How to keep the house warm

[Careerdecisions]

We live in an Edwardian house, large rooms with high ceilings and it’s very expensive to heat in the winter. Last year with escalating costs we used a lot of heated throws and tried to stay in one room as much as possible but it was pretty miserable.

It’s starting to get colder and I’m thinking about lower cost options to make things more comfortable this year without our bills going through the roof.

We looked at replacing our single glazed windows last year and it was going to cost £15k so we didn’t go ahead.

This year I am considering-:

1. Putting in secondary glazing as a cheaper alternative
2. Getting the boiler serviced (it’s not been serviced for five years) to make sure it is working optimally.
3. Bleeding and desludging the radiators. We have one leaking too so will replace or repair it.

We already have thick curtains in place. It’s just a cold house with thick walls. Even in the Summer it’s cold inside when it’s hot outside.

Any other ideas?

I'm in a victorian, we try not to let it too cold by popping the heating on for the odd hour. If the house gets cold it take ages to heat up.
We also have blankets, cats for knees, hot water bottles, a serviced boiler, dehumidifier, keep doors closed with a rolled up blanket as a draft excluder when it's windy.
Leave the oven door open after cooking, the same with the dishwasher and dryer. Leave the bath water in (as long as no kids who will fall in). A bath really warms me up, I can get very cold.
Candles add a surprising amount of warmth too, light some tea lights to make your lounge cosy.

This. Some dehumidifiers heat the air too and will help dry and warm a room (I have several).

I'm in a very chilly Victorian house. I WFH. I've bought a freestanding plug in radiator for my office. In the evening I sometimes wheel it into another room to avoid heating the whole house, or use it in a room we're in at the weekend to avoid switching the heating on until later.

I also use lots of blankets and a hot water bottle.

Even with all the heating on and double glazing our house still has cold parts!

I'd try to heat the person, not the room, so I'd use leg warmers (I've got cheap ones from Amazon). layers, a neck warmer, slipper boots, and a hot water bottle when sitting etc.

I am considering not using the front door as soon as it’s open literally all the warm from the rooms off it are sucked out when the doors are open and we are very open plan.

thinking of using the back door, it’s the utility room and making a point of closing the door to the kitchen when planning on using the back door. So basically just a small area gets cold. Also can see someone at the front door and nip round via the back door if I wish.

Dehumidifier, blankets, magnetic secondary glazing - especially if you have wooden windows, you can take the Perspex down in summer very easily (UPVC windows start to fail after about 10 years and need to be replaced more often - my wooden windows are over 200 years old and still perfect).

You could also look into infrared panels. Not expensive and much more efficient, also used in older houses much more now.

We used Chimney Sheep to get wool at the right dimensions for all the chimneys we don't use. They are breathable and still ventilate but hugely reduce heat loss (they made a huge difference to the warmth of our house).

Slippers are great because you are not stepping directly onto cold floors.

All of these things in total would be much cheaper than UPVC windows. Look of Facebook for suitable groups which are for older houses. What you will need for an old solid stone house will be different to what you would need for a modern brick house. Older houses were built to deal with varying temperatures so find out how to work with your building and you will be amazed at how much warmer you could be with some very inexpensive quick changes!
Best of luck!

We try to keep the curtains closed as much as possible - we have very big (wide & tall) windows. We open the curtains about a 3rd to let light in but mostly keep them closed & tucked behind the radiator so the warm air doesn't go up behind the curtains. I like to use smaller lights - lamps, candles as it strangely feels warmer. We have a spare double duvet that we huddle under of an evening when the heating goes off.
We wear layers & make use of hot water bottles & hot drinks.

We just taped aluminium (kitchen) foil to the back of our radiators. No need to buy special panels.
It makes a big difference.

I had an earlier post, but thought of other things. DH and I lived in a caravan in the garden for 2yrs while renovating. It wasn't a modern, winter ready van, but an old banger with single glazing and mm thin walls. Other than a gas heater in the lounge area, there was no heating in the bedroom at all. We'd get ice on the bedroom ceiling which would rain down at night when our breaths warmed it up!

-An oodie helped a great deal along with a beanie. I know there are knock off oodie versions too, but a real oodie is very cosy
-Fingerless gloves helped when I needed to type
-Dehumidifier's are great- BUT- if the room is too cold, some won't work at all! I think ours didn't work under 10', but some work at lower temps.
-An electric blanket is great to take the chill off the bed. DH wasn't convinced and the 1st year, we struggled with hot water bottles. We'd turn it on, but then off when we got into bed. Get one with separate controls, so if 1 person does want it left on very low, they can.

-Thick, bed socks helped too. Being on the ground, my feet used to freeze, so even having them on a raised pouffe/foot rest made a difference

Primark fleece is awesome!

Also keyholes! I put sellotape over my back door keyhole in the winter!

Is your boiler powerful enough? Are your radiators roasting hot to touch?

We replaced our boiler and it made a massive difference.

If you're going to use electricity to run a humidifier, the money might be better spent on an oil filled radiator which is very cheap to use

I second the “thick curtains over door and windows” especially if the aesthetic fits your home. Also check the loft hatch for drafts -made a difference for us- we got a new one fitted and you upstairs is now noticeably warmer in winter.

We found our glassy front door is drafty and we fitted a very thick heavy curtain which is so long it just sweeps the floor (ie NO gaps) - quite dramatic! Makes a difference.

Make sure you check walls adjacent or behind curtains daily to ensure no condensation- you may need to pull the curtain away so the wall can properly dry in the “sunny hours” of the day.

We have the bubble foil sheets slotted behind our radiators.

Slippers, cardis, wearing layers.

Blankets on the arms of every sofa and end of every bed.

Make use of curtains, letting in sunlight to warm things up and then closing at dusk to keep heat in.

We have a thermostat which keeps the house above a certain low temp all the time.

When you have used the oven, if it's safe to, leave the door open as it cools to get the benefit of the heat.

Hot drinks. Insulated cups so your drink doesn't go cold. Use a flask to store hot water if you are worried about boiling the kettle all through the day.

Simple hot meals. Tins of soup and beans etc to have ready instead of a cold sandwhich when you are not cooking a full proper meal.

Move around to warm up. I get so cold when I sit still at my desk for too long.

Dry washing outside even when it's cold. Get as much moisture out of the house as possible. Drying outside in Winter does take a bit longer but as long as the weather allows get the clothes on the line.

Rugs. The ground floor of our Edwardian house is freezing. No insulation under the floorboards, just the air gap and then the ground. Rugs and mats really help and have others have said, slippers and anything that keeps you off the ground.

Check the insulation in your loft. Is it still in good condition and could more be added?

All this is quite grim and I would also make sure that you take care of your mood. Daily walks in the sunshine when possible, candles to make it cosy. Eat well, sleep well. All that stuff.

I live in the same kind of house as you OP. The biggest difference was getting as much insulation in the roof as possible when I had to have it re-tiled (expensive!), and getting internal secondary double glazing fitted. It was expensive and I think it looks ugly but it makes a big difference. I didn’t get a couple of bedroom windows done as they already had wooden double glazed windows but I still put the film over them in the winter and it cuts out the draughts and makes a difference.
I use an electric blanket to warm up my bed and love it.
Get your boilers and radiators seen too!

I can recommend the DIY secondary glazing made of Perspex and magnetic strips. There are several firms that make it from your measurements and you fit it yourself. It’s cheap and makes a massive difference especially if your windows are prone to condensation. Don’t try and seal up an old house. It needs airflow to stop mould and condensation forming in winter. Heat to a low level all the time, I’ve seen 15C recommended, and boost the rooms you are using when you are in them or use heated throws or whatever as necessary. Log burners are great too as they dry out the air and dry air is easier to heat. A dehumidifier used when you have washing drying indoors helps. Shut the door and put it on for 4/5 hours. Use extractors when showering or open windows.

I can recommend this too @Careerdecisions . We got one for upstairs and one for downstairs a couple of years ago - game changer in lots of ways (good for reducing humidity in hot weather too, if we ever get any!)

I installed this on a very draughty and rattly wooden sash window last year. It was quite easy to do but I have to say it didn’t warm the room up quite as much as I was hoping it would. There were no draughts coming in the sides but it was still very cold.

I’m slightly confused that you recommend this but in the same paragraph say don’t seal an old house up. Doesn’t the “secondary glazing” do exactly that? Or are you talking more about draught excluders and blocking up chimneys?

I don’t understand these comments. Evidentially a dehumidifier makes very very little difference to the temperature, less than a degree. What it does if you have a major enough one, and it needs to be industrial scale, is remove enough moisture so you can feel the difference. Domestic ones remove moisture yes, it doesn’t stop damp but it does help prevent or reduce damp. You feel little to no difference.

however they are far from a game changer, not only is this proven, but I have a powerful one and track humidity and can validate it.

the quickest way to remove humidity from a room is to heat it. Air it. A dehumidifier helps, but it is not the miracle some folks like to pretend.

Old houses need to breathe so the techniques that work in a new house with cavity walls will cause problems in an old house which has solid walls. Using traditional materials like lime plaster and breathable paints allow water to escape and ventilation is necessary. It can be opening windows, making sure air bricks aren’t blocked, piv systems, extractor fans etc secondary glazing doesn’t prohibit this.

But the Perspex sheet secondary glazing does prevent the windows from being opened.

It's true. I dry laundry on a heated airer with a dehumidifier running next to it; it doesn't work so well without the heated airer.

Make sure you have lots of insulation in your loft. At least 300mm. It makes a huge difference and it reasonably cheap. Heat rises so if you don't have good loft insulation then anything else you do won't have much of an impact as the heat will just get lost out of the loft.

Slippers, hot water bottle tucked into my waistband and “proper” jumpers (100% wool or as high a wool content as possible rather than acrylic— i scour charity shops for these as they are expensive brand new!)

we are in a similar property to OP and I agree with PP that the most efficient way is to warm the person, not the house. Of course you do need to heat the house a little to take the edge off/ prevent damp but heating such large rooms is expensive.