How cold is an old house?

[letsleepingbabieslie]

Looking at buying a lovely 1860s farmhouse in Dorset. I think it's wonderful, but notice that it has solid walls (no insulation) and single-glazed sash windows. EPC is an F rating (27!).
I hate being cold. OUr current home is so cosy that we don't even need heating on most winter days.
If we can't spend a fortune on adding insulation and changing windows (which will ruin most of the character of the house) is it total madness to buy it? If you live in a similar property, how cold is it?!

Mine was built in 1890 ish. Is single glazed and high ceilings. No idea about insulation!

One thing that makes a big difference is my thermal lined curtains.
We also got hive heating installed and it’s fantastic.

All the older houses I have ever lived in were really cold.

Depends on their aspect. If it has a sheltered north aspect and windows on the south, it could be fairly ok, But generally speaking old houses are always cold, and even if you manage to get them warm, with the heating on all day and the log burner, it only lasts and hour or so after you turn it off.

We've had a few, the last being a 3 storey 1820 cottage that used to be part of a larger house. Poorly insulated, single brick, little to no foundations and open fireplaces. Even though it had double glazed wood windows it was still freezing, with the added benefit that the windows would get condensation from September to April and rot the windows from the inside out.

We've now got a much larger new build EPC
B saving a fortune on heating and its always warm. I wouldn't go back.

Our rented accommodation is old, but we love it for the space. We have radiators on in the winter and as soon as they go off, it gets cold. The heating bill is shocking but its cool in the summer. We've learnt to accept the coldness and dress appropriately. We find other people's houses like my mums bungalow too warm even when they're heating is off lol !!

I feel like Treacletoots. My house is freezing and the older I get the more I hate being cold. Would happily move.

Ours is from mid-1700’s. But it’s very small so easy to heat, therefore toasty warm.

Loft insulation - it made a huge difference and isn’t particularly disruptive or expensive to install. You’ll need to do all loft spaces for best effect.

We have double glazing. You could install triple glazing or secondary glazing. Thick interlined curtains make a really noticeable difference, the temperature difference behind them is obvious. Honestly you need to invest in decent windows (they’ll be expensive for wooden sash).

Slightly depends on layout - the more external walls the room has, the colder it’ll be. So a long narrow house will be colder than a squarer one. Ours is an odd shape so some rooms are chillier than you’d expect!

Prevailing wind, where windows are, shelter from the wind, north-facing rooms, being in a hollow... all those things impact how warm it’ll be, but probably don’t make it into the energy rating (?).

Fireplaces - use them or loose them, open fires generally have drafty chimneys, so consider fitting wood burners.

How do you use the house? If you’ve rooms that are excessively big for number o occupants then obviously it’s not going to be efficient use of resources. I know it’s super-old-fashioned, but having everyday room that’s “big enough” rather than massive cavernous space will mean you can heat it properly without feeling like you’re just setting fire to £10 notes.

Ours 1827 - single skin walls but has double glazing and insulation in loft. AGA on all winter. Despite having only 1 radiator upstairs it only ever dropped to 14 degrees on the coldest of winter days. It warms up quickly especially with the wood burner on! We only used £400 of oil and £110 of wood to heat the house (detached and 1400sq ft) so it’s been fine. Hot water bottles in bed before you get in is amazing 🤩

My parents live in an 80s house and it is ARCTIC. Much colder than my 1900s Victorian terrace.

I found that draughts were the real killer so thick curtains helped a lot. As did lots of rugs. We also put DS in the basement bedroom next to the boiler so he's ALWAYS toasty warm.

1850's school house. Bloody freezing. Have to wear a dressing gown or super chunky cardigan over my clothes for 9 months of the year. The chill gets right to your bones. I want a toasty warm passivhouse next

Our house is listed so when we bought, it had no energy rating.

What is it made of? Stone tends to warm up slowly and be cool inside. Single skin brick is cold. Cob generally warmer (but has other issues).

Single glazed windows will be cold and draughty. We have had ice on the inside.

In general, will take more energy to heat up and will drop in temperature quickly. Single glazed windows can have thermal interlined curtains which helps but not as much as double glazing. Plus door curtains and loft insulation. These things will help. Heat loss through walls harder to deal with.

My house is 1870s semi detached ....10 foot ceilings....it was a lot colder in winter when we first moved here in 2015...since then we’ve replaced all the radiators and have a log burner in the back room and new windows ....this has made a difference

Fucking freezing. Don’t do it!

The house I grew up in is that kind of age with original windows and it isn’t too bad, though there’s a Rayburn lit all winter and the other rooms are chilly. It’s mid terrace too which I think helps loads (only 2 external walls).

The 1750s cottage we used to live in was toasty, but then the single walls were 2 feet thick!

Early 1900s here with many many single glazed bay windows. It’s pretty cold in winter but with a newish heating system it is possible to make it warm. I find it pretty awful wfh because I’m sitting still in a cold office, and energy costs to heat it will be too high this winter so during the day when it’s just me home I have a little oil radiator.

We use the wood burner a lot in winter and that does make it toasty. Shutting doors helps too. Keeping curtains closed as soon as evening draws in.

It’s perfectly liveable, requires layers, socks, etc, and worth it for the beautiful home we have.

We had an 1800s mill cottage with thick stone walls It wasn't very warm when we first moved in as it was single glazed, so we replaced the windows with double glazed. They were identical other than an additional pane of glass, so there was no loss of character at all. The house was then lovely and warm. We had a big multi fuel stove with a back boiler in the dining room (it would have made the living room too hot) which heated the whole house, plus a boiler for when we didn't want to light the fire. It was properly toasty.

Mine is 1780's.

It's not cold at all. The walls are not insulated but are very thick.

We did make sure the loft was well insulated and (sorry) spent a small significant fortune on bespoke timber double glazed windows with thermal glass (we have 26 windows btw so it was absolutely necessary and we don't regret the investment at all £60k in the end).

It's lovely and cool in the summer due to the thick walls and warm/cosy in the winter.

Old houses don't have to be cold and draughty or heating money pits, but there's no point not being honest that in most cases those that aren't have had money chucked at them to make them that way.

So ultimately it's a matter of budget or in some cases listing.

In my case the surveyor was gobsmacked it's not listed but even then, in a conservation area we had to replace the windows with timber equivalents (and because the windows are all different and non standard modern sizes, they had to be hand made).

If your house is listed then you're under far more limitations and may not even be able to put in double glazing at all for example.

Have currently been living in a 1860 house made from yorkshire stone. So beautiful, so fecking freezing. It’s even cool inside on the biggest heatwave days when there were 30degrees. Have to have heating on all spring and even most of summer. Feeling warm and cosy in the winter? HA HA. It doesn’t get warm. I was wrapped in jumpers and scarves. With the heating on. Clothes NEVER EVER dry if you just hang them on a drying rack. They have to go on radiators. Oh and the boiler and radiators are new- the house has been completely renovated 5 years ago.

Ours is similar. Downstairs is cold in winter, but we heat it and it’s lovely and cosy, we have central heating a wood burner and thermal blinds. Upstairs is much warmer as it’s all carpeted and heat rises. Downstairs it’s exposed floor boards.

Yes it’s more expensive to heat than a new build, but it’s perfectly feasible to heat it. Depends what is more important to you, cheaper utility costs or the house itself.

OP the other factor to consider is square footage/ volume - I’m guessing if it’s an 1860s farmhouse it’s a Victorian style villa building; high ceilings, detached. That makes a big difference! As does aspect of course. If it’s tucked down in a valley in a sunny spot= good. If it’s up on the cliffs/ hills or facing the prevailing wind= not so good!

@letsleepingbabieslie, it's essential to know what you expectation is with respect to room temperatures. Some people need 23degC year round and others feel hot with anything above 18degC. A lot depends on what you are used to.

Our house is 1853 and freeeezing in the winter so the heating is on 24/7 for half the year. It will keep it warm but if you turn the heating off, it will go cold within a matter of minutes.
We pay near £200 per month in gas bills.

In the Summer, it's lovely and cool though.

@Houseofvelour

Our house is 1853 and freeeezing in the winter so the heating is on 24/7 for half the year. It will keep it warm but if you turn the heating off, it will go cold within a matter of minutes. We pay near £200 per month in gas bills.

In the Summer, it's lovely and cool though.

And that's with our heating set to 20c

Victorian villa
Absolutely freezing. Temp never gets to 20 in the winter with heating on full blast but saying that, it's not in the best nick and needs work doing

Mine was built in 1475. It's boiling downstairs (the lower level is slightly built into the ground) and freezing upstairs (windows single glazed and although refurbed still flimsy) and there is no insulation in the roof (and also small holes in the roof which I'm trying to ignore 😬)

There are things you can do. You can insulate an old solid wall house from the inside - so putting boards on the inside of the walls and then plasterboarding over the top. This will make rooms smaller though and can cause a real issue with access to plumbing and electrics, it's a;so hugely disruptive to install. You can also insulate the loft or attic space, and switching the windows for double glazed or secondary glazing can help, but it's always going to be cold.

I hate being cold too, I grew up in a cold house, my parents live in a cold house and I'm very grateful for my 1960s house with double glazing and loads of insulation.