Rented house...some rooms very very cold.

BDB1

Hi,

We live in what i would describe as a 100 year old end terrace 4 bedroom house, now the house is amazing and we will be here very long term, however we have a small problem.

At the back of the house, where the kitchen, bathroom and 2 bedrooms are it seems to get extremely cold. and by extremely cold i am talking about 5-10 degrees even after the heating has been on all day.

These 4 rooms have at least 2 outside walls each and the kitchen and 4th bedroom have 3 outside walls, i feel that this may be the problem and that there is no cavity insulation (there is however a good layer of insulation in the loft spaces)

I dont want to upset the apple cart, our landlord is amazing and sorts jobs out straight away and because it is a local business that has been running for about 70 years they have allowed us to sign a 5 year contract with 3 years at the same rent level!

All of the windows are old sash style which are drafty, but i do think its because of the lack of insulation.

I want to approach the landlord and ask that something be done about the cold, however as i said i dont want to upset the good relationship we have at the minute.

I was even considering offering to pay far half of whatever work needs to be carried out (we were thinking of getting a quote for secondary glazing and cavity wall insulation)

The worrying thing is that it isnt even that cold yet and the kids are already starting to wake up in the mornings with runny noses and rosy cheeks :-(

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Jowo_2

Have a look at the council website to see if they have any info on grants available to landlords to upgrade properties or fund energy saving work.

They may have additional schemes available for tenants on low incomes/benefits.

My local council have a clutch of schemes aimed at landlords who rent out properties and tenants on low incomes, plus links to charities and energy advice organisations that provide further info or grants.

If so, present the information to the landlord.

pie81

hmm. I'm not really sure what insulation is likely to be possible in a 100 year old house - in those days the walls were not built with cavities AFAIK so cavity wall insulation is not possible. Sure someone with more knowledge can confirm/correct this!

For the sash windows you should be able to help these a bit by fitting foam draft excluder strips and making sure any gaps between glass and frame are sealed up. And of course having good thick curtains and closing them when the rooms aren't in use, early in the evening etc, will help keep the heat in.

But really I suspect the issue is with the heating system. I presume you have radiators? do they get properly hot? if not, they may need bleeding or power flushing. How many of them are there per room and how big are they? If you google "BTU" and "room size" you can find calculators which show you what power of radiator you need for what size of room, may help a bit.

Fire_Fox

Don't underestimate drafts: we used to rent a Victorian corner flat heated with a three section gas fire. Having installed plastic film 'double glazing' on the sash windows we went down to using one section of the fire, i.e. a third of the heating, and were still warmer than before! What is different about the front - is it south facing?
.

BDB1

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Don't underestimate drafts: we used to rent a Victorian corner flat heated with a three section gas fire. Having installed plastic film 'double glazing' on the sash windows we went down to using one section of the fire, i.e. a third of the heating, and were still warmer than before! What is different about the front - is it south facing?
.

Oh we arent!!!!

We have already gone down the draught excluder route, however the ridiculous amount of money we have spent on said excluders could be put to better use elsewhere i feel.

I think that the problem lies solely with the fact that all 4 of these rooms ar at the back of the house which is more exposed than the front.

Gonna take a peek at the councils website and gather up as much info as i can before going to see the landlord.

poppysarah

BDB1 wrote: »

Oh we arent!!!!

We have already gone down the draught excluder route, however the ridiculous amount of money we have spent on said excluders could be put to better use elsewhere i feel.

ring your energy supplier if you're on almost any sort of benefit you can get stuff done for free.

Fire_Fox

BDB1 wrote: »

Oh we arent!!!!

We have already gone down the draught excluder route, however the ridiculous amount of money we have spent on said excluders could be put to better use elsewhere i feel.

I think that the problem lies solely with the fact that all 4 of these rooms ar at the back of the house which is more exposed than the front.

Gonna take a peek at the councils website and gather up as much info as i can before going to see the landlord.

So the windows are NOT drafty? You said in the OP that they 'are' (as opposed to 'were'). Have you read the Energy Saving Trust website? This will explain what percentage of heat is lost through walls, single glazed windows, drafts, loft area and also advise you on what grants might be available. If you pay for this work you run the risk that the landlord wants to increase your rent!

When was the central heating last given a full service, do the radiators in the back of the house get hot? Do you have lined (thermal or blackout) and interlined curtains at all windows? Is there any damp (condensation) in the house? It isn't normal for a Victorian property to be as low as 5 to 10C after the heating has been on, do any of your neighbours have the same problems?

prudryden

Strange that the temperature gets that low if the rads get hot. Check for open fireplaces, gaps in wood floors (if any), open airbricks in the wall (not the ones below floor level). A good way to stop drafts from under interior doors is to attach the insulation material that wraps arounds pipes to the bottom of the doors. The material is already cut and splits easily to slide under the door and attach itself. The door will move freely without taking it off. Comes in differents mills.

BDB1

I feel that i didnt explain myself very well there.

The windows are single glazed sash windows, we have used an extraordinary amout of draught excluder on them and they are still "slightly" drafty, i suspect that is more due to the age/design of them and there is little we can do to them now that will improve them significantly, and yes there is condensation forming on the windows every day.

All of the radiators get hot, my friend is a plumber/heating engineer and he came round last month and balanced the system etc, the complete system was serviced in April, just before we moved in and we have that certificate.

As i said, the problem lies at the back of the house where, these rooms never seem to get any where near as warm as the the Lounge, dining room or other 2 bedrooms.

All the windows have roller blinds and backed curtains up at them, in one of the cold bedrooms we even tried an experiment when we wanted new carpet and paid for Cloud 9 underlay and a really good quality carpet, i would sya it made no difference at all.

As an example as to how cold these rooms get, my little boy is starting to get a phobia about using the toilet in the mornings because its so cold in there.

Granted, it is a big house and is going to take some heating but i think having the heating on 24 hours a day at between 22-27 degrees is a bit much.

Gonna take a look at those sites now...thanks for those.

BitterAndTwisted

Please, please take a look at the "Preparing For Winter" thread on the Old Style forum. It's incredibly long but there are lots and lots of fantastic tips on how to conserve and use less heating. People have reported extraordinary results just from sewing or pinning cheap fleece blankets to the backs of their curtains. Insulating underneath the bath with bubble-wrap to keep the water hot. Genius!

Hopejack

We have a similar problem in the house we are in - it's a nice house but the heating system is donkeys years old and we don't even have a main thermostat! Some of the rads have thermostatic valves but not all - esp the hottest rooms in the house don't have them!

The house faces south east on the back and so those rooms are always nice and warm. Front as a result faves north west (more north tbh) and it's always cold and dark in those - unfortunately both my childrens' bedrooms are on that side!!

We approached our landlord to say our heating bills were astronomical and was the boiler serviced, was the loft well insulated etc and he said they were and wasn't particularly interested tbh. We even mentioned paying for cavity wall ins to help but he doesn't want it put in!

Needless to say, we can't move right now but are hoping to sell our own house (which we rent out) and buy something in Spring/Summer next year. I'm so looking forward to getting somewhere where I have some control over the heating system and insulation etc (we were told this house has a combi boiler when we looked around - ha!!!).

I hate paying over the odds for heating - the bills are crippling us and I know it's partly down to the system we have and the fact things like the UPVC windows are draughty and have now failed in places - lots of condensation and mildew between the panes!

Hope you get on better than us!