Help with heating my fron room please

narabanekeater

Firstly apoligies if this is the incorrect place to post this post. You guys have always helped in the past so I thought here would be a good start.
I have quite a large front roon approx 18x12 feet. Each end has a large window and below that a rad. No matter how long the heatings on for we just cannot get the room warm.
Both rads are massive and on a outside facing wall.
Our curtains are very long. We could either tuck them inot the top on the rads or leave them long which would cover the rads.
Whcih would allow more heat to enter the room?
Any tips would be most welcome. Its a new central heating system and we have no problems elsewhere in the house but just our front room.
Thanks in advance
Allie

frosty

have you tried putting tin foil behind the radiators to reflect the heat back in to the room? we used tesco cheap foil,it was about 22p a roll.Have you checked for draughts,we had gaps around the skirting boards as soon as we filled them in the felt warmer.

black-saturn

The main things I do to get the most out of my heating is to shut the curtains as soon as it starts getting dark and keep every door of the house shut, especially ones leading to the outside door. You could try having a plug in halogen heater which you could switch on for say 15 mins every hour just to top the warmth up.

kscour

Is it warm by the radiators? That's not meant as a stupid question honest it's just that the heat may not be circulating to the centre of the room.
Also were you without heating for a while when the new system was put in? We had this problem once it was almost as if the cold had got into the walls! After a couple of weeks we managed to turn the heating down.
Sorry not alot of help but I hope it helps

ariba10

The windows are the coldest part of the room. You should put the curtains behind the radiator and try to keep the heat away from the windows, any heat that gets behind the curtains is wasted. If you can insulate the windows with plastic sheeting pinned to the frame inside you will have a form of double glazing and stop any posible draughts

in_my_wellies

If the rest of the house is warm it might be worth getting the heating man back to 'balance' the system so they are a bit warmer.

My mum has a shelf above the rad because she has room below the sill, and the curtains go above that, the heat is pushed into the room. We don't have space for a shelf so I made my curtains so they tuck in 1" behind the rads - doesn't look nice but it works.

Bogof_Babe

Perhaps your radiators need bleeding (letting the air pockets out). If they don't feel hot to the touch, then this is an indication that trapped air is making them under-perform.

Also, there are heat settings on the system thermostat (not the room thermostat that we adjust all the time, I mean the one that the gas man checks when he does the annual service - ours is at the back of the gas fire). We had tepid radiators for ages until he adjusted this, and now it is fine. The downside is that the water runs scalding hot, but we can tweak this by reducing the water heating time cycle, and running cold into the bath at the same time, to avoid scalded feet!

If your heating system is fairly old, I wouldn't mind betting you have one of the above situations.

nearlyrich

What kind of floor covering do you have? are there any gaps under the doors etc? It is possible to get a big room warm quickly because our living/dining room is 18 x 18 (L shape) and it's lovely and warm within 15 mins of turning on the heating. We have 3 x 6 foot by 6 foot picture windows ( One is patio doors) three other doors leading off the room(s) and it's heated by three medium sized radiators (approx 3 foot wide by 2 foot high) none of the radiators are under windows. We also have a gas fire which on low adds to the cosy feeling when you are sitting watching tv etc.

narabanekeater

We have laminate flooring and the system is brand new. We were not without heating for more thana few hours when it was done. I shall continue tucking in our custains for the time being. The rads have already been bled.

black-saturn

Perhaps the rad just isnt big enough for the room?

meadowcat

Is your room north facing? North facing rooms can be cold.

Your curtains should never cover the radiator. Shorten them so that they are above the radiator, but below the window ledge. If you think the heat loss is through the windows, then try heavier lined curtains. You can also put interlining in between the curtain and the ordinary lining.

As someone else said, foil behind the rads might help.

Might be worth considering cavity wall insulation if you don't already have it.

Have you checked your roof insulation above this room? This probably would only apply if it is a bungalow.

Check for draughts around windows, doors and floors.

You say your system is new. Why not get the installer back to check that the sizes of the rads are sufficient for the size of the room.