Cold upstairs - where to start

shell820810

Trying to getting my hubby off his bum to look into this before baby comes next month.

Basically our upstairs never seems to feel warm (think its worse in our bedroom and ensuite - dont really use the others).

There is a distinct difference in temperature when you move from upstairs/downstairs, despite both having central heating on at same temperature (two different thermostats). We have a sealed system (oil fired) and the pressure is fine (1-1.5 bar if I can remember right)

Some of the possible issues we think it may be are:

Radiators are all heating up, but the one in our bedroom wont let out water or air when it is bled?! But it is pumping hot. My dad said it is possibly full of air and the heat coming from the pipes may be enough to heat it. He has suggested taking it off and flushing it out.

We broke the bleed valve in the ensuite rad last night trying to turn it, so not sure if it has air/water in it but again it seems to be heating fully. All other upstairs radiators are working as normal.

Extraction fan in ensuite - room was very draughty so we have disconnected the fan for the winter and filled the tube/pipe thing with fibreglass insulation.

Another issue in the ensuite is mildew. I know this is because we use the shower without the fan on and it doesnt really bother me. I can remove it and paint it and start using the fan/open the window. My query is the location of it. Its isnt above the shower or on that part of the ceiling at all. Its on the part of ceiling that is above the window/meets the exterior wall. Is this normal, or is this because it is colder at that point (ie do we need to try and insulate above that point more?)

Loft (semi) converted - loft is floored and has a window, so dad says that the insulation wont be as deep as if it wasnt converted/floored.

Ventilation in roof space - there is ventilation gaps along the eaves in the roof space. My dad says this is normal, and needs to be there. He suggested if we really wanted to cover them a bit it might help, but then we need to leave a window open slightly.

Its a new build (2006) so would have met all regulations etc, and is double glazed etc, but we really need to try to try and get this sorted before baby comes along.

Any suggestions on where the problem is most likely to lie, or who is the best type tradesperson to get to look at it?

ETA: at minimum cost and disruption preferably!!!

Chunks

The upstairs in my house feels cooler than downstairs during the winter months. In summer, it's the other way around!

If rads upstairs are hot you likely have hot water supplying them and it the tops are same temperature, then bleeding them isn't necessary.

You have highlighted two problems with bleed valves; one appears blocked and the other broken. Both need to be fixed - isolate and flush the blocked one and isolate and replace the broken bleed value.

Condensation will produce mould (guess that's what you meant) and it may also make your room 'feel' cold. A electric dehumidifer will fix the problem. If you know someone that has one, ask to borrow it for an evening and see the difference. The extractor is there to ventilate and should not produce drafts (that needs looking into and fixing IMHO). Blocking the vent is not the way forward unless you let all the hot moist air out of the room eg. by opening a window). The vent is almost certainly sited where it is for a reason (regs/safety). You can get different types of extractor and relocate but I would investigate what you have first (maybe a baffle in the ducting is stuck open allowing cold air/wind to blow into your bathroom).

Others will almost certainly be along to supply other thoughts (including the areas not covered here).

Good luck,

WestonDave

Ensuite mildew - we have the same problem despite a fan. There is a trade off - if you shove more insulation right down into the eaves in the loft it might stop that part of the ceiling being cold enough to attract condensation, but you will create air circulation problems in the loft and end up with damp and condensation up there. Our solution after various attempts to paint over etc, was to give the bathroom ceiling two coats of Zinsser Perma White paint which was recommended by someone on here. 2 years down the line we haven't had any repeat of the problem. Its easy enough to apply and as its re-coat dry in two hours you can easily do both coats in a day.

I'd replace the fan with one which has electric shutters built into it - ours is a humidstat one which means it detects damp in the air and runs until the humidity level drops down. When it starts up you can see little shutters inside slowly open - they close again when it shuts down - I think ours is an Xpelair one.

Radiators aren't my strong point - I keep a good tame engineer for them!

WestonDave

Re the loft - do you use this as a room or just as storage? If its just storage I'd be tempted to lay solid loft insulation over the existing floor, and then put a new loft panel floor over the top of that. Spaceboard is one brand of insulation - there are others - is more expensive than traditional loft insulation, but it is very easy to handle and cut (cuts with a kitchen bread knife quite nicely). Loft floor panels are usually about £7 for a pack of 3. I seem to recall last time I was in B&Q they had loft floor panels with insulation attached which might be even easier. The only tricky bit is that because you will raise the floor level, you'll need to make a stable entrance round the hatch - some timber joist material that will be the same height as the insulation is thick made into a square/rectangle around the hatch will do the job - screw it into the existing floor, and screw the new floor to the top. The ladder can then be fixed to the new floor.

shell820810

WestonDave wrote: »

Re the loft - do you use this as a room or just as storage? If its just storage I'd be tempted to lay solid loft insulation over the existing floor, and then put a new loft panel floor over the top of that. Spaceboard is one brand of insulation - there are others - is more expensive than traditional loft insulation, but it is very easy to handle and cut (cuts with a kitchen bread knife quite nicely). Loft floor panels are usually about £7 for a pack of 3. I seem to recall last time I was in B&Q they had loft floor panels with insulation attached which might be even easier. The only tricky bit is that because you will raise the floor level, you'll need to make a stable entrance round the hatch - some timber joist material that will be the same height as the insulation is thick made into a square/rectangle around the hatch will do the job - screw it into the existing floor, and screw the new floor to the top. The ladder can then be fixed to the new floor.

Just used for storage, thanks will look into that.

dri_2

shell820810 wrote: »

Trying to getting my hubby off his bum to look into this before baby comes next month.

Basically our upstairs never seems to feel warm (think its worse in our bedroom and ensuite - dont really use the others).

There is a distinct difference in temperature when you move from upstairs/downstairs, despite both having central heating on at same temperature (two different thermostats). We have a sealed system (oil fired) and the pressure is fine (1-1.5 bar if I can remember right)

Some of the possible issues we think it may be are:

Radiators are all heating up, but the one in our bedroom wont let out water or air when it is bled?! But it is pumping hot. My dad said it is possibly full of air and the heat coming from the pipes may be enough to heat it. He has suggested taking it off and flushing it out.

We broke the bleed valve in the ensuite rad last night trying to turn it, so not sure if it has air/water in it but again it seems to be heating fully. All other upstairs radiators are working as normal.

Extraction fan in ensuite - room was very draughty so we have disconnected the fan for the winter and filled the tube/pipe thing with fibreglass insulation.

Another issue in the ensuite is mildew. I know this is because we use the shower without the fan on and it doesnt really bother me. I can remove it and paint it and start using the fan/open the window. My query is the location of it. Its isnt above the shower or on that part of the ceiling at all. Its on the part of ceiling that is above the window/meets the exterior wall. Is this normal, or is this because it is colder at that point (ie do we need to try and insulate above that point more?)

Loft (semi) converted - loft is floored and has a window, so dad says that the insulation wont be as deep as if it wasnt converted/floored.

Ventilation in roof space - there is ventilation gaps along the eaves in the roof space. My dad says this is normal, and needs to be there. He suggested if we really wanted to cover them a bit it might help, but then we need to leave a window open slightly.

Its a new build (2006) so would have met all regulations etc, and is double glazed etc, but we really need to try to try and get this sorted before baby comes along.

Any suggestions on where the problem is most likely to lie, or who is the best type tradesperson to get to look at it?

ETA: at minimum cost and disruption preferably!!!

rather than blocking air vent for extractor fan u can buy exterior cover with flaps which only open when fan blows out and close when not in use preventing draught(all diy/building suppliers stock these)

dri_2

Rather than blocking air vent for shower u can buy(off shelf at diy/builders merchants)an exterior vent cover with flaps which only opens when fan blows out preventing any draft from blowing in.

almillar

One basic, and easy thing to start with - you've got a thermostat downstairs and upstairs, you've set them both to the same temp, but downstairs is warmer.
Unless the upstairs thermostat never gets up to the right temperature (so is always on) then maybe one of the thermostats needs to be recalibrated? If you have a thermometer, put it very close to each thermostat, and check that the thermometer roughly agrees with the thermostat going on/off (ie if the thermostat is set at 20, the thermometer should, overtime, climb to 20, fall to 18, climb to 20 etc).
If the thermostat is a dial, you may be able to pop the dial off, turn it round a bit and put it back on, so that it's representing the correct temp.

peterpan567

i have a same problem, but found out that the temperature downstairs is higher cause of hob using, TV on, people downstairs. I sometimes plug a local electric heater for kids upstairs for a short warm up.

sunshinetours

If you are having showers daily with no ventilation then chances are air is humid both in ensuite and main bedroom. Damp air is much harder to heat than dry air
Sort out the ventilations issue or try a dehumidifier in your bedroom during the day (see if you can borrow one for a while to try it out) to remove moisture from air and it should heat up quicker and feel warmer

Its amazing how many people want to seal their houses right up and not ventilate and air them properly - you can end up causing more problems than you realise!