Advice...house still cold after new c/h

kippers

Our house was really cold. Its a 1930's semi.

We had new loft insulation two years ago and in the summer we had a new combi/condenser boiler and brand new pipes and radiators. Previously we always put our cold house down to our old c/h sytem as it was an old one pipe system with a back boiler.

This is now the first snap of really cold weather (though the heating has been on the timer since the beginning of October). Anyway, today we are in all day so i left the heating on so we would be nice & warm. It came on the timer at 6am this morning and it has been on since. However, the temperature has still only reached 21 degrees. My thermostat on the wall has been set at 25 degrees and the radiators have been on continually, set at their highest setting. (The thermostat 'clicks' when you push it past the current temperature so we know the thermostat knows it is still only 21 degrees..,.also i have a thermomitor on the wall so i could double check it is only 21 degrees).

So what are we doing wrong? How can we make our house warmer?

davetrousers

'Only 21 degrees' that is plenty warm enough, put a jumper on.

How hot are the radiators getting? Is it the case that the heat is being lost or that the heating is not getting hot enough?

kippers

Thanks for replying..the radiators seem to be hot...where else could we be losing heat from? I have no windows or doors open & we have no obvious draughs?

Bogof_Babe

A couple of our rooms never get properly warm, because the radiators in them are not big enough for the room size. Could this be the case for you?

tanith

We only have our heating turned up to 20 deg when its in the depths of a cold spell and only in the evenings even then... At the moment heating is on for 2hrs morning and then off all day till around 4.30 and then on all evening but the thermostat is only about 17 degrees... I find it fine if I am pottering around... if I am sitting doing nothing then I will put it on earlier in the afternoon... but I know it would be way too hot if it was on 25 deg
Maybe the difference is the cavity wall insulation we had put in last year... the house defo stays warmer longer....

EliteHeat

Was a heat loss analysis calculated for your property before the new system was installed?

davetrousers

Houses can lose heat through the walls, windows, doors, floor. You need good insulation everywhere really. Have you got double glazing, cavity wall insulation etc?

I agree with the post above about a heat loss analysis.

kippers

The point I am querying is why the house isn't heating upto 25 degrees rather than whether the tempreature is too high or not.

EliteHeat...what is a heat loss analysis? The heating was installed through Leicester City Council's environment department (thanks to this website we managed to get an interest free loan for the new heating system). Would they have done this survey?

WestonDave

I've noticed a massive difference since we had our cavity wall insulation done in September. Our heating is a monster old boiler with pipes and radiators so old one pipe joint literally fell apart when we were having some wiring work done, but it now keeps the house to a steady 17/18 during the day (14 at night) as far as I can tell by just running for about an hour in the morning when the thermostat changes up again. The last couple of evenings its fired for the odd few minutes as the night cold creeps in just before the thermostat changes down.

The higher the temperature you try to acheive - eg 25 the harder your system has to work to overcome the effect of outside temperatures, and the more poor insulation will come into play. At the very least I would suggest you get some of the foil type insulation Wickes are selling for about £12 for 8metres (combines foil and "bubble wrap") and stick this behind the radiators to ensure less is lost straight through the wall. Then check whether you can do your cavity walls - grants are available for everyone and often the installing companies are happy to do all the paperwork for you.

The other thing to watch in a 30's house is whether cold air is coming up through floorboards. Carpets will only be effective to a certain extent against this and it may be worth getting underneath and putting in some insulation - although be careful if you have gas fires etc that you don't compromise required ventilation (re Carbon Monoxide etc).

kippers

We have alredy checked and we cannot have Cavity Wall Installation in this type of house

ccygirl

You should definately check whether the radiators are big enough for your rooms. It can make a huge difference. We have just installed a much larger radiator- Double convector and that room is much warmer now.