Cost of living
House never gets warm!
Clarabellawilliamson · 13/12/2022 11:33
Even if the heating has been on for hours! The house managed to get up to 18 degrees on Sunday, that's the only time it has been that warm for ages- we had 14 excited children dancing at a party that warmed it up!
Our boiler is 2 years old, we switched to a pressurised cylinder in the summer which should be helping. I've turned the flow temp UP on the boiler (despite every article talking about turning it down to save money!) and that has helped by a degree or two. The bedrooms are ok, downstairs is freezing. I think not enough radiators/ not big enough for the rooms.
All the things that make my house lovely (big rooms, large windows) make it an absolute bugger to heat!
Longshot25 · 13/12/2022 11:43
Same here OP. My house never feels warms even with heating on and doors shut. It's miserable. I work from two days a week (which I normally love) but absolutely dread it now because it's so bloody cold and costs a fortune to have the heating on all day. Currently sat on the sofa in fluffy pyjamas, socks, dressing gown with the duvet and I'm still freezing (heating on low) 🥶
Youngatheart00 · 13/12/2022 11:44
My house is the same. Can have heating running for hours and with these cold temps outside it struggles to get past 17.5. Meanwhile there’s that gas burning away. Stresses me out!!
wondering if a boulder / radiator service would help as some radiators don’t even seem to get that warm, how much should I expect to pay for that?
MrsSkylerWhite · 13/12/2022 11:45
Same here. Exposed floorboards, too.
we’ve given up and layer up, use door curtains, heated throws when we’re watching tv, etc. used to it now and quite comfortable at around 16.
DeePlume · 13/12/2022 11:45
My house is 200 year old end terrace. We've given up trying to be warm 😂
1000yellowdaisies · 13/12/2022 11:48
Same here. My house is a terrace but old with high ceilings and the whole downstairs is open plan. The heating can be on for ages and it doesn't get very warm.... i bought some rubber draft excluders for the back and front doors and that seemed to help and i also backed my radiators with foil sheets which i saw on YouTube (doesn't look very good tbh but oh well).
I also want to get a door at the bottom of my stairs to stop all the heat going up when no one is up there but that hasnt happened yet....
bloodyeverlastinghell · 13/12/2022 11:51
Mines too with the central heating at least. I have two woodburners downstairs and they make the whole place toastie though. I think old buildings need that big blast of heat.
stuntbubbles · 13/12/2022 11:56
Same! We moved to a big draughty Edwardian in the summer that’s never been properly “done” – one storey is timber not brick with zero insulation, the bay window walls are the same. Not nearly enough radiators, too-small boiler, etc. At some point the previous owners knocked together the back room and kitchen but only installed one under-window titchy radiator. Crap windows too.
We’re gradually tackling it – top timber storey being insulated as we speak! – but it won’t be ready this winter. I’m playing eBay bidding wars daily to get thermal door curtains, and about to buy a big roll of thermal lining to add to the window curtains. 🥶🥶🥶
DeePlume · 13/12/2022 12:01
My downstairs is all open too! I curse the person who knocked through and replaced the fireplaces with ornamental ones
Clarabellawilliamson · 13/12/2022 12:09
I'm going to spend all weekend going round and putting that film over any windows that are single glazed. All the fireplaces have been removed but the front room still has an open chimney so I need to stuff something up there asap!
I think our curtains are ok because we lose heat much more rapidly in the day when they are open. I cannot bring myself to sit in the dark though.
MissyB1 · 13/12/2022 12:40
Our house was built mid 90s and it's the same for us! heating is on now, radiarors hot, temperature 17.5!!
Novemberhater · 13/12/2022 12:48
I had a beautiful Victorian house. We had several snowy winters while I owned it. We ended up sitting in one small room with the central heating blasting, a log fire and an electric fire on just to be remotely comfortable.
I now sitting in my highly insulated new build and the heating often doesn't need to kick in even when it's sub zero.
Old houses are beautiful, but most are miserable in cold weather.
summergone · 13/12/2022 14:18
Same here , the heat just floats about , I need a Winter house and a Summer one 😂
GasPanic · 13/12/2022 14:21
Have you bled your radiators, are they all getting hot and are they all turned on.
A pressurised cylinder will just help with the hot water flow (think power shower), not the central heating water temp or flow.
What is the kW of your new boiler compared to your old one and how many radiators do you have. Maybe your boiler is under powered.
What is the flow temp currently ?
stuntbubbles · 13/12/2022 14:28
Delectable · 13/12/2022 12:29
Put a hot water bottle in your jumper.
I did this in an old houseshare when wfh in my very cold 20s: layers on, slippers on, install myself inside a sleeping bag at my desk, hot water bottle inside, tie a belt around the ensemble to keep it all in place.
Works best if you also have a cat draped over you and enable delivery of parcels to a safe place, otherwise it’s a bit like a sack race to the door.
icegoose · 13/12/2022 14:33
We installed a wood burning stove.
I know they get criticized on here but it was the only thing that made our house toasty warm.
Clarabellawilliamson · 13/12/2022 15:28
Well, sorry that everyone else is cold too! @GasPanic yeah rads are all bled, no air in system. I've turned the temp up to 70. Not sure on the kW of this boiler- it's a baxi 400? The old one we didn't even use, it was condemned as soon as we moved in! I thought that changing to a pressurised cylinder would put the heating system under a certain amount of pressure too, because there was the potential for water to start pissing out of previously unnoticed tiny leaks?
I did just find out that some of our pipes are not copper- put in during a shortage in the 1970s....
Ciri · 13/12/2022 15:33
You are likely to have various cold spots in your house where heat is escaping. Things that can help include resealing around windows, draught excluders and also putting draught excluders around skirting boards (which are really bad for being heat loss spots).
Ive been making draught excluders from old curtains and filling them with scraps of material, odd socks, clothing that no longer fits etc and its made a worthwhile difference.
Clarabellawilliamson · 13/12/2022 15:40
Oh there's a million places where heat is escaping! Nearly every room has a massive open air brick for a start....
Thing is, if I start filling every gap then we will get damp, so I need to think about where the biggest losses are and what I can do. (Long term plan is probably to fill air bricks and get a PIV installed)
I just try and remind myself how lovely it is in summer....
InTheFutilityRoomEatingBiscuits · 14/12/2022 13:09
I am coming on to ask a very similar question. I’ve been reading heating threads far more often this year for obvious reasons and noticing that everyone seems to say that they are comfortable at eg 18 degrees. So, I was feeling like an utter wimp because I need to turn my heating right up to 24-25 degrees in order to feel the benefits of it being on. We just have one thermostat in one room and the heating is either clicked on or clicked off, the radiators don’t turn up or down individually. We are all just basically cold all the time at home.
So I got some small temperature and humidity gauges and have been moving them around the house to see what’s going on. Turns out that the only thing that gets the temperature above 14 degrees is to have the heating blasting out and turned up to 24-25. If the heating is off, the rooms vary between 6-11 degrees, 11 is the best reading for the south facing room if the sun is shining. Humidity is between 65-75%.
Ive had the boiler serviced. I’ve bled all the radiators. I have thick curtains. Not open plan, but we do have three unseated downstairs rooms (big porch, utility, conservatory). I open the windows for an hour each day and clean the condensation off.
Ive checked that the thermometers I bought work by taking them to work. They do.
what can I do?
LittleBrownRug · 14/12/2022 16:25
For those of you with no fireplaces try picking up one of these from somewhere:
www.calorgas-heaters.co.uk/12-calor-gas-heaters
We had one before the log burner was put in. Fantastic things!
AnotherCountryMummy · 14/12/2022 16:46
Thatched roof, stone walls, single glazing. Fucking freezing, even with the heating on all day 😭 earlier it was 9 degrees in here.
Gloriously cool in summer though...
Boonata · 14/12/2022 16:55
InTheFutilityRoomEatingBiscuits · 14/12/2022 13:09
I am coming on to ask a very similar question. I’ve been reading heating threads far more often this year for obvious reasons and noticing that everyone seems to say that they are comfortable at eg 18 degrees. So, I was feeling like an utter wimp because I need to turn my heating right up to 24-25 degrees in order to feel the benefits of it being on. We just have one thermostat in one room and the heating is either clicked on or clicked off, the radiators don’t turn up or down individually. We are all just basically cold all the time at home.
So I got some small temperature and humidity gauges and have been moving them around the house to see what’s going on. Turns out that the only thing that gets the temperature above 14 degrees is to have the heating blasting out and turned up to 24-25. If the heating is off, the rooms vary between 6-11 degrees, 11 is the best reading for the south facing room if the sun is shining. Humidity is between 65-75%.
Ive had the boiler serviced. I’ve bled all the radiators. I have thick curtains. Not open plan, but we do have three unseated downstairs rooms (big porch, utility, conservatory). I open the windows for an hour each day and clean the condensation off.
Ive checked that the thermometers I bought work by taking them to work. They do.
what can I do?
I'd say your humidity is too high - it's not easy / uses a lot of energy to heat wet/humid air. If you're opening windows to clear condensation you're also cooling the house and in this cold spell it's a tough job to reheat. If you have significant condensation on the windows (in most rooms) then again, your humidity is too high at the moment.
As well as taking steps to minimise humidity - extractors in bathrooms and kitchen, not drying laundry on radiators etc - you could consider a decent sized dehumidifier.
Run it overnight every night for initially 9 hours or so, shut all windows (all the time! - never let that warm air out or high humidity cold air in).
As well as removing moisture from the air, dehumidifiers also expel warmer air which helps to warm the house (but they are not heaters by any stretch).
Unforgettablefire · 14/12/2022 17:14
Clarabellawilliamson · 13/12/2022 15:40
Oh there's a million places where heat is escaping! Nearly every room has a massive open air brick for a start....
Thing is, if I start filling every gap then we will get damp, so I need to think about where the biggest losses are and what I can do. (Long term plan is probably to fill air bricks and get a PIV installed)
I just try and remind myself how lovely it is in summer....
I've got air bricks in my house the winds that blew through them my god! I got mould as well around them, covered them up and it hasn't came back since.
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