So cold in house is this normal?

30 replies

BlingersMcBling · 13/01/2025 10:26

I've recently bought a semi detached 2 bed small house. During winter it is so cold towards the front of the house. It has a porch that then goes directly into living room. If I put a thermometer in porch area it is around 4 degrees c at moment. In the living room it never gets above 14 degrees c with the heating on full.

I've added a thermal door cover and draft excluder to the porch door but this doesn't seem to have made much difference. If I put the electric fire on the room will heat up to 16 degrees and beyond but as soon as I switch it off it quickly goes back down to 14.

Is this normal? I can't feel a draft coming from the front door but maybe a slight one from the light fitting in the porch ceiling.

Is there a company I can call to assess what is making it so cold? If I leave the house and come back the next day the thermostat shows 8 degrees-I've never had a house get that low. My missus house never seems to go below 13 with the heating not on so it doesn't feel like a heating issue to me but rather it's just letting too much cold in.

Thanks for any help.

OP posts:

piscofrisco · 17/01/2025 07:49

Should add the only thing that has helped slightly is getting some very thick, thermal lined curtains! And we have candles on a lot which makes it feel warmer even if it's only psychological.

CornishPorsche · 17/01/2025 09:13

piscofrisco · 17/01/2025 07:48

Our living room is incredibly
Cold, literally like a fridge when the rest of the house is warmer. It has two big windows, and two long exterior walls. It gets a bit of sun in the morning and that's it. I think there just can't be much insulation in the walls at all. It's unbearable in winter unless we have the heating on 24/7 and supplement it the gas fire-which we can't do as we can't afford it. (Or we sit covered in thick duvets). Even in summer you need a throw over you most of the time.

It's really bloody annoying as it's our lounge and it means that in winter we mostly all go to our warmer bedrooms to watch TV or read which actually does have a detrimental effect on family life.

We are hoping to move soon otherwise we would have to look at getting some more insulation as a longer term fix.

Have a look at Perfect Fit thermal blinds. I have them on our south facing side to keep the heat out in summer, but the difference is amazing in winter for keeping the place warm.

My parents are about to fit them all over their house in Scotland.

AzurePanda · 17/01/2025 09:21

This is normal - we live in a big old house with lots of draughts in the SE. It is often 9c -11c in our bedroom with the heating off. And we have an Aga on all the time downstairs.

NotDavidTennant · 17/01/2025 09:30

Are you heating the house every day? If you're going away and letting the house drop to 8C then it likely will take several days of running the heating to get it warm again.

piscofrisco · 17/01/2025 09:48

@CornishPorsche alas before we realised the extreme conditions in the lounge DH instead on wooden shutters. They are useless at keeping the heat in (and I also loathe them in general as I feel like I'm in prison and can't see properly out of my window). They were expensive so aren't going anywhere. I had the last laugh however as I got my nice cosy and much more stylish curtains (to supplement the shutters) when DH had to concede it would be warmer to sit outside than in our lounge

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