Making a house warm tips

[Cherms]

We're about to move into an early 70s house that needs completely redoing. Everything is functional but everything could be better.

We don't have loads of money to spend on it at the moment but would really appreciate tips of key things we can do to make it warm and cosy. It has double glazing fortunately and the gas boiler is 10 years old.

Our budget this winter is £8k to include replacing all the radiators and having smart thermostats on them so we only heat the rooms we need e.g. my study during the day as I work from home. What else should we do first and also what should we save for?

Good curtains with thermal linings, also a door curtain.
Heated blankets/throws or a heated chair cover for your office.
Both relatively cheap things that will make a big difference.

70s will be decently built.

You've got double glazing so check out the insulation. Doing the loft yourself on the cheap is dead easy, lots of councils will give you free loft and cavity wall insulation too.

Sort out draughts. It's amazing how many walls have a gap where they meet the ground! Go round with a candle to find them. Draught excluder etc will help.

Don't go open plan, don't let the place get too cold even when you're away.

If you don't want to have the heating on much check money saving experts guide on heating the human not the home.

I had never heard of thermal lining for curtains or going round with a candle to check for draughts thank you! I'll have to sort curtains anyway so may as well go for thermal lining. Will look at loft insulation too as we have it where we are and you can tell when the snow sits on our roof in winter it's doing its job well.

Thermal curtains are sometimes called interlined curtains. you could try searching for that when you buy?

My tip is that heat rises so start at the top of the house and work down. If there is no loft conversion stick as much insulation up there as you can. Otherwise you might be looking at ripping down attic ceilings to put insulated board in. Messy job but makes a huge difference to the warmth of the house.

Also highly recommend chimney balloons for any unused chimneys which are open.

Double sided draught excluders are amazing as they move with the doors.

Insulating tape around exterior door frames (eg front and back door) and window frames - there will be gaps.

Door sweeps on the bottom of doors to the outside.

Check the ventilation fans in the bathroom, you can replace those with a kind that blocks drafts.

No matter how good your boiler or radiators if your house leaks heat it will still be cold/cost a fortune to be warm so I'd focus on insulation and draught stopping.