Heating a house that's been empty for 2 years +

gjb80

Hello folks,

I'm after a bit of advice today...

I moved into a refurbished semi detached house about a week and a half ago. A few days before that i had oil delivered and had the heat on for a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours during the day and then from the evening onwards to get heat into the property. Before i moved in, the house had been empty for at least 2 years.

I have noticed a few damp patches coming through since i've had the heat on. There are damp patches in the living room in two corners and a little under the window (where there's a plug socket?), a couple of small damp patches in the kitchen and in the main bedroom. There was also damp/mould on the ceiling of the second bedroom. Finally, i opened the loft to check for insulation and while there is a lot of insulation down, i did notice a lot of condensation.

The heating system is oil but there is no room thermostat, just a thermostat on the boiler which i have set at 75 at the moment (it was at 90 for the last week or so). There are on/off valves on each of the radiators. There is no extractor fan in the kitchen, just a vent and there is no extractor fan in the bathroom either. There is a vent in the second bedroom which has been closed up. On inspection of the property from the outside, it doesn't look as if there is any vents around the loft or on any of the tiles on the roof.

I have a dehumidifier and have used it in the living room so far, it seems to have worked in clearing up the damp patches so i'm going to try it in the rest of the house and I have a guy coming out tomorrow to inspect the house in order to get an EPC Rating.

Does anyone know how long it'll take for the house to heat up to a suitable temperature? Also, i'd very much appreciate any advice or tips as well.

Thanks in advance!

ariba10

If there has been a lot of renovations it will take a while for it all to dry out completely .

Your dehumidifier will be best at doing that.

llandyrnog

The fabric of the building (walls, floors etc ) will take a while to heat up, probably a week or so.This and getting some air through the building will help get your damp patches out. Extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom will help reduce this risk of mould and damp in their respective rooms and it would be a good idea to install some airbricks into both gable ends to introduce a cross ventilation in the loft. Are you renting or buying the property ?. In either case the EPC should have been in place before you moved in !. Your EPC will recomend the heating controls are upgraded and your boiler to be a condensing one !. Does the property have cavity walls or solid ?. If no cavity wall insulation present then it will be another recomendation !. If they are solid walls then it will recomend internal or external insulation, From next year a new Govt initiative called the Grenn Deal will start.This will help with these sorts of improvements.