House gets very cold (<13degrees) and retains no heat

ft23

Have recently moved to a 1920's semi, solid brick house with a glass conservatory extension and a loft conversion (both done in 2000). Aware the house is old - as typical in the area (West Yorks) but when the heating is off during the day and overnight, the house seems to retain no heat at all - has been at 12.5 degrees the last few days. For about 3 hrs each morning & evening the heating is set to 17 degrees but as soon as it is off, the temperature drops.
I dread to think of the cost of heating it from 12.5-17 degrees twice a day, and guests still find 17 degrees cold. 

I have visited friends houses of the same age and there's doesn't get as cold - so dont think this is normal!? Are there any cheap-ish/ quick things we can do to test why its retaining no heat, and how to improve it?

As a starter we know:
- the house has air vents - we have stuck foam insulation in these except the bathroom one
- living room has a floor vent - we are planning to carpet over this
- we use thick heavy curtains in all rooms, and keep the doors closed
- heating is off in the guest bedrooms, and doors closed
- windows are all double glazed, boiler about 9yrs old

We cant afford EWI but would be keen to hear from anyone who has had suspended floor insulation done - and recommendations of contractors.

Thanks in advance

TELLIT01

The living room floor vent probably dates from when there was either a gas back boiler or gas fire in the living room.  As long as that is no longer the case there shouldn't be any problem with blocking that vent. 

When you say 'solid brick' wall I assume you mean no cavity, rather than just entirely made of brick.

Is there a door between the rest of the house and the conservatory.  Assuming there is, is that door double glazed?

Alderbank

About the glass extension - is it completely separated from the house by an external door? It should be but I know people who have opened up their conservatories to the rest of the house. If that's the case, even if it's double glazed it will lose a lot of heat.

ft23

TELLIT01 said:

The living room floor vent probably dates from when there was either a gas back boiler or gas fire in the living room.  As long as that is no longer the case there shouldn't be any problem with blocking that vent. 

When you say 'solid brick' wall I assume you mean no cavity, rather than just entirely made of brick.

Is there a door between the rest of the house and the conservatory.  Assuming there is, is that door double glazed?

Yes, the house is solid brick wall - as per the description here: https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/difference-cavity-wall-insulation-solid-wall-insulation/

The conservatory is actually a kitchen extension (L-shaped from the original galley kitchen) so can't be closed off, no.

koalakoala

And there lies your problem

TELLIT01

With effectively a glass extension on the house you will lose massive amounts of heat.  Can you post a photo?  Some options may be suggested when the situation can be viewed.

m0t

We have a 1920s solid brick semi and whilst it would lose heat it wouldn't drop that much that quickly.

The insulation in the loft conversion probably isn't to modern standards, if you have access to any loft areas it would be worth having a look and upgrading this if possible.

You will be losing huge amounts of heat through the glass extension, you should keep your kitchen door closed if possible. 

You could look at getting someone to insulate the conservatory roof. You'd lose the glass but it may help.

We had EWI fitted round ours, it doesn't make financial sense but it helps massively with heat.

Bendy_House

The kitchen extension is an obvious candidate for part of the problem, but this is coupled with the simple fact (as I see it) that you are just not heating your house enough.

17oC is not a comfortable living temp. That barely takes the chill off the air. As soon as you turn off that 'heating', then of course the house temp is going to plummet; you haven't got the house's fabric up to a temp where it'll stabilise and return that warmth in a gentle manner to you when the heating goes off.

How much work are you prepared to do to this house? It'll be disruptive to some degree, but not shockingly so.

I presume the floors are suspended T&G boards? Obviously lifting them to add insulation, or gaining access to it from below if the foundation void is large enough, is the best solution. But if this is - understandably - too much like hard work, then you can still transform the floor by first ensuring it's draught proof; seal with mastic between each floor board and especially around the floor perimeter, and then lay insulating fibreboard over the whole caboodle before adding the flooring of your choice - carpet, laminate, whatevs. Draughts will be the single biggest element of cooling from your floor, so sort that as a priority.

Then, the walls... Line the external walls with insulated plasterboard. Depending on room size - how much space you can afford to lose - this can be as little as 35mm overall thickness, or as much as you want. Even 35mm stuff will transform the insulation value of your house.

And then there's the ceiling. Good chance the downstairs ceilings have nothing above them but a ventilated void, so if you can cope with the hassle of having them overboarded with the same stuff, then great.

The above will transform your house.

And then turn the bludy heat up, will ya? :-)

Yes, 17oC ain't going to endear you to many friends - I guess you could call it a test of loyalty... So, while you have visitors, bite the financial bullet and turn the heat up.

It'll be interesting to see what type of conservatory you have - can you post some photos (or the house particulars) as asked above?

BUFF

Bendy_House said:

17oC is not a comfortable living temp. That barely takes the chill off the air. As soon as you turn off that 'heating', then of course the house temp is going to plummet; you haven't got the house's fabric up to a temp where it'll stabilise and return that warmth in a gentle manner to you when the heating goes off.

I disagree. Obviously you don't swan about in a T-shirt & shorts at that temp, indeed, you wear an extra layer. Plus you get used to it (if you were not already Northern ).

In the 1970s we heated our houses to ~14C on average. It wasn't until ~1988 that we broached 15C on average.

Historic Environment Scotland recommend heating older (<1919) houses to 16C (with additional spot radiant heat if required). Post-WW1 houses tend to be slightly better thermally than pre-WW1 but both tend to have higher thermal mass than modern, highly insulated construction. But you do insulate (loft, floor even if only carpets, dg/secondary glazing), draughtproof & use curtains/shutters to retain that as much as possible.
SWI would make a big difference but is rarely cost-effective to the owner unless grant aided & you have to watch out for interstitial condensation so most likely needs to be breathable. 

comeandgo

Your house will have no heat to retain if you are only heating it to 17 degrees. It is only dropping 4 degrees.

pollypenny

I second Bendy's advice.  The fabric of the house is not getting warm, so there's nothing to retain.  We have heating on at 20c for a couple of hours in the morning, then three hours in the evening. We're very well insulated, too. 

17c is not comfortable either. I recall that schools and offices should be around 20c.