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

Heated blanket for the sofa. Heated under blanket for the bed. Thermal leggings and long sleeved thermal tops. My mum swears by merino wool but I've not yet invested. An incredibly cosy dressing gown. I have cashmere socks and wool slippers but the socks are obviously a major indulgence; I was given some as a gift and adore them. Rugs if there are draughts coming up.

Last winter I bought a roll of the insulation that you stick behind the radiators. It reflects heat into the room rather than into the wall.

I also have a nest thermostat with a phone app so if I’m away I can pop the heating on for an hour twice a day as I find the house takes days to warm up if there’s been no heating on.

I dry washing in the spare room with dehumidifier and have one downstairs too.

Candles in every fireplace

Oh god. Thermal long-sleeved underwear and long johns, very warm bootee type slippers plus heated throw and blanket.

Flanellette sheets + electric blanket (love an electric blanket.

Somebody had a kind of brick stack that you burned a candle in/under - it would heat up the bricks and retain the heat.

As you renovate - decent windows. They make such a massive difference.

I write from my triple-glazed “A” rated new build, I cannot tell you what a luxury it is to
always be warm. I almost miss being cold because I never get to use my electric blanket any more!

Heated throws will make a massive difference to you, as will some heavy curtains. You can buy a kind of thick film for the edges of windows and doors that keep the drafts out, and a draft excluder. Rugs on your sanded floors or carpets, slippers or fluffy socks for everyone too, and wear layers and drink hot drinks.

I’d go for fires in every fireplace myself 🤪

We had Kingspan laid under the floorboard and it made a massive difference. Victorian houses don’t have foundations. There’s nothing but floorboards above the ground, so you really need something to protect you from the draughts. If cost is an obstacle, you can get cheaper stuff that’s more like a thick silver blanket to go under the floorboards.

Should I try and change the floorboard situation now or tough out the winter with these other things?

You need proper lined curtains and proper fitted carpet. You can buy thermal linings for existing curtains and just hang them behind them.
Get thermal vests for yourself if you are really cold, but I can't see why teens would need to. They can layer up T-shirts and hoodies. Wool jumpers and wristwarmers might help.

Thick curtains, fill gaps in the sash windows wirh newspaper and tape them shut with masking tape. Then either buy magnetic pvc secondary glazing which works out less than £100 per window, or get window film from. B and q which is a bit like cling film and makes a sort of second wind proof skin over the windows. I think a pack is about a tenner and does three windows.

You need carpets though or at the very least rugs. You can buy thermal underlay to make them extra cozy.

Go and sit in the car with the heaters on full blast. Thats what I do. Or simply go outside as it's often warmer than inside my house.

Uniqlo heat tech thermals. Woolen socks and sheepskin slippers. A larger dog for your feet and a smaller terrier type for your lap. Bed with electric sheet.

Outside is often warmer than the house….what have I done?!

Will the kids be safe with an electric blanket for watching tv on the sofa?

Uniqlo heat tech long sleeved tops as base layers
wool
tights / leggings as base layers
oil radiator under my desk
heated blanket

It will be worth it but sounds like it’ll be a bit of a slog! You need rugs down at the very least, curtains for sure!

On the carpet front, if/when you do buy carpet do not scrimp on the underlay. You'll need uber underlay by the sounds of what you're describing. If you haven't got the money then you'll find a way to manage. The various heated blankets will make the most difference I think.

Do you have fires/stoves? 200 year old house here and we all sit in the smallest room with the wood burner lit. M&S do fur lined tights which I highly recommend (better than their fleece lined version) and an oodie brand onesie is definitely worth getting.

The upstairs is carpeted and fairly ok. It’s mainly downstairs that’s the problem: precisely the rooms I want to work and relax in.

Put brushes behind your letterbox - lots of heat gets out through those.
Heat the person, not the whole room. Layers of wool and cashmere (Vinted is your friend). Uniqlo’s thermals are excellent.

I would have got a wood burner but I heard it is bad for asthma, which my daughter has.

We insulated under the suspended floors and have insulated the coldest wall in the two biggest bedrooms (planing on doing the same in the front and back rooms downstairs but as it’s taken us 20 years to get this far, I have my doubts). We have ugly double glazing and a composite front door and not a floor board in sight. We have defra-approved wood burners in both downstairs fire places, but we don’t use them anymore (guilt and concerns about health). We have problems with condensation/mold on outer walls if we leave furniture against them. Ours is warm if the heating’s on - especially since we had the lift converted - but it gets really cold really quickly once it’s off for any length of time.

I recommend menopause, I'm never cold now. I have the windows open in my bedroom all winter.

Do you have a hive or similar, so you can heat the room you’re in and decrease the other rooms temperature?

keep doors shut

sausage dogs across doors

curtains closed early to retain heat

insulate lift/roof space

electric blankets, hot water bottles in bed

🤣 I do have a large amount of drafts for various reasons and it's a stone house so maybe yours is more user friendly on the inside/outside front? But yes...on occasion I have been able to take my puffer coat off once outside...

@Pineneedlesincarpet but you do love it though, right?