Why does only downstairs of house heat up properly?

[vickyp0llard]

We recently bought a 3 bed semi, built in 1960s, double glazed and cavity wall insulation (we think).

I have the heating on for a good few hours every day - the downstairs heats up nicely, especially the living room with only 1 external wall, but upstairs barely heats up. All the radiators work fine and are hot, windows are double glazed (but old), however the most drafty windows are in the living room downstairs which heats up the best!

The upstairs rooms barely change temperature even when the heating's on for ages, and once it's off they go cold again quickly. My study doesn't heat up at all, I bought an oil filled radiator and even with that it's very slow.

What could be causing this? I'm not really sure what kind of professional I should be calling out.....windows? Heating engineer? Loft insulation company? I've never owned a house before and only lived in flats so I have no idea what the issue is!

Do you actually have any loft insulation?

Have you checked that your loft actually has insulation?

Heat rises so I assume you are losing it through the roof

Lack of loft insulation would be my first though. Get into the loft and measure how much you have.

Where is your thermostat? If it’s in the downstairs hallway (our house is 1950s build and that’s where ours is) it will be clicking off when it reaches the set temperature even if the upstairs isn’t as warm. We have to have ours set higher than seems sensible just to get upstairs hot!

There is insulation in the loft (looks like fibreglass) but I think the survey said that it's not as thick as it should be (200mm instead of the recommended 270mm?)

The thermostat is in the living room, that room gets warm but the rest of the house can be 3-5 degrees colder.

If you are losing heat upstairs quickly is sounds like an insulation issue - loft is the obvious place but you might need to check heat loss through the walls and windows too.

If it's not getting warm enough in the first place, as Bagels says it could be the thermostat is simply in the wrong place. But also check the radiators are actually getting hot all over, not just at the top where you put your hand. If there are cold spots on them, try bleeding them.

Sounds like a combination of less effective radiators upstairs, perhaps upstairs insulation, and your thermostat location. As a pp said - if your upstairs and downstairs don’t heat up and retain heat equally, then when your living room gets nice and warm, the heating will click off. So your upstairs never gets a chance to warm up.

I would:

• Bleed the radiators and make sure you’ve repressured the system afterwards

• If the radiators have thermostats (temp control things down on the side of them) then turn the upstairs radiator thermostats to max, and the downstairs ones down low. This should hopefully mean the upstairs tries to heat up more than the downstairs when the heating clicks on.

• Can you move the main thermostat? If you can, put it in the place you want to be the right temp and see how that works.

• Get a plumber or heating engineer in to take a look at the system after you’ve tried all the above. The system might have sludge (nice) which needs cleaning out, which would make the radiators more effective. You might be able to add thermostatic valves, or replace radiators.

-it often takes a while to get someone booked in, so perhaps call around for availability before waiting too long?

If the loft has 200mm of insulation all over, then that's not the problem. Check if that is true. Has it been partially boarded with nothing underneath?

Are there holes in the ceiling where un fashionable downlighters have been fitted?

Does the loft hatch fit?

Are there any upstairs fireplaces?

Are you keeping the upstairs doors closed?

Are the radiators getting fully hot all over? Top, bottom, sides, middle?

Are the upstairs radiators as big as the downstairs ones? In the old days it used to be thought that bedrooms did not need to be well-heated because you would be nested under blankets and eiderdowns.

Have you got any walls that are not brick and block? 1960's cladding over timber frames and air?

Are the upstairs radiators as big as the downstairs ones? In the old days it used to be thought that bedrooms did not need to be well-heated because you would be nested under blankets and eiderdowns.

This is a good point - the upstairs radiators are all smaller. I've tried bleeding a few and water comes straight out so I think they're OK. The whole house is brick. I'll try some of these tips and also check the attic!