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Help Keeping My House Warm

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  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 25 January 2015 at 10:31AM
    27col wrote: »
    If wall paper had the slightest insulating effect then there would be absolutely no need for cavity wall insulation.
    Wallpaper has a slight insulating effect. Wallpaper with an insulating foam layer has a larger effect and is useful for reducing mould growth and for making walls feel warmer. Neither provides the same total amount of insulating value as cavity wall insulation, internal solid wall insulation or external solid wall insulation so these three are preferable alternatives if the budget and other considerations make them practical.
    27col wrote: »
    Also, it does not matter how much air you push past a radiator. It is only capable of producing an certain amount of heat. Which mainly depends on the temperature and rate of flow of the water passing through it.
    That is not true. The air flow over a radiator makes a huge difference to the amount of heat that it puts out. A conventional fan directed to blow from the sides could easily double the radiator's output by increasing the air flow rate. The central heating boiler would increase its output to match the increased heat drain from the radiator so this isn't a free gain. The general comfort level may increase by more than this because the air circulation within the room would also be improved.

    While fans used like this can be extremely effective it's better overall to install a radiator with higher unforced convective heat output. That could be longer or have three elements with radiating fins and more height to maximise the output from a given width. But this costs more than just pointing a standard fan at a radiator and may not be practical in rented properties.
  • Skintski
    Skintski Posts: 500 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    We bought a thick lined curtain to go across the tiny porch that separates our front door from our lounge and it makes a huge difference to the warmth of the room.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    mremnant wrote: »
    The radiators are red hot but for some reason the house is still not benefiting from this. ... Currently our heating is set to come on for 2 hours in the morning and then from 3pm to 10pm at night. I'm tempted to try leaving it on low allday and crank it up when I get home but if all the heat is going out the top of the house this could be a pointless and expensive task.
    Try directing a standard household fan to blow from the side of the radiator in your most used room. This could double the heat output and also improve the heat distribution in the room.

    You have two key problems. High heat loss due to lack of insulation and time to warm the house due to that high heat loss. You can help this by having the hearing come on sooner so it has more time for the heat output from the radiators to warm the fabric of the house. But his could take many hours to reach a steady state. The fan approach will get this done faster and also much more quickly warm the air.

    While you have double glazing another layer could add more insulation. Have you considered add-on plastic panels that can be put on in the winter and removed in the spring?

    You could also consider improved heating controls. Something like the Honeywell Evohome system can give you timed control of the whole system and individual radiators, with thermostats on each radiator and individual override on the temperatures for each radiator. Central controller that you use to set the times for each room to start and stop heating and the target temperature for each. This can help costs by staggering the heating times for each room so you don't warm up say a bedroom when you're not going to be using it for hours.

    Draught stripping internal doors can also help to keep heat in the rooms where you want it. Useful particularly on the doors of any rooms that you don't use and don't want to heat. Also for any main room that you use most so you can heat that with less air flow loss from the room.

    It'll cost a significant amount of money to get external solid wall insulation and a lot of disruption but less money to get internal solid wall insulation. These are the best wall fixes available once you've got the loft insulated. Assuming that you don't have cavity walls. You might find that you have cavity walls at the rear is the kitchen/bathroom was added after the original building, which is very common in some places. You can get cavity wall insulation for such a piece very cheaply, a hundred Pounds or two.
  • justjohn
    justjohn Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Make sure you radiator are sized correctly.
    coal/heating stove central heating get a lot hotter than gas or oil(most of the time). And many house's have been bodged and added to over years.


    Also old style radiators do not give the same heat output as new ones.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    TrixA wrote: »
    We're in an almost identical situation, just moved into our first house, which is also end terrace, also Victorian. It gets plenty warm upstairs but the downstairs is freezing, even with the central heating going full blast. Our plumber recommended that we set the central heating so it doesn't fall below 12 degrees during the day, but that doesn't seem to have made much difference.
    Use draught proofing on the internal doors, particularly downstairs, and consider something like the Evohome controller system from Honeywell to better control the temperature in each room.

    The draught proofing is to keep the heat in the downstairs rooms so it doesn't just rise to upstairs as warm air naturally does.

    The Evohome or similar system adds thermostatic programmable control of the temperature in each room so the upstairs radiators won't continue to put out heat once the rooms are at the right temperature. It can also save you money by letting you do things like starting to warm up bedrooms just before they will be used, instead of at the same time as the rest of the house.

    As a short term measure also try a standard household fan blowing from the side of the radiators downstairs because this increases their heat output by blowing more air flow over them. This also boosts the air temperature more quickly, increasing comfort levels.
  • justjohn
    justjohn Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 25 January 2015 at 10:43AM
    Concentrate on one room at a time. also make sure you have trv's on your radiators. Make sure your Radiators overall outputs are correct for room then insulate and draft exclude that room.


    oversize rads rather than under.


    rad sizing calculators(you will be surprised how many old houses have rads that are too small)
    https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=radiator+sizing
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