How to heat 1900s terraced house during winter

theoretica

Some fridges and freezers are rated for colder rooms - worth looking up the details on yours.

What sort of heating and controls do you have?  A thermostat with different temperatures for different times might be useful.

Of all the various ways or warming a property and reducing energy loss, reducing drafts is often the one which has the biggest pay off for the least cost.  Thick curtains or shutters help and actually closing them (but behind the radiator if the radiator is under the window!) 

twopenny

I missed the title of heating lol.
Yes to the thick curtains. You can get good thermal linings to either stitch or hook on. It's not worth skimping on the quality.
I put foil behind the radiators. Turkey foil is the widest, poundland. Let it rise above and to the side a little. You can buy special material for this if you prefer. Not heating the wall makes a huge difference to room temperature.

Coffeekup

I've been in a 1900 terraced house for close to 20 years. Yes they do get cold, and humidity can be an issue.

Heating during the coldest months December till Feb I'll have the heating on for 30 mins in the morning before my daughter gets up, to take the chill off the air.
In the evening around 2-3 hours, either in one go from 3pm onwards or in 2-3 on/off hour intervals. We sit on sofa with a thin blanket on an evening to help save on bills. We kinda prefer the cold, we're accustomed to to it I guess.
I tend to find when we visit people with better insulated houses, we find it too stuffy and or feel drowsy within an hour or so of being there.

As for humidity ... In the bathroom when showering / bathing have the window open to let the steam out and keep it open as long as possible after to reduce the amount of moisture in there. My bathroom is at the back of the house upstairs, so after use in the bathroom I keep the window open and I open the front bedroom window to help draw out the moisture in a wind tunnel like effect, then close it 30-60 mins later..(usually I'd be out the house during this time). Then I'd leave the bathroom window ajar till around 6pm when the cold really kicks in. You can speed the process up of reducing moisture up by squeegeeing the tiles/mirrors/glass after you've washed. Others in the household need to be on board with all of the above too.

As for the kitchen... I open the window/s first thing for 15 mins to get the worst of it off using a squeegee help's massively.

Whilst washing up I open the window, and leave it open for a minute or two after I've finished.
Whilst using oven it's no real issue but cooking on hob I'll have the window ajar to half way open as the gas hob creates its own moisture even before you start boiling (whatever).

When I had insulation put in the attic I noticed a difference far less heat loss. I also noticed a difference with double glazing windows and doors installed too.

My kitchen being the coldest room in my house with draughts and a concrete floor which gets really cold. My fridge freezers (2 in 20 years) have never been an issue below 10.

Tldr: windows open upstairs during day if possible let the airflow through house and get rid of moisture. Windows open when hob cooking/showering. Drying clothes on the rads or clothes horse will need the windows open for a bit too, can comment on tumble dryer as I don't/want or have one.

BUFF

I have lived in a ~1905 mid-terrace in the West of Scotland (so high humidity) for the last 30 years. It is also in a Conservation Area which does place certain limitations upon what I can do to the fabric.
Anyway, do the obvious if you can & budget allows - loft insulation, curtains with thermal linings, double glazing if allowed, draught-proofing & wear an extra layer (or 2) but watch out for condensation whilst humidity is high if you don't ventilate. These older properties were designed/built to breathe so if unheated moisture will penetrate through the walls - but once your heating has been on for a few weeks humidity will drop down as the heating drives the moisture out of the fabric.

I have a 13 year old condensing combi boiler that is actually set to condense most of the time (i.e. lower flow & return temps -  this does mean that you need to run the system longer for heat gain than you would with higher flow temp but you use less energy through higher efficiency), programmer, room stat & TRVs. Like Coffeekup my system runs before I get up to take the chill off & then in the evening. Historic Environment Scotland recommend heating older properties to only ~16C. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=f2f2ebfd-ff37-4417-be92-a59400bb266:smile:
I use ~8500kWh of gas p.a. for heating & HW (I live alone).

Again like Coffeekup, my kitchen is the coldest in the house due to solid floor & being in an extension block with no wall insulation but it generally doesn't get below 10C. Hasn't caused any issues with my fridge or freezer (tempting fate ). 

onomatopoeia99

Get a programmable thermostat for your CH that allows you to set different temperatures dependent on the time of day, then program it to set a comfortable temperature an hour before you get up, so the house has a chance to warm up, and a sensible overnight minimum.  I self-installed a Honeywell  CM927 to replace an old dial type and have programmed it to run at 15C overnight and 19C daytime / evening.  

You should definitely look at insulation (walls and loft) and double glazing if you don't already have it, and probably don't need most or all of the vents - they're generally there for open flames.

Bigphil1474

OP, I live in a 1910's mid terrace - three floors. We have solid walls and no loft, so no loft insulation.

We put the CH to fire up about half an hour before the morning alarm, and it stays on for another hour. In the evening it comes on for about an hour around 5pm. The bathroom window stays open pretty much all the time during the day - close it at bed time for the morning. I've never measured the humidity but it is quite a cold house upstairs, especially the attic. However, the living room keeps warm - we have a bay with blinds on and then thick curtains go across the bay on the inside - makes a huge difference (you can put your hand behind the curtains and feel the temperature change). We also had a new front door installed a couple of years ago which helped. As others have said, if we sit in the living room in the evening, it's in a jumper with a blanket. The kitchen is pretty good at getting warm when we are cooking. Our radiators are pretty new - all but one replaced in the last 5 years.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Interesting thread as our house is a similar age, although semi. We are gradually upping the insulation where we can, but don’t suffer from damp/mould now we have fixed a few things.

I’m wondering what people define as cold? And how much do we just get used to it?

Our thermostat rarely reaches 18/19 with the central heating, more when we crank up the woodburner, but generally shows 15/16 without it. It doesn’t really drop below this. 

My friend feels our house is freezing, but when I go round her house, set around 20, I find it stifling.

The only time I feel cold is when I’m working at my desk and not moving much  (working from home now). I snuggle up with a blanket and fingerless gloves as I’m too tight to heat the house for just me. My kids still walk round in t-shirts. In the evenings it’s blankets on the sofa, snuggle socks and the woodburner if we’re settling down.

And slippers, always slippers !

FreeBear

ChasingtheWelshdream said: I’m wondering what people define as cold? And how much do we just get used to it?

Our thermostat rarely reaches 18/19 with the central heating, more when we crank up the woodburner, but generally shows 15/16 without it. It doesn’t really drop below this.

!7°C at night, and during the week, daytime/evening is up to 19°C. Weekends, it goes up to 20°C. Will light the stove if it feels cold, and depending on how long it is running, I sometimes see it up to 27°C in the lounge. Helps to heat the rest of the house, so the central heating doesn't often kick in.

MaryNB

ChasingtheWelshdream said:

Interesting thread as our house is a similar age, although semi. We are gradually upping the insulation where we can, but don’t suffer from damp/mould now we have fixed a few things.

I’m wondering what people define as cold? And how much do we just get used to it?

Our thermostat rarely reaches 18/19 with the central heating, more when we crank up the woodburner, but generally shows 15/16 without it. It doesn’t really drop below this. 

My friend feels our house is freezing, but when I go round her house, set around 20, I find it stifling.

The only time I feel cold is when I’m working at my desk and not moving much  (working from home now). I snuggle up with a blanket and fingerless gloves as I’m too tight to heat the house for just me. My kids still walk round in t-shirts. In the evenings it’s blankets on the sofa, snuggle socks and the woodburner if we’re settling down.

And slippers, always slippers !

My thermostat is set to 18. I live alone in a c.1900 house. I have a blanket on the couch and a heated throw for when I'm feeling particularly cold, or when I'm WFH. I wear a lot of layers. I'd probably be more comfortable if the temp was in the low 20s but I don't want to pay for it. I'm becoming acclimatised to having it set to 18. 

I like it cold at night. I never have the heating on overnight. If it gets above  16 or 17 it's a bit too warm.  

FreshlyCutFlowers

So much feedback, thanks for all the help
I need to first correct myself but I don't know the correct terminology for chimney related questions so so pardon my poor descriptions:

The ground floor fireplaces have decorated cast-iron looking fronts, also some slabs of glossy rock in front of them as if to protect from embers.. However when looking up into the fireplace I can see gaps in the cast-iron and into the chimney. The gaps are big enough that heat will go through but no so big it seems to be for using the fireplace. Is this where parts of my heat goes and is it normal? Should I be sealing this up in my living room and separate sitting room?

The bedrooms upstairs however have some less decorative iron looking fronts (see picture), but actually they are completely open, I can see straight up the chimney when I put my head in. These however have no 'container' to put wood or anything in and also are on top of carpet so clearly not meant for an actual fire.. I assume these chimneys have been left purposely open to avoid damp and mold? I am not terribly worried about these two rooms but it may get really tough to work there this winter..
To be clear I have no mold issues at all (that I am aware off), and only a little bit of condensation on the inside of the windows in the morning when the night temperature drops below 10.

Also adding picture of the small vents that are in the bedrooms, one in each bedroom, to make sure we're talking about the same things. They are the size of a bright, just about. same thing on the outside, hole straight through the brick wall.

The vent in the ground floor has a plastic cover in front but it's not really that well fitted and has loads of space for air to leave even when closed.
Should I cover both of these?



Heating Controls
I have this boiler, Greenstart Comfort from Worcester. I'll program it to be something similar as to suggested in this thread and get some curtains.

I don't really have any damp issues (yet) that I am ware of but I've mostly closed of the windows in the house now.. Should I keep something open at all times? Does damp/humidty rise and if so should my 2nd floor bedroom window slits always be open or will this and the vents on 1st floor contribute to the ground floor getting colder too?

Should I set my heating to never go below 10 or so at night or will this eat too much energy? I realize this depends on the amount of draft but I suppose I'm weighing it up against whether or not this cold will damage the house over time?


Thanks for the help and insight, this is a whole new experience to me so a bit basic questions I imagine.