Victorian house keep warm life hacks sought!

[slugjelly]

Hello,
First winter in my draughty north facing mid renovation Victorian house looming. I’m already cold. What hacks do you have. Do I need small heaters? Heated blankets? Dehumidifier? There must be some way to make it better apart from hot water bottles. I have central heating, but need to seriously supplement it.
Yours freezingly,
slugjelly

Did you not think of that?
My ceilings are 9' feet high.

I’ve lived in a few Victorian properties and honestly think it’s almost impossible to get them really warm by modern standards.

We can get 1 or 2 rooms nice and toasty but trying to heat an entire Victorian house, especially if it’s large, is nigh on impossible.

So why live in them?

Because they are beautiful, spacious and have a charm and character that very few modern houses come close to. Plus they’ve stood the test of time and will likely last another century at least. They just don’t make houses like this anymore.

I think OP is suggesting only heating one room with the Mitsubishi air conditioner to save money. I recently had a smart meter fitted and was shocked to discover my gas central heating for a large modern semi detached house with an extension is costing me £1.88 per hour ! I certainly will be only heating one main room on a regular basis with a Warmlite infra red heater, which heats the body rather than the whole room. Costs about £40 on Amazon or E bay.

Bearing in mind the cost of the Mitsubishi, I think the total cost over some years might be lower if you invested in an electric heater. The shops will soon be full of them, but they will be sold out on the first frosty morning. I have a few I usually bought in the clearance sales in early summer.

Bearing in mind the 100% efficiency of all electric heaters, there is no efficiency benefit in buying an expensive one

Example
https://www.screwfix.com/p/blyss-ny1507-24m-1500w-electric-portable-oil-filled-radiator-white/457rw

The Mitsubishi has the advantage of being a dual appliance and not just for the winter months

I think lowering expectations is also
helpful - we can only get ours to 19 degrees in winter so we just accept its a bit fresher than some would like!

Definitely heated under blankets on beds and heated throws on sofas. Fine for kids to use although I wouldn’t buy questionable Amazon no brand ones, look at Lakeland or something “real”.

Also, watch some YouTube videos and start DIYing stuff. Unless you have £££ to have the whole renovation redone for you, this is the way forward.

The only place I could see the Mitsubishi AC for sale was on e bay £359 and looks like it would need professional installation and an outside hose vent. Correct me if I am wrong. I use the Warmlite infra red electric heaters. They warm the body rather than the whole room. Cost 15p per hour to run on low or 30p forbone hour. Have had mine for 4 years now and cost about £40 each. Much less than the Mitsubishi though more expensive to run and dont have the advantage of the summer air conditioning.

Hello, I have returned to see if anyone can recommend any great slipper/indoor boots? I often buy Glerups but I am in for a new pair and would love suggestions.

Haflingers- thick cork sole to keep you off the floor and warm -felt so cool in summer and last for years so don’t be scared of price. Instep support a bit like berkos so good for tired legs / feet too. Cute colours

I always were outside shoes in doors as I don't think slippers are safe and they don't support your feet. They are also warmer than slippers.

I bought a couple of oil filled radiators and a dehumidifier off the back of this thread and oooh they’re glorious. Only had one radiator on in the living room and it’s really taken the edge off. It’s our first autumn/winter in our Victorian house (having moved from an Edwardian one that was also an icebox) so we’re finding out how it works and where the draughts are. We’re used to a house not getting above 18°c but these radiators are a nice little blast of heat (pro breeze ones, and a pro breeze dehumidifier because I could get cashback 😁). The dehumidifier really makes a noticeable difference to how warm it feels.

I also recommend Uniqlo heat tech socks. I find if my feet are warm I feel warm.

Primark fake Ugg boots are warm and cosy to wear in the house as slippers for the winter. Then fleece lined fake Crocs for the summer are really comfortable and don't get ruined by walking outside.

But they don't support your feet. You need shoes/boots with laces.

Central heating is great for doing the heavy lifting to get the whole house warm. Gas is much cheaper per kw hour than electricity.

But if you don't need to keep the whole house warm it is nearly always cheaper to run a small heater on electric in the room you are staying in.

In my house I run the gas normally for an hour or so in the morning to heat the house up and an hour at night to stop the pipes from freezing.

But during the day I am normally only in one room working, so run a small electric heater (switchable between 1-2kW) to keep the room warm (in addition to the PC hardware, which itself outputs about 200W!)

This saves a considerable amount of money over keeping the whole house warm all the time, even if gas is 1/3 the price of electric.

I think you need curtains. As you are doing the house up already you could try charity shops or eBay and get some cheap ones. You can buy cheap IKEA rails for now. The draft coming up from floorboards could be reduced with rugs.

I know the idea is to heat the person and those oodle things are supposed to be good but I much rather a warm room, even one. Could you have draught excluders on the bottom of doors?

You could try heated blankets or snuggly ones?

I've got some hugely unattractive twosey pyjamas from Primark. They are hideous but my word they are warm.

I'm so miserable when I'm cold.

Oh man, you were right about the wooden floors, I can feel draught coming through them everywhere now it’s cold this week :-(

I think I misunderstood the ‘let the house breathe to dry it’ stuff. I think I thought it needed air running through it. What does it mean with regards to carpets etc?

@slugjelly not sure exactly what you mean

You can have carpets and let the house breathe if that’s what you mean? That’s not a problem.

Can you tell me how? Very thick, sorry.

Have you made sure there are no gaps in the floorboards, and I mean none at all?

Because the slugs, mice and possibly rats (don’t ask how I know 🤢) will be in soon as well.

My advice is get the floors redone, insulated underlay and then engineered wood on top. It’s not as lovely as sanded floors but it’s a lot warmer and less icky things coming in.

M&S and Dunelm so some cheapish thermal curtains, so worth a look for your big windows.

About now is when the wee beasties start home infestations so make sure all your entry points are protected, air bricks need fine mesh panels over them, seal round any pipes in the external walls with suitable filler or mortar. Bridge the flooring gaps with pine wood slivers like these;
https://periodprojects.co.uk/shop/slivers/
Get some wood glue and a rubber mallet to bash them in and adhere. I did our spare room last year and it's made such a difference. They'll make the room warmer and keep rodents out. Get some cheap rugs to go down on the floor. I'm not sure about 2nd hand rugs as the UK has an explosion of bedbugs at present. Good luck op!

I’ve done nothing about the gaps, but they don’t look big enough for a rat to come in? Urgh.

I got my heated dreamland blanket yesterday, turned it on while sitting on the sofa, and immediately went to sleep! It is so nice. Don’t worry, it was set to 1hr. Today I’m off to buy the thermal blinds. Honestly, I love this thread, you’ve helped me so much!

LIsted buildings are exempt.

you’re not thick at all

Best thing to do is to ask AI. It will have questions about the construction of your house. And it will make suggestions based on those answers. Obviously opening a window is good. But it’s perfectly fine to seal up all the draft. It’s more about building materials and stuff like that. Oh, you can get a mechanical ventilation system fitted. I don’t know how much that cost.

We didn’t have to bother because obviously we moved, but we blocked up drafts and we did need a portable dehumidifier. It’s all very well saying open the windows but on a freezing day in those houses it’s really not fun.

Houses have to breathe so most have air bricks and truckle vents on new windows or windows that open. But having draughts coming through floorboards will always keep your home cold.