Really Cold Room

charlie792

Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong place - please move it if necessary.

I have a problem with one room in my flat never getting warm, Im in rented accommodation so Im not sure other than getting an electric heater there is anything that I can do.

Its a old Victorian house with big bay windows and high ceilings and is converted into two flats, and we have the whole ground floor.

The flat itself isn't exactly very well insulated and doesn't very well retain its heat, but its bearable during the winter whilst the heating is on, however our lounge which is in the middle of the house never gets warm.
The lounge is actually pretty small in relation to the bedrooms, has a small(ish) radiator and for some reason has a massive bay window to the side. It also has an old boarded up fireplace and the boiler is in this room.
We have bled all the radiators and the radiator itself feels very warm, the room adjoins to the kitchen which is also a bit chilly (due to a draughty back door) but we keep the kitchen door shut to keep the heat in the lounge. We have tried shutting the adjoining door from the lounge to the hall also but its actually warmer with it open as the hall is lovely and warm.
We spend a lot of time in the lounge in the evenings but we have always have a blanket over us - its silly as I said its the smallest room and the bedroom which has even bigger bay windows is plenty warm enough. Going from one room into the lounge as you can really feel the difference in temperature.

There doesnt particularly seem to be any draughts from the fireplace nor from the windows but I am aware the vast amount of glass in the room obviously won't help keep the heat in.

Realistically is there anything else I can do or is it a case of just finding an electric heater and having that on in the evenings?

lynzpower

If you are in rented there are a few things

Did you get an energy performance certificate
is there any damp present in the room
are the windows covered with thick curtains
You could cover the windows with bubblewrap, that does help but doesnt look great.

have you mentioned this to your landlord

Is it a conversion flat? What is underneath your lounge?

BitterAndTwisted

Sounds like the radiator isn't large enough for the room it's expected to heat, especially with a nice bay-window in it. I think you might just have to bite the bullet and add another form of heating.

lincroft1710

Is the lounge on the north/east side of the building where it would be exposed to the cold winds. If the windows are single glazed or if the double glazing is poor this will mean further heat loss.

theartfullodger

charlie792 wrote: »

Realistically is there anything else I can do or is it a case of just finding an electric heater and having that on in the evenings?

Nope: Get heater(s) and/or thermal underwear and/or move. Sorry!

(Unless landlord/owner wants to replace central heating & install double glazing...)

charlie792

Thanks for the replies - The windows are double glazed and the curtains are very heavy ones on a pull cord - to be honest I normally keep the closed most of the time. Im not sure what side it is on, but there is only a very small outside space outside the window, it overlooks the wall of the next property (probably only around 5ft away).
There is damp in the room on the chimney breast wall - the landlord had builders to recap the chimney as he believed this was the cause - the damp patch still flares up on occasion. There is a lot of damp in the front bedroom however.
As far as I am aware there is nothing below the lounge however it is possible there is a cellar which is no longer accessible.
No energy performance certificate received.

I personally believe it has to do with the bay windows + small radiator and that it is part of the house where it is not connected on both sides - whereas the two bedrooms are connected to both next door neighbours (difficult to explain the layout)

BitterAndTwisted

Dampness and two external walls could explain why it feels so cold. What is the landlord doing to resolved this "damp patch flaring up" issue?

charlie792

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Dampness and two external walls could explain why it feels so cold. What is the landlord doing to resolved this "damp patch flaring up" issue?

To be honest Ive not told the landlord about the additional damp . It only seems to do it very on occasion now whereas before It was constantly wet.
Its also only one outside wall - One side is the Kitchen, One is the Hall, One is next door as I said its a bit difficult to explain the layout of the flat, its kind of long and L shaped...

lynzpower

if the flat is damp, then its bound to be cold!

You MUST tell your landlord about the damp! Its his investment, it could be really detrimental to his property! Let him know asap so it can be resolved.

charlie792

lynzpower wrote: »

if the flat is damp, then its bound to be cold!

You MUST tell your landlord about the damp! Its his investment, it could be really detrimental to his property! Let him know asap so it can be resolved.

I did tell the LL and the estate agents initially and the LL came out to look at it. They beleive that the problem in the bedroom is more related to bad ventilation and have been advised to open the windows more, but with temperatures as low as they are I dont particularly want to. As for the cause in the lounge neither the LL nor the builders knew what the cause was.

Errata

Your lounge was designed to have a roaring open fire going in the colder months and to be lived in by people who wore many layers of clothing. A small radiator won't compensate for the lack of those.