Help! My home is freezing cold

greenbee

VfM4meplse wrote: »

My HWB just ain't cutting it at night.

I'm using 3 at the moment. I also have a silk duvet, and use blankets when it's really cold

Floss wrote: »

VFM do the free things first

This is the key

If there is sludge in the radiators it doesn't have to be expensive to fix, as you can do it yourself, but it's tedious. If the radiators are sludgy you may want to fit a magnaclean unit which will remove bits of metal as the water circulates, and is emptied when the boiler is serviced... I assume you've had your boiler serviced? If not, get it done and ask the engineer to check the radiators and balance them at the same time.

Review the timings and room stat/radiator temperatures - you may not have the heating on long enough or hot enough to make the house warm. My downstairs thermostat is in the cold hall, so at 18C the rest of the rooms are warm. My upstairs thermostat is on the warm landing, outside the airing cupboard. It has to be set to around 21 for the bedroom radiators to come on and warm up to a reasonable temperature.

trailingspouse

What temperature is your home actually at? I don't mean what temp is the central heating set to. It might be worth using a thermometer to check.

If there's a large discrepancy between the actual temp and what the heating is set to, then you'll know you have a problem with the heating. If, however, the temp is OK but you still feel cold, then you need to start putting more jumpers on!!

Floss

VFM how is your home coming along? Have you got to an acceptably comfortable remperature yet?

VfM4meplse

Thanks all, some good advice here.

Floss wrote: »

VFM how is your home coming along? Have you got to an acceptably comfortable remperature yet?

The temperature is improving, but I don't know whether that is because I am acclimatising or if my home is actually getting warmer. Its a strange place, the conservatory is lovely and warm this afternoon so I plan to spend the next hour reading in it . We're expecting next week to be another cold snap, aren't we?

My living room feels a lot better now, but I have resorted to a HWB plus blanket plus heating on all night, in addition to lots of layers during the day.

I like the idea of measuirng actual temp vs thermostat, have just downloaded Thermo / Robocat to tell me. Eta: I'm going to delete it, it tells me its 6 degrees but feels like 4. Its obviously just taking weather stats.

Doveling

Have you had a look at the beginning of the Preparing for Winter thread?

Lots of ideas for both short and long term fixes. Stay warm!

HTH

VfM4meplse

It’s Sunday morning and I have been having a think about things.

It’s not been a particularly cold January (in the south, at least) so I think it’s my tolerance - or lack of it! - to the cold is part of the problem. The net result is a real reluctance to get out of bed, because it’s comfortable to stay warm. When I do manage it, it has made my mornings more efficient, as I’m more organised and keep moving to get ready and out of the door rather than be distracted by a mug of tea and some pottering.

There has not been one night that I have been to bed w/o a HWB. Earlier this morning I forced myself to stand in the kitchen whilst the kettle boiled for another HWB, and then climbed back into bed .

Although I planned to get stuff done in the early hours, I feel delightfully drowsy once more...

Katieowl

I live in a stone cottage, we have a wood burner in the sitting room and a bit of background heat coming off the Rayburn, but effectively no heating up stairs. When it's really really cold I use oil rads on the lowest effective setting to take the chill off. But the No 1 thing that makes all the difference is an electric blanket! No matter how cold it is upstairs I know I will be toasty when I get into bed! I've currently got mine set on a timer, so it goes on at 8pm without me having to to remember to nip up and switch it on.

Other than that, plenty of clothes indoors and throws on the sofa!

Viking_mfw

I used to live in a 17th century cottage with virtually no heating (Romantic but Wrong) and one thing I found made a huge difference to my personal warmth was slippers that reach to mid calf. Sheepskin works best but is expensive.

carriebradshaw

I wear boot slippers as well since we moved to the Highlands. Mine aren't real sheepskin though,they only cost around £12, and they are very cosy indeed. I buy a new pair every Winter but I go outside in mine to empty the bin,put washing out,clear up after the dog,fetch coal etc etc ... So they get a good deal of wear and tear indoors and out for that money

VfM4meplse

It’s been cold all day, and the heatings been on 23° since 6am but I still wouldn’t call it warm. I can’t see that moving the thermostat dial up will make the blindest bit of difference, apart from to my fuel bill.

Thanks for the reminder re: boot slippers, I have some (ankle length) so will use them!