Help! Night storage heater issue and damp! Renting....

DarceyBear

Hello all, I need some advice. I just moved into a big 2 bedroom flat with my 8 month old daughter. I am renting privately on a shorthold tenancy agreement and have been in the flat for 3 weeks. The flat has 3 night storage heaters, one in the lounge, one in the big bedroom and one in the little bedroom.

Since I have been in the flat I have set the input to 6 as its freezing all day at the moment and the output to 3. Admittedly I have never had night storage heating before so I have only just figured out how to use them as I was left no manual or given any instructions... The problem I have is that even when they are on at full heat the flat is never warm enough. The flat has big rooms and its a concrete building so takes forever to get heated up but my main concern is my daughter. Her hands and feet are always freezing and any time she has to get changed or have a bath she has goosebumps. To make matters worse it is a tile bathroom and there are no heaters anywhere near the bathroom so bathing is always done in the freezing cold! Any advice please would be welcome as I feel sure they should have to provide us with more adequate heating than this, they are old heaters and I wonder if they are working to full capacity anymore.


My second issue and main issue is the damp and mould that is growing in the kitchen. There is so much condensation in this flat that the windows have a permanent film of water on them, the windowsills have literally a puddle of water on them and in the kitchen and entire wall and big part of the ceiling has turned completely black and is constantly wet. I understand that I'm not helping matters, I'm not allowing any ventilation in because if I open the windows what little heat there is in here escapes. I really do not know what to do! And all of this has happened in just under 3 weeks. The mould is my main concern I do not want my daughter breathing in mould spores!

I can't imagine spending 6 months here with these kind of problems!!

Can anyone offer some advice please!

ognum

the damp that life produces from cooking, expiration, washing and drying is all condensing onto the coldest parts of your flat, the windows and the ceiling.

you do need to ventilate the flat, can you not add extra heating to keep you warm like an electric fire, safely guarded of course.

Google removing mould, you need a week bleach mixture but I can't remember the amounts.

seven-day-weekend

The only way you will get rid of the mould is to wash it off with dilute bleach and then heat and ventilate. If you do not heat and ventilate it will return.

Do not dry washing with the windows closed.

If I were you I would buy another couple of electric fires, you can then take them with you when you move (which presumably you will be doing at the end of your contract).

Torry_Quine

Do you have the output set to 3 overnight when it's charging up as that will drain heat when not needed? The ouput should only be used sparingly for extra boost heat as it uses up capacity very quickly and should always be turned right down overnight.

anotherginger

Put the storage heaters on maximum input and minimum output. Buy a heater if you need extra heat and some moisture traps to place around the flat.

zoominatorone

bathe the 8 month old in a baby bath in a room that has a storage heater. They also don't need to be bathed every single day.

Bennifred

I would buy a dehumidifier and extra heaters.

DarceyBear

I will look into getting extra heating, I was just a bit worried about my energy bills if I get anymore, I just feel strongly that when you move in somewhere there should be pre warning of these extra expenses and issues or it should be adequate that you don't have to get these things!

Thanks for all the advice. X

dancingfairy

I would write to the landlord stating your concerns and see if thereis anything they can do about it.
If you are still having problems then you can go to environmental health as both extreme coldand mould are health hazzards as far as Iknow. Clearly if you go to environmental health this is likely to antaganise your landlordwho may chooseto evict you at the first opportunity so you need to be aware of this. Onthe other hand the landlorddoes have a duty to provide a decent meansof heating and a safe house to live in.
It is therefore possibly easiest to get a heater in and put up with things until you can find somewhere better
df

Thrugelmir

Invest in some heavy duty curtains for the winter months. Will help to retain heat.

You will need to vent the property. Open the windows slightly and have more blankets on the beds.

ultrarunner

When I had storage heaters (admittedly in a flat I owned), one of the first things I did was switch from economy 7 to the regular tariff as I found them so useless, and just used heaters.

I also had a lot of condensation, and found having the top vent of the window constantly open the best way to prevent. It was a very cold flat however.