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

Our 1930's property was so draughty that the original carpet used to lift when it was windy due to the void under the floor boards. Ply line your floors then underlay and then carpet in your lounge/dining room etc. Seal around the edges of the ply line where it meets the skirting with silicone. We insulated the walls with kingspan insulated plasterboard and skimmed on top as normal. Replace or secondary glaze your windows, we fitted triple glazed windows which made a big difference and then added blinds and curtains. We also added draught strips to the front door and a letterbox draught thing. If you have woodburning stoves as we do, it is important to have some airflow. Thankfully my DH no longer has to listen to me complaining that I can feel a draught.

Following!

We moved into a 200 ye old cottage 4 years ago and my heated blanket was a game changer for me. So much so I have one downstairs, one in my office and one on the bed. So much cheaper than heating a draft the old cottage.

Re floors could you just get large rugs if you can't carpet right now? At least they would be a barrier to any gaps. IME growing up in a very old, draughty house, heat one room only and keep doors shut. You could cost effectively get curtains and a huge rug for eg your living room and then address the other rooms over summer.

For bedrooms, cold is good for sleeping. I don't like electric blankets, but they are good even just for warming the bed before you get in. I like a nice feather doona - the feathers trap warm air from body heat so put any additional blankets on top, not under. Wool is also an option. Good old flannelette sheets are also favoured by some (again I don't like them). Same with flannelette pjs.

I don't use heating where I live now, so in cold winter internal temps can be under 15. I just wear a jumper and socks if my feet are cold. If outside is warmer, open the doors during the day and let the warmth in. I sit under a blanket if the internal temp is under 25, so I always have blankets on the couch winter or summer.

We had this - we had a thin rug over ours that used to blow up when the wind was blowing! We got these long rolls of foam sausage from Amazon I think that came with a kind of roller tool. You can push it into the tiny floorboard gaps and it did help. Do you have a cellar? We found insulating ours made a huge difference and really wasn’t a big job, wish we’d done it sooner.

Not the read the thread, so apols if it has been suggested - but chimney balloons if you don’t use your chimneys.

DS and I like to have an oil filled radiator in front of us while watching telly.

We turn it off, once it’s properly hot, then throw a blanket over it and us, trapping the nice warm air in.
It’s lovely!

You can get fan things that sit on top of your radiators and they divert the heat into the room; they really work.

I’ve not got my heating on yet. I like to light lots of tea lights, for atmosphere.
They actually produce a reasonable amount of heat!

Draught excluders. I’m going to make some new ones with old, clean socks!

Close your curtains as soon as it starts to get dark. I have curtains over the front and back doors.

I feel your pain!!!
Gecko glazing on all your windows
An Oodie is your best friend
warm sheepskin slippers
small oil filled radiators in rooms you’re sat still
weve also got thermal lining paper on the walls

Actually you've just reminded me that I've got a friend who lives in a Victorian terrace and they got a heat pump installed with underfloor heating. Downstairs is all stripped floor boards and the installer was able to move around the space below the floor to install all the pipes and insulation. It's made a huge different to how cozy their home is, and is saving a huge amount on energy bills compared to when they had a gas boiler.

Get a Chimney Sheep for each fireplace you're not currently using. They use natural materials to block off and insulate all those columns of freezing cold drafty air...

Plug in heated blanket was a game changer for me. Had never considered them, no idea why, but then tried one at a relatives house and immediately realised this was answer to my dilemma of having huge heating bills, or spending 6 months of the year miserable with cold feet, even when in fleecy pajamas, socks, dressing gown. You'll never look back.

I got a clear silicone and went around all the windows to stop draughts, you have to redo it if you open the window though. I also have the plug in heated blanket and woollen socks and I love them! Be careful with hot water bottles, I got quite a nasty burn from one last year.

Literally walk around with a candle to check where drafts are and go for those. Chimneys are bad. Doors are bad. Windows are bad. Anything you can block up helps, whether thick curtains (eBay and charity shops), or a bit of cardboard blocking the chimney draft. You've got this.

Insulated attic, use draft excluders, thin layers and when it's really cold use a hot water bottle, try not to open doors any more than absolutely necessary. No single measure adds a massive amount on its own but they all add up. It's best to use heating based on thermostat to keep a minimum temperature as heating up from cold and heating being switched on and off at a high heat for a short time costs a fortune.

Cosy throws to snuggle under on the sofa. Rugs on floors. Fans next to radiators to help the air get into the room... HWB in your bed or heated wheaty friend. Cherry stones are also amazing and safer than HWB. My Dad always insisted you couldn't complain about feeling cold unless you were wearing socks. I do like slipper socks or the super cosy "Christmas" fluffy ones you can get. And they do make a difference (ugh... Dad was right 😂).

Or a joss stick. You watch the movement of the smoke, not a flame and are less likely to burn your house down.

I've got a Victorian house! My advice is - carpets in the downstairs living rooms with the thickest underlay you can afford. That will make a huge difference. Heavy curtains also will make a huge difference and close the curtains the minute the sun goes down.
Curtain over the door, draught excluder in front of door.
Don't dry any clothes indoors unless the heating or a dehumidifier is on or you'll get mould.

Look forward to summer when you will be smug and cool all summer when everyone is moaning about the heat!

Yeah the key difference being “insulation”. OP has exposed floors with no insulation. Her downstairs rooms will be same temp as outside in winter.

I am assuming that you work from home in an office job. When working i would recommend fingerless gloves (the kind that have no fingers rather than half fingers) to stop your hands getting cold from the desk but still allowing you to type. Also scarves to stop neck draughts. Long hair also helps with this as long as you leave it down.

Furry lined leggings (can get from Primark or B&M), with boots to stop ankle draught. Hot water bottle on lap, under fleece blanket. Portable oil heater directly next to you. If you want to cut heating costs you can put it on for an hour morning and evening as you probably will be warmer for a while when you first sit down and the heater will stay warm for a while when switched off. Get some exercise during your lunch break, either a walk or a walk along video on YouTube as the movement will do you good and also warm you up.

Have you thought about getting your underfloor insulated? Made a huge difference to our Edwardian house.

It's a very good way of stopping heat loss through draughts through the ground floor if you do not have carpets, but quite a lot of work if the floor is not coming up for other reasons and you do not have easy access to the underside.

Usually, most of the draught comes up round the edges of the room, through the gap under the skirting (you will also find black dust blowing up) and, subject to the direction your floorboards run, it can be relatively easy to take up the couple of boards against the outside wall, and pack mineral wool tightly between the joists, having hoovered out the dirt and protected the airbricks from accidental blockage.

Oil filled radiators aren’t crap at all. They’re very good. You may have had a crap one but they really aren’t crap.
obviously if you’re trying to heat an enormous room with one ofr it’s not going to be effective. That’s why you research the volume of room and how many you would need.

When we had an open fire I put an old pillow in a bin bag and stuffed it up the chimney, much cheaper than the commercial chimney ballon’s.
Just remember to remove it before lighting a fire!

Hang a bauble or something from the bin bag, dangling in the fireplace so it's annoyingly in your face when you try to light the fire.

A microwaveable wheat bag is brilliant for when you need a quick warm up. Thermals, long sleeve tops and sheepskin slippers are my other must haves. Karcher window vac for wet windows.