Solutions for cold house

F1001

Hi all, I have just moved into a 1997 build mid-terrace house (60msq) and the ground floor diner lounge (21msq) room is really cold! The boiler is new, radiators seem fine - they are heating up well, no bleeding/powerflush needed. No draughts at the french doors leading to garden (and thick curtains added), and door leading to hallway is kept shut. Thermostat set at 20-21 degrees. The floor always feels cold so am wondering if there is an issue under floorboards or if I need additional floor insulation. Was even looking into underfloor heating but too exp. Any ideas or suggestions welcome on how to find and fix the problem - as I am freezing and the electric heater I am using to boost the temp is a serious guzzler! Thank you  

silvercar

What’s on the floor? Tiles, carpet, wood? What’s above? Another room that is heated?

greyteam1959

What sort of floor covering have you got ?
Don't use the electric to boost your temperature that costs you way more than using more gas !

F1001

silvercar said:

What’s on the floor? Tiles, carpet, wood? What’s above? Another room that is heated?

I have laminate flooring. Above is the hallway and two bedrooms (which heat up and retain heat fine). There is some insulation in the loft but am adding more to make up to 300 

F1001

greyteam1959 said:

What sort of floor covering have you got ?
Don't use the electric to boost your temperature that costs you way more than using more gas !

Laminate flooring. Agree, but not sure how to get the gas heating to a comfortable level. Good news is the upstairs is OK, neighbour even had to get A/C installed for his bedrooms in summer! 

MikeJXE

The laminate needs to go, it will be warmer with carpet 

housebuyer143

You might find being the kitchen there maybe air coming in, especially if you have an outside tap or drainage pipes. Somewhere behind my cabinets I feel a cold draught and it brings the temperature down.
Can you feel any draughts?

ThisIsWeird

Hi F1001.

A 1997 house should be fairly well insulated, I'd have thought. But I guess they all vary.

The floor area will always be the coolest parts - unless you have UFH - but if it feels cold, then that's probably the first place to look at for the issue.

Is the laminate flooring a decent type? Is it 'click' together? Could it be lifted easily? Do you mind adding a quarter-inch or more to the floor level?

Check for draughts not only from around the perimeter - where the skirtings meet the floor - but around the door that exits that room to the rest of the house. With that door shut, use a smoking taper to check around the door-to frame gap, keyhole and stuff - look for an outward draught. You might not think there's a draught coming up through the floor, but even a wee seep over 21m2 will likely add up to a lot, so see if that is heading out around the door and upstairs...

If you can face it, have the laminate floor lifted temporarily, seal right under the skirting boards with any frame sealant, lay a draughtproofing sheet on the underfloor, lay insulating boards (as thick as you can get away with, but even the standard 8mm fibre stuff will help), and then relay the laminate, or change this for anything else you want.

Yes, a carpet might 'feel' warmer to the touch, but won't actually be in terms of insulation - draughts will get through it even more easily.

Although a good level of insulation on/under the floor is always nice, it is the least important surface to insulate as less heat is lost that way (compared to ceilings, windows and walls), so it's the least bang-for-buck improvement as it's often a hassle to do - getting under the floor space, for example. But it's also the most likely culprit for draughts, so try and tackle that aspect if nothing else. Then add insulation as best you can - if you can get under the floor, then great. But if not, then a layer or two of fibre board on top will help a lot.

daivid

F1001 said:

Hi all, I have just moved into a 1997 build mid-terrace house (60msq) and the ground floor diner lounge (21msq) room is really cold! The boiler is new, radiators seem fine - they are heating up well, no bleeding/powerflush needed. No draughts at the french doors leading to garden (and thick curtains added), and door leading to hallway is kept shut. Thermostat set at 20-21 degrees. The floor always feels cold so am wondering if there is an issue under floorboards or if I need additional floor insulation. Was even looking into underfloor heating but too exp. Any ideas or suggestions welcome on how to find and fix the problem - as I am freezing and the electric heater I am using to boost the temp is a serious guzzler! Thank you  

Are the radiator outputs adequate for the room? Online calculators are available to give you a rough idea.

Are your radiators set effectively through the house and where is the thermostat? If the space the thermostat is in reaches temperature before the problem room then it will never get to the temperature you want. You could also be losing heat to the rooms above, which are nice and warm because they are gaining from below and have their own radiators too. Setting all radiators so the house warms up just right can be a challenge with standard TRVs, a smart thermostat and smart TRVs would make this easier though at a cost.

Adding loft insulation as you plan to do will help, as once the upstairs has warmed (and is retaining) loss through the ceiling from downstairs will drop off. When I moved into my house, loft insulation was minimal and the living room took an age to heat, once loft insulation was added this improved but the room above would 'steal' heat, When renovating the bedrooms I put underfloor acoustic insulation in, which has also improved thermal insulation so the living room now heats up much faster than it originally did. Retrofitting between floor insulation would be something to do as a last resort though as it requires lifing the floorboards above or taking out the ceiling below - both are very disruptive in an otherwise 'completed' house.

If the radiators are adequate and the heating system is operating properly then heat loss must be excessive. I have no experience of doing so but I believe thermal imaging cameras can be hired reasonably cheaply to pinpoint problem areas for heat loss. 

F1001

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi F1001.

A 1997 house should be fairly well insulated, I'd have thought. But I guess they all vary.

The floor area will always be the coolest parts - unless you have UFH - but if it feels cold, then that's probably the first place to look at for the issue.

Is the laminate flooring a decent type? Is it 'click' together? Could it be lifted easily? Do you mind adding a quarter-inch or more to the floor level?

Check for draughts not only from around the perimeter - where the skirtings meet the floor - but around the door that exits that room to the rest of the house. With that door shut, use a smoking taper to check around the door-to frame gap, keyhole and stuff - look for an outward draught. You might not think there's a draught coming up through the floor, but even a wee seep over 21m2 will likely add up to a lot, so see if that is heading out around the door and upstairs...

If you can face it, have the laminate floor lifted temporarily, seal right under the skirting boards with any frame sealant, lay a draughtproofing sheet on the underfloor, lay insulating boards (as thick as you can get away with, but even the standard 8mm fibre stuff will help), and then relay the laminate, or change this for anything else you want.

Yes, a carpet might 'feel' warmer to the touch, but won't actually be in terms of insulation - draughts will get through it even more easily.

Although a good level of insulation on/under the floor is always nice, it is the least important surface to insulate as less heat is lost that way (compared to ceilings, windows and walls), so it's the least bang-for-buck improvement as it's often a hassle to do - getting under the floor space, for example. But it's also the most likely culprit for draughts, so try and tackle that aspect if nothing else. Then add insulation as best you can - if you can get under the floor, then great. But if not, then a layer or two of fibre board on top will help a lot.

Thanks so much @ThisIsWeird The laminate I think is click together and quite nicely secured by the wood bits near the skirting boards so wasn't keen to lift up and have a look but I'll check with the builder if possible. The floor is cold to the touch even after the heating has been on for 3 hours. I have tried blocking any air escaping from the door that exits the room but will see if I can find anything better to block the draughts. The stairs to the first floor are in the room so am thinking the heat is just escaping up the stairs to the hallway and being wasted up there (I keep all the first floor doors shut).

ThisIsWeird

F1001 said:

Thanks so much @ThisIsWeird The laminate I think is click together and quite nicely secured by the wood bits near the skirting boards so wasn't keen to lift up and have a look but I'll check with the builder if possible. The floor is cold to the touch even after the heating has been on for 3 hours. I have tried blocking any air escaping from the door that exits the room but will see if I can find anything better to block the draughts. The stairs to the first floor are in the room so am thinking the heat is just escaping up the stairs to the hallway and being wasted up there (I keep all the first floor doors shut).

The floor will always feel cold to the touch - a laminate type ain't going to warm up. Having said that, our new 8mm laminate floor in our extension is perfectly nice to walk on barefoot. And the carpet in the original house - over old T&G boards - is usually cold to sit on!

The only way I can think of to check if the floor is draughty, is by testing for the exit - the door.