If you live in an old house how do you keep warm?

[flatcapandpearls]

It is worrying me that I am freezing and sat under a duvet again and it is July, how are we going to cope in January. We keep having to put the heating on, but as it is oil central heating we want to use it as little as possible.

It must be cold as my medication makes me feel hot all the time.

We have a real fire in the room where we sit in the evening, we have been using wood and it does not seem to provide much heat. People who have real fires what do you put on them? How do you keep them going?

The dining room has a woodburner which apparantly blasts out quite a bit of heat but we dont spend much time in there, although maybe when the furniture arrives we will.

There is no double glazing and some stone floors so there is little insulation.

It is a lovely house but so cold, what can we do.

Wearing socks always helps!

I have an old house in Cornwall which is cool in summer and warm in winter.

We lived in the snug which had a woodburner. Once it's going, keep it going (bank it down for the night) and you will be warm. I used to feel the heat hit half way down the stairs.

We also had an oil fired range in the kitchen which toasted your bum nicely when doing the planning for the next day.

I now live in a modern house in Brussels, and it's hot in summer and freezing in winter.

Thermal vests are a good idea; thick socks, and last winter I bought myself a pair of wrist warmers from Toast, which helped with the screws in my wrists. I also layer my clothing and end up with a fleece on top.

Have been out and bought lots of new snuggly socks, hard to find thermals at this time of year but hopefully won't need them for a while. The house as been empty for a few months so that may make a difference.

No range in the kitchen unfortunately.

Thanks for the help.

If it's been empty and unheated for a while, I wonder if it's damp, and the walls are cold?

It might be worth running the heating for a little just to get it feeling slightly more lived in?

I've been thinking about this a little more, and I wonder whether the problem may not be cold, per se, but actually the chilling effects of drafts? If all your doors are open, there are chimneys from each room, and the windows are perhaps a little drafty, you probably have a high level of air movement going through your house, which may well be what's causing you to feel cold.

There's an interesting book called This Cold House which looks at the science behind why you're cold!

Dp thinks it is drafts, he is always nagging us about closing doors, the animals are always in and out as well.

Will try running the heating.

use coal on the open fire - it's sooo much hotter than wood. We used to live a cold draughty old house but with the little fire going in the living room we sometimes had to open windows.

you start off with wood kindling and then add coal and some bigger bits of wood if you like.

get heavy curtains and keep them closed at night.

does the loft have insulation? if not get it done - it's relatively cheap.

Have not been in the loft will check.

Thanks for the fire advice.

This may sound odd but carefully placed mirrors can bounce light around and make it feel warmer. The other thing is don't be afraid to open the windows allowing the warm air from outside to come in.

Sounds like us, we moved into our rented house nearly 2 years ago and it is baltic in the winter. No double glazing at the back of the house - we do have 2 windows at the front with it - and no central heating, we have two gas fires (which reminds me, we have to ask landlord to get them checked for us before we start using them again in the winter). House is damp in places but we do like it. It is cheap in an expensive area and great for schools, we will be here a while. Yes to snakes on the bottom of doors and thick curtains with lining make a difference.

Can you get some thick carpet-and-underlay down? I always think that if your feet are cold then the rest of you is. Warm your feet up, on thick carpet and youre halfway there

Flatcap - we're just a little bit east of you and having the same problem. It's almost never colder outside than inside!

Wood burner, blankets in every room, red wine and move around a lot. Also, as lovely as our wooden floors were, carpets have changed my life.

Having some of the sash windows renovated shortly so that should help. It's so windy inside the house that the doors bang all the time even when the windows are closed.

Time to buy yourself some new cashmere jumpers methinks!

Big fluffy socks.

I'd second opening all the windows if it's sunny and trying to let some warmth in - our house is always colder inside than it is outside, when the heating is off (and not always warmer with the heating ON!).

I thought you had split up with your dh but it seems not? In that case, lots of sex sounds the way forward!

Lots of rugs at the very least and carpet certainly in the bedroom.

Have you got a Wii? I find a couple of goes at hula-hoop warm me up for ages!

Dp and I are in limbo of sorts he has to be here to care for dd, but we are trying to fix things while dd is away for a few weeks.

Today it is glorious thank God so had every window and door open.

Good luck with the fixing.
Has it warmed up at all?

My house was freezing last year even with the heating on.

The best thing I bought was some slippers with a heat up pad in them (microwaveable in 30 seconds).

Have throws everywhere.

And I've just bought that Boden knitted dressing gown and it's lovely and warm on.

I nearly all year have two light duvets on the bed - the air trapped is warmer than one thick duvet (I only have one on in July and August).

Also most of the year I take heated wheatbags to bed with me - safer than hot water bottles. Usually £2.99 each in Books etc or from market stalls.

We also rent a freezing cold farmhouse, and in addition to all the things mentioned above, one thing we have found really useful is double glazing film.

It's about £6 per window, depending on the sizes obviously, and you tape the film on around the edge of the window then seal it with a hairdryer which also removes all wrinkles and makes it look smooth and quite glasslike (particularly when my neurotic dp does it!).

It really makes a difference to the warmth, as no draughts come in through our very pretty, but gappy sash windows, and the heat doesn't escape so easily. And it's cheap, which is important in a rented house, cheap enough that you can rip it off quite happily in spring when you want to open your windows again!

We don't do the bathroom window, but all the others get done as soon as it starts to get chilly.

Thanks Janeite, I hope we do to. We have been under so much financial pressure and have not had a night to ourselves in over a year and I have been unwell this year. But now the house is sold and we have time to ourselves things are looking brighter. We have been out for a few meals, I am happier in this house and school will be less work next year as I wont be in my first year.

The house does feel warmer, I am under a blanket but I am not feeling that well so suspect that is te reason.

I am getting dd a wii for her birthday which is not that far off.

I do have a duvet plus throws and blankets on my bed, have been out today and bought similar for dd and next week will get more throws for living rooms.

The wheat thing sounds good as we all have hot water bottles but they do worry me.

Dp mentioned something about a film Leeka, what is it called?

Please come and help me on the bloomin' private schools thread before I explode!

I will pop in but my new mumsnet promise is to stay away from anything controversial. I may post, hide and run.

Lol. Change your name and be as controversial as you like!

If you mix a solid fuel such as Homefire or Excel in with the coal, it will give out much more heat. The manufactured fuels burn hotter and once they are going stay in longer. You would probably have to mix with coal as they can be hard to light on their own in a normal grate. You could a bag from a garage to try, though not sure if they have them at this time of the year.

we have just moved from a house with an open fire,we had only that to heat the whole house,no central heating as well,
we used a mixture of fuel on our open fire.
we lit it then piled it up with coal,
once it was blaring stick on some small dry logs and some coal,that way the coal gives off the heat and the wood helps it burn for longer,
we also bought bags of peat (which just looks like coal) it gave off a lot of heat too,
if you use just wood on it you wont get a lot of heat from it,and if you use just coal,then you will use loads and it will cost a fortune
in the winter we did use a small electric heater,but the rest of the time the coal fire was enough to heat the house (3 bedrooms)
good luck x

Thanks, hopefully we will not need coal or similar for a few months. But maybe we should start practising early autumn

Hope you feel better soon. Thanks btw.

I think you get used to it. When we moved here 11 years ago we laughed at the vendors' jumper cupboard. How we laughed. Our house is freezing, we don't have people for supper cos they have to keep their coats on.

We like it though, can't stand all that central heating stuff.

we do have lots of jumpers.

dp has just said to me you are on an education thread, you have that look in your eye!