Help needed - 1st baby due and cold house

[Rob_H]

We live in a detached house out on the fens dating back to about 1850 which is quite exposed. In this cold spell we can't seem to keep heat the upstairs that effectively. We have wooden floorboards upstairs which we are going to carpet over, and wooden double glazing (about twelve to fifteen years old I think) and oil fired central heating probably fit about ten to fifteen years old which are thin single radiators. The inside of the external walls feel very cold to the touch and we are having problems heating the nursery (it is a small room about 9' x 6'). The two other bedrooms are much bigger but similarly are often cold. The temperature in the nursery - even with the central heating on - was only 10.9 degrees after three hours tonight. I'm trying to avoid getting new double-glazing in the whole house (lots of windows, and we want to move next year and I doubt we would recover the money in any sale the way things are).
The loft is insulated but needs more modern insulation but the walls seem the coldest part and seem to suck the heat out. So my questions are:

1. Will new radiators help - are the modern box shaped ones more effective?
2. Is there anything I can do to stop losing heat through the walls - or to prevent having very cold walls?
3. Any other tips to raise the temperature - I will probably get double glazing in the nursery to start with.

thanks in advance

 

[OLD]

Check the boiler thermostat is turned up towards max make sure the valves on the radiator, there should be two one each end are open.
Heavy curtains with a lining help with heat loss through windows attend to badly fitting windows and doors .
The rads. should get almost to hot to touch if not call a plumber you may have circulation problems.
Check that the rads have been bled thats all the rads in the house.

 

[big soft moose]

you could batten the walls and lay off some plaster board or ply and insulate the gap between it and the wall (technically you'd put the insulation in before you put the board on natch) - you'd lose abot 3" width per wall but you'd only need to do it on the outer walls.

other than that fatter radiators would help - if your CH is man enough for the job - you can often get them second hand look on www.salvo.co.uk

put as much insulation in the loft as you can afford - tho remember to insulate round your cold tank and any pipework thats up there so it doesnt freeze when deprived of the heat of the house.

check for draughts etc round the windows and seal any holes up with sealant - and if you can't get /afford proppoer double glazing apply that secondary double glazing film (the type you cut oversize then shrink to fit with a hair drier.)

and i'd definitely get some carpet or cork tiles or similar down to insulate the nursery floor too.

 

[Rob_H]

Rads are almost too hot to touch. We've just ordered new curtains with heavy lining. The external walls (inside) still feel very cold though. Odd.

 

[jasonB]

Worth checking to see if the system is sludged up as it may not be running at full efficiency, cold do with powerflushing

Radiators with metal fins will have a better heat output but if the boiler can't put the heat in you won't get much more out.

Rather than just open up all the valves you can adjust the balance of the system using the lockshield valve so that less flow goes through the rads in rooms that are currently warm and more through the upper cold rooms. Fitting RTVs to all the rads will also help.

Additional loft insulation will be the easiest to add, walls are more work.

Jason

 

[MikeG.]

Rob,

Is yours a brick house? If so, with the age of the property it won't have a cavity......internal lining is the most realistic way of keeping it warm. Castles were hung with tapestries in the old days for the very same reason.....

If not brick, then there is more hope......let me know.

The very first job is draught-sealing. Go around with a candle, and watch the flame......windows, doors, loft hatch, service-entry points etc. Money spent on draught-proofing gets the very quickest return.

Have you a chimney? If you have a woodburning stove.....fine, so long as you have a register plate and proper flue liner. If not, then your chimney is costing you far more heat than you can ever get from having a fire. Block it up with insulation as high up the chimney as you can.

You will need to talk to a plumber about your central heating system. If you are limited by your boiler's output it doesn't really matter how good your radiators are.

Remember that we are living in the warmest houses we as humans have lived in in our entire 3 or 4 million year history........and we have successfully raised countless generations of babies in much colder conditions than you are suffering.Iit isn't actually bad for the baby. Indeed, there is evidence, I understand, that over-warm surroundings can have negative effects. I know that doesn't actually make you feel any better......!!!

As a short-term stop-gap measure whilst your other improvements are in hand, you can use a fan-heater or oil filled electric radiator.....or even some halogen site lights. The first and last should be always used very carefully, and never left unattended......

Hope this helps

Mike

 

[big soft moose]

have you got cavity walls rob - if not there aint a lot you can do about it (except batten on the inside as per my post above) but if you have it would be worth checking that you have cavity wall insulation - if not get some blown in.

 

[OLD]

So heat lost is greater than heat gained .I would insulate at least 10 inches total in loft then do the walls as suggested. a temporary fix extra rad/double panel in nursery .

 

[Rob_H]

Sadly, they are solid brick walls - no cavity walls as the house was built, we think around 1850-1860 we think (it used to be an old Beer House). Thanks for the tips - i've bought an oil filled heater tonight and with radiator for CH on full and oil filled rad, the temperature limped up to 16 degrees (16-20, I read, is recommended). Thanks for all the tips which I'm going to work through. Carpets, curtains and double-glazing for nursery will follow in next two weeks. I'm holding off spending out on double-glazing throughout as I've just spent a hideous amount (thousands!!) on a new bathroom, a new oil tank and a new sewage treatment system.

 

[Rob_H]

Have you a chimney? If you have a woodburning stove.....fine, so long as you have a register plate and proper flue liner. If not, then your chimney is costing you far more heat than you can ever get from having a fire. Block it up with insulation as high up the chimney as you can.



Hope this helps

Mike

Mike

We had a new open fire fit last year with a register plate and a new flue liner so I think we've covered that option. We replaced a very large - and very inefficient wood burner. We've also just spent another 1,000 on the chimney two months ago having it re-pointed, the chimney stack refit and lead flashing replaced - this house is indeed the money pit!!

 

[Oryxdesign]

We live in a cold house and have found Gro bags good.

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 0001_14056

 

[frugal]

The inside of the external walls feel very cold to the touch and we are having problems heating the nursery (it is a small room about 9' x 6'). The two other bedrooms are much bigger but similarly are often cold. The temperature in the nursery - even with the central heating on - was only 10.9 degrees after three hours tonight.

I agree with the suggestion of gro-bags, both of ours were in them until we could not find bags big enough (we have a pair of wrigglers and would worm their way out of blankets quickly).

The other suggestion is to not put little one in the nursery straight away - only need to keep the room you are in warm. Ours were in a basket next to the bed until they could roll over. that way there will be three people at night keeping the temperature up, and you have less far to walk for feeds

 

[Oryxdesign]

The inside of the external walls feel very cold to the touch and we are having problems heating the nursery (it is a small room about 9' x 6'). The two other bedrooms are much bigger but similarly are often cold. The temperature in the nursery - even with the central heating on - was only 10.9 degrees after three hours tonight.

I agree with the suggestion of gro-bags, both of ours were in them until we could not find bags big enough (we have a pair of wrigglers and would worm their way out of blankets quickly).

The other suggestion is to not put little one in the nursery straight away - only need to keep the room you are in warm. Ours were in a basket next to the bed until they could roll over. that way there will be three people at night keeping the temperature up, and you have less far to walk for feeds

We did that too, they seem much hardier after just a few weeks.

 

[Rob_H]

Mrs H has bought some gro-bags so we hope that helps. We are planning to keep little Hall in a moses basket in our main bedroom until it (he/she) is older - sadly our room is bigger and even colder than the nursery!!!! When I was spending out on sewage systems, oil tanks, bathrooms etc Bump wasn't on the way otherwise I would have prioritised the double glazing for the whole house. I'm struggling with the location of the house as we really are open to the elements out here on the Fens.

 

[Oryxdesign]

You could cut some pieces of Kingspan or Celotex that fit into the window reveals as a temporary measure, wouldn't look nice but would keep you warm if this is where the heat is going. Wouldn't cost much to try one window, leave it out in daylight and put it in when it gets dark.

 

[wizer]

yep we used those bags. We also 'Swaddled' which was the pivotal point in her sleeping through the night, so I recommend it highly.

Our bedroom was horribly cold last year, the uprated rads have helped a lot. I realise it's a bit more spendy on the fuel side. Uprating all your rads to new double doubles will certainly help some.

 

[Escudo]

The babes in this house have just gone to bedibise with a little luke warm hot water bottle.

I asked the missus if I could come in with her tonight for warmth, and she said NO, she was taking the other bottle and I could have the horse hair blanket.

Still at least I can smoke my pipe in bed, the dog is not allowed on since he let one-off and followed through by mistake :shock:

T

 

[Green]

LMAO at Escudo

 

[Vormulac]

Business as usual in the Escudo household then :lol:

 

[TrimTheKing]

yep we used those bags. We also 'Swaddled' which was the pivotal point in her sleeping through the night, so I recommend it highly

Been looking at swaddling instructions today, did you have arms in or out of swaddling? What age did you start/stop?

Cheers

Mark

PS Sorry for hijacking the OP thread.