Help me work out why my house is so cold

[benning]

Bought a 1930s semi last year. We’ve made several upgrades after a very cold and miserable winter last year.

BUT - it’s still cold and I’m gutted.

Csn anyone work out why the house is still so cold?

We’ve had:

New double glazed windows
New Underfloor heating
Brand new radiators and all pipes replaced
New boiler

There is also cavity wall insulation and loft insulation (not sure how thick though).

It is still not what I would call warm, even with the heating on.

Any thoughts?

Or am I using the heating all wrong? (thermostat set to 20 degrees)

Do thermal imaging camera apps actually work? I thought you needed special technology for it and the apps were just a scam?

Are the aluminium windows cold to the touch on the inside? The frames not the glass. I suspect that may be where you are losing quite a bit of heat.

I’m in a 1930s house and need my thermostat to be set at 22 to feel warm.

Also thermal lined curtains, good carpets & warm upholstery is key. So many modern style houses are hard and cool which is more suited to a Mediterranean summer than to a British winter.

We've had the first frost of the year where I live. Northern England is certainly chilly right now.

Out of interest OP, does everyone in your household feel the cold the same?

As PPs have said, 20 degrees isn’t warm enough for some people so definitely try having it a couple of degrees warmer, but if you’re feeling the cold moreso than others in the household then it’s worth getting checked out to see if there’s anything medical going on. I had real sensitivity to the cold last winter, and have since been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, for example.

What type of underfloor heating is it and how is it installed? What is the build up of the floor?
How it is fitted and they type will depend on how you need to use it.
I have underfloor heating in my studio, we have it installed under the concrete with insulation under the heating so it heats the concrete. This is a very efficient way to heat a space but it requires a very specific way of heating the space and the floor never feels warm to touch just not cold however the space does get warm enough if used properly but never 'hot' like with radiators so it can take some getting used to.
Ours you have to put on in the middle of the night and then it's off in the day but the concrete releases the heat slowly during the day (principals of using thermal mass).

Underfloor heating heats to a lower temperature but if it's directly under your floor covering you may need to use it longer than if you were putting heating on for radiators. Where are your thermostats with underfloor heating you should have a sensor in the floor but also one in the room. The floor reaching 20degrees doesn't necessarily mean your room has reached that temp so it may be being switched off to early.
If it's electric underfloor heating unless it's installed in a heat storage capacity like ours is going to be expensive however water (gas) runs at a much lower temp than radiators so is cheaper to run for longer.

Underfloor heating can take a bit of acclimatisation as you don't necessarily get the blast of heat you get with regular heating but over time you will find it's just as comfortable.

I'd also be checking for draughts as that's the main source of overlooked issues in most clients houses.

24c is recommended for being sedentary. Health service advice. Check all over for holes, air leaks. There is a product which shows where cold areas are. I remember asking an engineer where air is entering a Victorian house, he said from everywhere. There is wool insulation that has good thermal properties.

Surely the simple solution is turn up the heating? Why is it set to 20, is it just an arbitrary figure?

We have a 1940s semi, and I found it very cold when we first moved in. The most effective things we did were:
• Making an internal porch, so that in addition to the front door, there is now an internal door to stop draughts. This made a HUGE difference.
• Adding really thick insulation in the loft. It was insulated before, but we didn't realise how poor it was until we redid it.

Turning up the heating would be a simple solution, but an expensive one.

Sometimes it's just aspect. I find north facing rooms never feel that warm. And a sunlight through a window makes a huge difference. That said in the heart of winter there isn't much energy to be had. But if you are in a dingly dell, it will be colder. Shut doors. A porch can help greatly. Heck when it is cold, I often wear a jacket and hat in doors.

Have you checked what the actual room temperature is with a thermometer? I know you said the thermostat is set to 20c but do you know if it actually is 20c in the rooms?

Flooring is luxury vinyl so not cold. We don’t have rugs yet but we have good curtains. The underfloor heating is in the kitchen diner only.

Is the vinyl in the kitchen diner? If so, that’s one problem making your home cold. Vinyl is a very poor heat conductor so the warmth from your underfloor heating isn’t getting through the vinyl. You should actually have something like stone or ceramic tile flooring over the underfloor heating because they not only conduct heat, they absorb it and radiate it even after the underfloor heat is turned off/not active.

I don't feel warm unless my heating is on 21.5.

We are on the north-east coast and haven't had our heating on since the end of April. I can see us reaching the point soon where we light one of the woodburners at night though.

OP, There have been three things that made my 1900s house much colder than it should have been.

1. A roof that lacked a roof liner on one side. When up in the loft, you should not be able to see the underside of the tiles or slates.
2. Loft insulation that is too old/thin. You should be aiming for 20cm thickness of loft insulation. Ideally have insulation between the rafters as well.
3. Damp. If your walls are damp they will make a room constantly chilly. Is there any sign of staining anywhere that might indicate damp.

Isnt the vinyl trapping the heat in underneath?

With our underfloor heating i put it on in winter at about 4 pm as it takes a couple of hours to heat the floor up then turn it off an hour or so before we go to bed. We have tiled floors but lots of rugs and this seems to work well.

Do you have a void under the house? If you do then you might want to look at underfloor insulation. We also had random droughts from the metre cupboard, around our old front door, letterbox, around windows where strips had been added when the windows were fitted but the actual gaps weren’t filled.

Membrane under the roof tiles makes no difference to the warmth of a house, the insulation above the ceiling is to keep the heat in the rooms below.

the air in the loft is supposed to be the same temperature as the outside to prevent any condensation.

Is your underfloor heating electric or water? Electric doesn't really heat the room.

Also - do you have cavity wall insulation everywhere? Did you do it yourself? I have a 1930s house and the back of the house is an extension with good insulation and it's warm. The front is the original solid wall with no insulation and it's very cold. We shut those rooms off and just heat them when needed.

In a rush, but in answer to the questions:

Yes, there is cavity wall insulation
Yes, the boiler is brand new
The underfloor heating is water
The luxury vinyl is designed for use with underfloor heating
No draughts, as mentioned
Loft insulation might be too thin, yes - I will investigate that
No damp issues that I know of
Heating set at 20 degrees because hotter feels like it will be expensive
Thyroid definitely all fine

Having said that, I do feel the cold and find winter very hard. I wonder whether I am just panicking 😬😬

I think you are just panicking, not being mean. I would try it at 22 degrees for a day just to prove to yourself that your house can feel warm if the temperature is set a little higher than it is currently set at.

Just checked our temperature, its in the hall but its good enough I think, its 18 degrees.

I dont feel cold, I dont know what the temperature is outside, probably 14

Didnt finish what I was saying, the heating is not on

But to avoid the panic start making plans now for things like blankets, hot water bottles, thick socks, layers, jumpers etc etc. Then even if you feel your house is too cold you yourself will be warm