New build house. Cannot heat above 18.5 degrees

ProDave

Sigh.  A new build house, that today you really would expect it to be well insulated, and one little radiator in the hall cannot get that part of the house up to temperature.

Why am I not surprised.  Main stream builders still have not worked out how to make well insulated draught free houses that need little energy to keep them warm.

Probably a case of missing or just badly fitted insulation, there are plenty of examples.  All very sad really,

RelievedSheff

If the other rooms are getting to temperature why do you want the hallway to get any warmer than 18.5 degrees?

You don't live in the hallway, you don't need to to be as warm as the rest of the house.

ComicGeek

ProDave said:

Sigh.  A new build house, that today you really would expect it to be well insulated, and one little radiator in the hall cannot get that part of the house up to temperature.

Why am I not surprised.  Main stream builders still have not worked out how to make well insulated draught free houses that need little energy to keep them warm.

Probably a case of missing or just badly fitted insulation, there are plenty of examples.  All very sad really,

Given that the heating will be designed for the hallway to get to only 18 degrees (as per the current BS design requirements) actually this could be proof that the heating system is designed and installed correctly. 

ComicGeek

ps2mint said:

Thanks for all of the replies. Yes, living room and downstairs are all ok. We have two big radiators in there.

The situation is a bit more difficult as we have two heating zones. We don’t currently heat upstairs during the day. We keep all doors closed upstairs though but some heat may be drifting upstairs.

Also don’t really understand how to set two zones efficiently in the house as never had this set up in previous houses.

You can't turn off heating upstairs and then expect the heat to stay downstairs! The hallway heat is just vanishing upstairs, which is why the ground floor zone isn't switching off. 

Set the upstairs heating zone to say 18 when you are heating the downstairs, and then see what the hall temp is.

ProDave

ComicGeek said:

ProDave said:

Sigh.  A new build house, that today you really would expect it to be well insulated, and one little radiator in the hall cannot get that part of the house up to temperature.

Why am I not surprised.  Main stream builders still have not worked out how to make well insulated draught free houses that need little energy to keep them warm.

Probably a case of missing or just badly fitted insulation, there are plenty of examples.  All very sad really,

Given that the heating will be designed for the hallway to get to only 18 degrees (as per the current BS design requirements) actually this could be proof that the heating system is designed and installed correctly. 

That is an outdated idea for outdated building practices.

You have clearly never lived in a properly built modern, air tight, very well insulated, low energy house have you?

Well I live in one (self built) and the old fashioned concept of heat different rooms to different temperatures does not apply.  You simply don't get cold rooms or cold spots. The whole house stays at a comfortable temperature everywhere with not much heat input to keep it there.

What I keep pointing out is it is not expensive or difficult to build properly, and given the need to reduce energy use, it really is about time all houses were built like mine to a decent standard. But the mass market builders continue to build to the minimum standard they can get away with and we continue to see people complain about cold or expensive to heat houses.

Most people buying new would expect to get the best there is, but sadly that is not the case.

RelievedSheff

ProDave said:

ComicGeek said:

ProDave said:

Sigh.  A new build house, that today you really would expect it to be well insulated, and one little radiator in the hall cannot get that part of the house up to temperature.

Why am I not surprised.  Main stream builders still have not worked out how to make well insulated draught free houses that need little energy to keep them warm.

Probably a case of missing or just badly fitted insulation, there are plenty of examples.  All very sad really,

Given that the heating will be designed for the hallway to get to only 18 degrees (as per the current BS design requirements) actually this could be proof that the heating system is designed and installed correctly. 

That is an outdated idea for outdated building practices.

You have clearly never lived in a properly built modern, air tight, very well insulated, low energy house have you?

Well I live in one (self built) and the old fashioned concept of heat different rooms to different temperatures does not apply.  You simply don't get cold rooms or cold spots. The whole house stays at a comfortable temperature everywhere with not much heat input to keep it there.

What I keep pointing out is it is not expensive or difficult to build properly, and given the need to reduce energy use, it really is about time all houses were built like mine to a decent standard. But the mass market builders continue to build to the minimum standard they can get away with and we continue to see people complain about cold or expensive to heat houses.

Most people buying new would expect to get the best there is, but sadly that is not the case.

Several sweeping generalisations there!

Not all new builds are the same. We are more than happy with ours (David Wilson) and it has proven over the last couple of winters to be a very well insulated and easy to heat home. 

With the dual zone heating and the TRV's fitted in each room you can heat each room to a different temperature if you choose to do so. We don't tend to bother as the house holds it's heat so well.

eddddy

Just to double check...

Does the rad in the hall have a thermostatic valve? If so, is it set to max?

Or could it be that the thermostatic valve on the hall rad is set to 18.5 degrees - so the hall never gets warmer than that?

lookstraightahead

I've never lived in an airtight house. Reminds me of not being able to breath. Much happy with my old house with a gale running through it.

I stayed at a friends new house the other week and it really felt a bit claustrophobic.

is that how it's going to be with the new regulations? 

ps2mint

Thanks for all of the comments. Has been an interesting read.

To confirm, there is no thermostatic valve on the hall radiator. It’s simply on when the heating is on.

Ramouth

lookstraightahead said:

I've never lived in an airtight house. Reminds me of not being able to breath. Much happy with my old house with a gale running through it.

I stayed at a friends new house the other week and it really felt a bit claustrophobic.

is that how it's going to be with the new regulations? 

I know what you mean and also find I get very dry when staying in hotels up country.

The way the regs are going is towards increased insulation and air tightness but importantly, proper ventilation is also dictated.  Heat exchanging mechanical ventilation (MVHR) is the future.