Heating in Lounge of rented accomodation

DonnaP1

PS>... I would do what you do and just use the one room and heat that, but I have a son so its not really an option for me to not heat the rest of the house, if it was just me on my own I probably would do that!

blue_haddock

Surely it is not up to the letting agent what improvements are made to the property? just because she thinks new windows, central heating are gas fire are a good idea it doesnt mean the landlord does.

At the end of the day you wanted this specific house for some specific reason and agreed to rent it as it is from the landlord so i dont see why he should go to the expense of putting in a new radiator and possibly then having to redecorate a room because you think its a bit nippy in the living room

DonnaP1

This is all very true, but surely no house should have a lounge that goes down to 7 degrees in temperature!!!

Eliza_2

Probably shouldn't, but the reality is that lots do and you have to find ways of coping with it - insulating, bringing in other heaters, lots of jumpers and fleeces, and preferably, just not using the room, Surely your gas fire sends out some heat - you just have to sit closer.

DonnaP1

It sends out alot of heat, just costs me a lot to run! Mum has just bought me 2 panel radiators and my friend is going to put them on the wall when they arrive this week.

Yorkie1

If they are going to be installed on the walls, get permission in writing first or you risk money being deducted from your deposit for damage to the LL's property.

DonnaP1

Yorkie1 wrote: »

If they are going to be installed on the walls, get permission in writing first or you risk money being deducted from your deposit for damage to the LL's property.

Already asked when I called them today, they said thats fine, as they dont know if and when anything can be done, so they agreed they can go up. wouldnt matter if not, cos they can be freestanding too!

DominicJ_2

I think you've been given some very duff advice.

Gas costs about 2.5p per kwh, electricity about 10p per kwh.

Even an old externaly vented gas fire will output 50% of its heat into the room, which makes it half the price of electric heating. A modern flueless outputs 100% into the room.

I cant see how you are possibly spending £30 a week on a gas fire.
Even if its a bit 6kwh fire, thats 15p an hour, you'd have to be running it 28 hours a day.

HappyMJ

DominicJ wrote: »

I think you've been given some very duff advice.

Gas costs about 2.5p per kwh, electricity about 10p per kwh.

Even an old externaly vented gas fire will output 50% of its heat into the room, which makes it half the price of electric heating. A modern flueless outputs 100% into the room.

I cant see how you are possibly spending £30 a week on a gas fire.
Even if its a bit 6kwh fire, thats 15p an hour, you'd have to be running it 28 hours a day.

That's a very good tariff which is either an old fixed rate tariff or a current one only suitable for very high users. The average rates are closer to 4p and 12.5p now.

Welshwoofs

DonnaP1 wrote: »

This is all very true, but surely no house should have a lounge that goes down to 7 degrees in temperature!!!

I think you've got to be a bit realistic here personally. You've said it's a big house - well they more to heat than a small one....did you ask what the average fuel costs were when you rented it? You've said that your gas (when you use the fire) and electricity comes to £127 a month at the moment; that seems about average for Winter usage to me. Mine is £125 a month during the Winter for a 3-bed semi that has gas central heating but no gas fires (I've got one open fire in the sitting room instead) and I don't have the central heating on all day either.

The letting agent's thoughts on what you should ask to be replaced aren't relevant because a) it's not up to her and b) it's very easy to spend other people's money. Replacing all the windows in a house is a job that could cost between £4-£10,000 alone so even owner occupiers wouldn't do that on a whim! You may have more luck with just a radiator request but gas engineers ain't cheap so I wouldn't count on it.

Lastly, you'll often find one room in a house that doesn't get warm. For me it's my kitchen/dining room because it's a big room with a flat roof, huge windows and it's on the end of the central heating circuit with one radiator that doesn't get particularly hot. It doesn't bother me because I grew up during the 70s when central heating was a rare thing and I've lived in plenty of country cottages where gas wasn't available and you survive with wood burners and the like.

When you've lived in a few houses like that you soon get the idea of laying your clothes. At this time of year whilst the heating is off in the middle of the day (bearing in mind I work from home), I wear:

Feet: thin pair of cotton socks with thick wool hiking socks over the top
Legs: thick wool tights with jeans/jeggings over the top
Top: thermal camisole + thin cotton t-shirt + thin jumper + thick cardigan/jumper/fleece

If I'm really cold I have a selection of fleece blankets to wrap round me on top of that and slipping a hot water bottle between the layers also helps.