House gets cold quickly

loopa1

Hi all
I know it's cold on the evenings again, but within an hour of my central heating being turned off (at 9pm) my house has become quite chilly which I find a bit odd.

I assume the heat is escaping somewhere - any ideas on how I go about tracing where/why?

The house is fully double glazed and has gas central heating throughout, has cavity wall insulation and some level of loft insulation.

Thanks.

LMCD

Do you have curtains with lining in them? Do you keep your doors shut? I find the heat stores longer in my living room when i shut the curtains and keep the door closed.

loopa1

The doors are always open and we have lined curtains in the lounge, and curtains in one bedroom which are used at night. All three bedrooms have vertical blinds, and the window at the front of the lounge has blinds also - the patio door at the back of the lounge/diner (most of the ground floor) doesn't have blinds. It's also not possible to stop heat from disappearing upstairs as we can't close off the stairs. However, it doesn't feel any warmer upstairs compared to downstairs.

LMCD

Well close the doors and curtains where you are trying to keep the heat? Maybe you could try and get lined curtains for your patio door?

loopa1

Patio door has lined curtains, just no blinds.

Will try shutting the doors as a "quick fix", but if the house is cooling down so quickly with the doors open, does this suggest I might have a draught somewhere or is this normal?

WestonDave

What is the downstairs floor made of - concrete or floor boards - the latter can mean draughts blowing under the floor and up through the boards - cold air coming in at the bottom will quickly cool the air. Also how long are you running your heating for - if its on for a relatively short time you'll warm the air in the room but the inner walls will stay relatively cold, which will continue sapping heat out of the air once the heat goes off - they will try to balance cooling the air as the walls warm up.

loopa1

Downstairs floor is concrete.
Heating was on for about four hours tonight and the house was chilly after about an hour.

One of the bedrooms is above an integral garage, so could I be losing heat through this bedroom floor?

Doozergirl

loopa1 wrote: »

Downstairs floor is concrete.
Heating was on for about four hours tonight and the house was chilly after about an hour.

One of the bedrooms is above an integral garage, so could I be losing heat through this bedroom floor?

Is it insulated? If it isn't, yes.

Ditto the wall between the garage downstairs and the house. What is it? I was just chatting to someone that owns a new build and they have a single thickness wall between their garage and the main living part. They lose heat that way too as the garage is as cold as outside.

Windows are still the prime suspect for heat loss, as is the loft. You need it 27cm thick and no gaps! Loft insulation will pay for itself within a about three months - and that's if you're paying for it!

garethgas

I think WestonDave is right. Its the age old argument of 'should I leave my heating on constantly'.
One of the benefits of leaving the heating on is that the fabric of the house (stone or brick) will act as a storage heater which reduces the temperature fluctuations. It will also reduce condensation problems.
If your heating is on for an hour in the morning and the evening, you're only heating the air around you which is a bit superficial.
I'd also like to point out that I've found no conclusive proof of this, or the cost, its just my own view.
I'd be interested in anyone else's opinion though.

macman

'Some level' of loft insulation?
So it could be 27mm, or the recommended 270mm. It's the first thing to check.

Ben84

As well as the other suggestions here, I'd also check the loft hatch/door as lots of heated air can leak out through these. You probably won't feel it if heat is rising up through it, but quite a bit can be lost through there. Self adhesive foam strips can reduce it. Same for any gaps around pipes, cables and light fixtures in the ceiling which can have sealant put around them.

Fireplaces and chimneys if you have any can be a significant source of draughts and heated air leaving the house. There are different ways to stop this, depending on how permanent you want it to be.