How to warm my house up naturally

Norman_Castle

Look for draughts.Between the walls and floor,around doors and windows,inside built in cupboards and behind the kitchen and bathroom plumbing,anywhere that pipework goes through the walls or floor including behind kitchen cupboards and bath panels.

LolaBooth

I have used this in the past and am going to do again in the place I have just moved into: applying plastic film to the perimeter of the window frame and using the hair dryer to shrink it to fit. It made a distinct improvement in my last ancient home and I have no doubt it will work here.

It creates a double-glazing effect, by trapping the air and stopping the drafts. The new place has 18 sash windows, a meter wide by two meters tall, so I have my work cut out for me. Apparently the film is available in rolls of 12m, so I will get this. Also, kits to do a few windows are available at most home stores and also larger grocery stores that have branched out into other housey things.

Good luck!

macman

But the OP already has double glazing...

LolaBooth

Sure, the panes may be double glazed, but what about the frames of the window? A gap or poorly fitted window frame could allow far more cold air through than a pane of glass. Doing the periphery of the window seems sensible to me, in addition to doing the loft, of course. That's a no-brainer.

bushie_2

There should be grants available for loft insulation and cavity wall insulation - i had a company to look at my loft as I don't have cavity walls and they were honest enough to inform me I had at least the recommended thickness already.

dander

Layout of houses can make a huge difference to. If yours is open plan then you'll find it harder to keep the heat where you want it. In my experience open plan staircases are the worst - heat rises straight up those things - stand at the bottom and you can often feel the air whistling past you. If it isn't open plan, just shutting doors should help.

sancho

ormus wrote: »

the recommended loft insulation is now 270mm thick.
anything below this amount is costing you dearly.

ps
the payback on loft insulation is very quick. far quicker than any other form of energy saving method/s.

Any way of getting around having the loft boarded? Ours has boards in the 'centre' with carpet on top (and lots of stuff!) The stuff around the edges isn't very deep, worth 'upgrading' it even though 65% of it is boarded

loracan1

dander wrote: »

Layout of houses can make a huge difference to. If yours is open plan then you'll find it harder to keep the heat where you want it. In my experience open plan staircases are the worst - heat rises straight up those things - stand at the bottom and you can often feel the air whistling past you. If it isn't open plan, just shutting doors should help.

This is so true, I don't have open-plan stairs but an open plan kitchen/dining room. Towards the end of last winter I put up curtains to close off the kitchen, made a massive difference and the dining room was a lot cosier. I'll be putting them back up in a couple of weeks.

Pennylane

Cavity wall insulation would make a huge difference and also loft insulation.

I know it's not always possible but IF you have any say in your choice of home - always opt for one which gets plenty of sun. Our first house only got the sun in the front of the house. The back rooms and garden were freezing as they never got the sun.

Since then the position of the house has always been my priority. Our neighbours round the corner have no rooms in their cottage which ever get the sun. It is so cold and depressing in there all year round. They cannot believe we haven't had any heat on yet, they've had theirs on for about 10 days now.

phill99

Maybe barking up the wrong tree. The insulation etc maybe sound. However, If you have an old central heating system and live in a hard water area, you may find that the pipes are furred up with limescale, hence not allowing a full flow of hot water through. Maybe worth a look.