Old fashioned backboiler help!

[Lwiddowson25]

Hi!
I was placed on the councils homeless register in May as my landlord was selling the house I privately rented, I was offered a flat in the rough area of a town (a lot of drug addicts in the block of flats) or a 3 bed house in the country half an hour away from town. I was told I had to accept one or the other so accepted the house greatfully, I first viewed the house in July so temperatures were quite warm and the house had been completely gutted, no plaster on walls etc. The next time I was aloud to view the house was when I had signed of the keys. It was after this that I realised the house had a back boiler system and in order to have heat, the stove like fire had to be lit. There are no storage heaters at all in the property. I was told to leave the fire running all night if I wanted a warm house in the morning, which a) I’m not bear gryls and can not do this to save my life and b) I wouldn’t feel safe leaving it lit all night. I have contacted my council about upgrading the system as the house is very cold, on a hill surrounded by fields with one neighbour, so is open to the elements and they have said I am not eligible for an upgrade for 4 years. It is already costing me a fortune in coal to run the system and it’s not even the height of winter. Has anyone been in a similar situation and can offer any advice?
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because I’m really not, I love my house. But it’s an extremely cold house and with two young children I’m worried about winter.
Thank you

If it's going to take that long to get the boiler replaced, can you get some oil filled radiators in the meantime and use the back boilers mainly for hot water? Get thermal linings for your curtains and shut them as soon as it goes dark to retain heat, keep internal doors shut and make sure you have hot water bottles, bedsocks, etc.

There is a type of coal called Pure Heat which is a long slow burn coal that is really good for keeping a fire in fir long periods of time. I have lived with only a fire for heat, using a coal like this is the key. It is low ash producing so the fire will only need cleaning out every 5-7 days and I used to do this in the afternoon, the warmest time of day.
Using a Carbon monoxide detector is important, but problems in a fire with a swept chimney that draws properly are rare. I would rake over the coals and then put on coal last thing at night and in the morning and turn the air vents down low to get a good slow burn.
Yes having a fire is not as easy as central heating, but it is not difficult to be warm if you get in a good routine. For many, many people this is entirely normal.

How much are you spending on coal per week?

Can we see a photo of your grate and the hit water cylinder please.

Electricity is an expensivd way to heat a house but you might consider a low-power oil-filled electric radiator in the bedroom. Maybe 500W to 1kW. At this time of year they will be appearing in Argos and the supermarts (they are much cheaper in Spring when nobody wants them). They give quite an even regular heat and get no hotter than a teapot, so very safe.

If you wait for the first cold snap they will be sold out in an hour.

Also an electric blanket is cheap to run and prevents cold damp bedding. They are cut very meanly so a King Size is actually the size of a regular double bed (takd the measurements before you buy).

Silentnight seems an OK brand.

I used to heat my house via a solid fuel rayburn, although I had no radiators, it did heat the water (and do the cooking).
Managing a fire is not difficult, but it is time consuming and does require you to be there at regular times to feed it. A late night out could mean coming back to a fire that had gone out!
I had no heating upstairs, but leaving the doors open meant warmth from the fire travelled up and kept them warm enough. I also had oil radiators in the bedrooms but rarely needed to use them.
How are you buying your coal? You must have coal bunkers? I found the cost of coal was comparable to gas or oil heating, and of course your fire is going 24 hrs a day, so you have got a steady continual heat. The only thing I found was difficult was having to scrape the money together to pay the coal man on delivery. My coal man used to give discounts for larger orders too.
You are quite safe to leave it lit all the time. Riddle it down last thing, open the air vents, add coal and after 10 min or so, close the vents again. It will burn gently all night.
Have your neighbours got back boilers? It might be worth speaking to them about fire management/best coal merchant etc.
Can you heat your water via electric? It would be unusual if you couldn't. I never used to light my stove until October and used the immersion during the summer.
The council should have fitted a CO alarm (a proper one, not one of those things that just changes colour), and I hope they had the chimney swept before you moved in. You might need to check.