heating the house

Agusya

Hi

Ive been looking through internet and trying to figure out : does it matter if I have one radiator on or 2-3 at the same time? From what I manage to find out it looks like it all depends. I gather my house is poorly insulated (upstairs is hot during summer -and hotter than downstairs by few degrees and cold when its cold outside - colder by couple of degrees than downstairs) My boiler is 5 years old. Its been hard to heat up the house , even with radiator on full you would get to 20 degrees tops (with radiator on on hrs) and upstairs it wouldnt really go higher than 17-18 (during cold winter) which is fine for me. Before this price rise I had my heating on all the time even when I was out -just a bit lower on thermostat . It would take ages to get it back to the desired temperature so it was better to have it on all the time (like October-March lets say) Ive had heating completely of since that price hike in March or April . Its getting colder tho . At the moment I only have it on at night so it doesnt go down below 16 and I use electric heater 1200w to heat it up for half an hr from 14 degrees (much quicker than radiator) should I open radiators (on low) in bathroom and living room at that time so house doesnt get damp? Will that cost double/triple? Im not worried about heating myself, I have heated mattress topper, heated blanket, my cat has heated pad and I just got myself power bank heated outfit.  Washing hasnt been drying ,its been raining for weeks (Scotland) so I have to use tumble dryer  .
Any advice is appreciated
thanks 

FreeBear

Check the amount of insulation you have in the loft - Minimum current recommendation is 270mm of fibreglass or rockwool. If you are significantly under this, buy a few top up rolls and spread it out up there. It is a low cost way of reducing heating losses. Go round the house plugging draughts as best you can. Around window/door frames and the junction between floor & skirting are common areas.

Balance the radiators after bleeding them - That should even out the rate at which radiators heat up. It may be that the radiators are too small for the size of the rooms. There are online calculators that you can use to check that.

The next stage(s) of improving the property start to get more expensive. Replacing old windows, especially single glazed with double/triple would be £5-10K depending on number & size. Wall insulation (either internal or external), another £5-15K. Underfloor insulation may not be practical if you have a solid concrete slab. With a suspended timber floor, maybe £4K..

Bendy_House

Agusya, what heating controls do you currently have? Is there a wall-mounted 'stat? If so, what type? And where...

Agusya

FreeBear said:

Check the amount of insulation you have in the loft - Minimum current recommendation is 270mm of fibreglass or rockwool. If you are significantly under this, buy a few top up rolls and spread it out up there. It is a low cost way of reducing heating losses. Go round the house plugging draughts as best you can. Around window/door frames and the junction between floor & skirting are common areas.

Balance the radiators after bleeding them - That should even out the rate at which radiators heat up. It may be that the radiators are too small for the size of the rooms. There are online calculators that you can use to check that.

The next stage(s) of improving the property start to get more expensive. Replacing old windows, especially single glazed with double/triple would be £5-10K depending on number & size. Wall insulation (either internal or external), another £5-15K. Underfloor insulation may not be practical if you have a solid concrete slab. With a suspended timber floor, maybe £4K..

I just wanted to know the thing about radiators but thanks, Im not planning any improvements I will look into loft insulations as I think mine is like 200mm according to house report , its not an easy access. Windows are good I think its all walls that not holding heat. Ive bleed radiators too , the heat is even it just for some reason takes ages to heat up the space even when radiators are hot. and living room has 2 of them! There is cavity wall insulation but I think its useless. 
I just dont want house to turn damp thats all I need 

Agusya

oh, I forgot - is it cheaper (definitely quicker and hotter) to use electric heater (1200w) than gas boiler? 

LateStarter

Are your room doors opened or closed? A single radiator can only send out a certain amount of heat - any warmth generated will be lost if it's going out the with airflow.  If the doors are closed, then your other radiators are off,  you should be able to get good heating in a downstairs room if  the temperature of the hot water and the flow rate are adequate.  

Agusya

I have a cat so all doors are ajar (spare room-upstairs- is now closed) I close bedroom (upstairs)doors when she leaves and goes to the living room (downstairs) in the middle of the night, she stays there till I wake up and doors are closed during that time.  please no comments about this spoiled brat So should I open radiators in living room and bathroom on low while heating is on in the bedroom ,or not? thanks!!

shiraz99

OK, first things first, does your radiators have TRVs?

Agusya

shiraz99 said:

OK, first things first, does your radiators have TRVs?

yes they do

BUFF

Agusya said:

oh, I forgot - is it cheaper (definitely quicker and hotter) to use electric heater (1200w) than gas boiler? 

for the same amount of heat emitted it will cost ~3x more using electricity than gas (depending upon efficiency of your heating system & assuming that you are on a single-rate electricity tariff).  

Agusya

BUFF said:

Agusya said:

oh, I forgot - is it cheaper (definitely quicker and hotter) to use electric heater (1200w) than gas boiler? 

for the same amount of heat emitted it will cost ~3x more using electricity than gas (depending upon efficiency of your heating system & assuming that you are on a single-rate electricity tariff).  

but it heats up quicker than radiators (gas) and to higher temp. I know electric heating in general is more expensive but its about my circumstances not in general. Hence my long story in a post. So it takes a very long time (hours) to heat up the house/room using boiler to so so level . half an hr with electric heater to very warm temp .