too! Our house is usually lovely and toasty but this cold snap has really had an effect. It warms up initially when we click the heating on but it drops cold again much quicker than it usually does. We’re turning up the thermostat far more than normal, I am COLD 🥶

You need carpets and underlay. It's amazing how much cold come up through the ground