Any tips for keeping an old house warm?

Kiith

So i'm just looking for some suggestions on how to keep an old house warm. Single glazed, no insulation in the walls (from what i can gather) and badly installed doors/windows. We have burned through a huge amount of oil in the last year, and i need to get that cost down as much as i can.

It's a bit of a mess, but we're stuck here for the time being, so need to make do with what we have. It's also a rental, so we can't really do anything long term or hugely expensive. I've gotten a few tips from googling it, but any other advice would be much appreciated.

1. Has anyone used Exitex Glazing Film? I've heard this can help if put on single glazed windows.
2. Radiator foil, for behind the radiators. Supposed to keep the heat away from the wall, and help with wasted heat.
3. Thick curtains, with some sort of thermal layer if i can find it.
4. Draught excluders for the two main doors (and keeping doors closed as required)
5. There's a stove in the kitchen, which heats the radiators, but it takes a while to burn hot enough, and it's not a huge amount of use if we don't get home till 7-8pm.
6. Thicker clothes for us, obviously

Anything else we can do?

_Brian

Most likely the easiest thing to do is eliminate draughts and old houses are notorious for it.

Get yourself some incense sticks, they are handy for checking round windows doors etc for draughts.

I’ve never used the window films but aparrantly they do a good enough job.

Heavy lined curtains that fit tight to the walls are good to stop cold from windows, just make sure they don’t drape down and cover radiators.
Doors can have heavy curtains fitted too, it can be an inconvience sometimes but good thermally.

Make sure your oil burner is well serviced, including fitting an appropriately sized jet to ensure most economical running. Maybe consider having the rads flushed if you think they’re not heating well.

Down the line think about insulation.

my3cents

Include thick curtains with loads of extra length on them as draft excluders for the doors.

If you have a hallway you can reduce the movement of heat along it and up the stairs again with curtains.

For old drafty houses my wife has made some curtains that have wool blankets (from charity shop but less easy to find) as an interlining and they really cut down drafts and keep the place warm. On really long drops in old Victorian houses the blankets need sewing to a good firm lining to stop them sagging.

Lodger81

There are foam self adhesive draft excluders that can be placed around window openings which should help. Have used these myself and found them to work well.

antiskeptic

Draughts is a huge one as mentioned.

Ensure that all unused chimneys are blocked up. A chimney is effectively a hoover in terms of the amount of (warm) air it will suck out and the amount of (cold) air it will suck in to replace the warm air being sucked out. Don't bother with those chimney balloons, they still let a lot of air. I find a child's soft football a good solution: something a couple of inches larger in diameter than the flue. Shove the ball up into the mouth of the flue and that's that. Even if using a fireplace occasionally, block it up with a ball when not using it.

Chimneys blocked is the biggest single solver of your problems (assuming you have open ones)

Exitex do a good draught excluder for doors with wooden frames. It's an aluminium profile with rubber seal, get it in the likes of Chadwicks rather than Woodies. You place each strip (two sides/ one across the top - you have to junior hacksaw them to length) against the closed door, push a little to depress the seal at each screw hole and screw fast. You should need a little bit of a push to close the door but if having to slam it or have trouble operating the door lock when trying to open it, then you've pushed the seal too tight. A brush across the bottom to sort the bottom of the door

Tongue and groove flooring can let in lots of air - especially if boards have been up and the tongue broken off, Seal obvious breaks with silicone. I'd run a bead of silicone around the gap between skirting and floor, which can be appreciable - this is a direct route from outside the house to inside via underfloor vents (which you shouldn't block)

Block up unnecessary vents generally. Old houses let in lots of air anyway so vents are somewhat moot

Use masking tape to tape up all the opening windows you don't use. It sticks like **** to a shovel after a while. If old sash windows then tape up the top sash and in winter time, tape the bottom too. If you can prevent warm air from hitting those single panes, you''ll slow down the rate of heat loss. Sheets of thin, stiff plastic sheeting (art shop?) cut to size and stuck to the frame on the inside would cut down the rate of exposure. I'd envisage condensation building up between the sheet and the glass so perhaps leave a couple of mm open top and bottom to get some ventilation through to keep the condensation at bay. A small bit of extra heat loss compared to sealing it completely but better not to have condensation build up






Consider attic insulation, it's the big kicker in terms of ease of insulation vs. payback. Perhaps get some end of job lots on adverts.ie. Even a single layer of 4" or rock/glasswool will make a big difference. Start with the space above your bedroom if very stuck for material. Modern specs say a foot thick (3 layers of 4") so as much as you can afford. Feck, even old duvets from a charity shop would be better than not having any attic insulation.

Steer55

antiskeptic wrote: »

Draughts is a huge one as mentioned.

Ensure that all unused chimneys are blocked up. A chimney is effectively a hoover in terms of the amount of (warm) air it will suck out and the amount of (cold) air it will suck in to replace the warm air being sucked out. Don't bother with those chimney balloons, they still let a lot of air. I find a child's soft football a good solution: something a couple of inches larger in diameter than the flue. Shove the ball up into the mouth of the flue and that's that. Even if using a fireplace occasionally, block it up with a ball when not using it.

Chimneys blocked is the biggest single solver of your problems (assuming you have open ones)

Exitex do a good draught excluder for doors with wooden frames. It's an aluminium profile with rubber seal, get it in the likes of Chadwicks rather than Woodies. You place each strip (two sides/ one across the top - you have to junior hacksaw them to length) against the closed door, push a little to depress the seal at each screw hole and screw fast. You should need a little bit of a push to close the door but if having to slam it or have trouble operating the door lock when trying to open it, then you've pushed the seal too tight. A brush across the bottom to sort the bottom of the door

Tongue and groove flooring can let in lots of air - especially if boards have been up and the tongue broken off, Seal obvious breaks with silicone. I'd run a bead of silicone around the gap between skirting and floor, which can be appreciable - this is a direct route from outside the house to inside via underfloor vents (which you shouldn't block)

Block up unnecessary vents generally. Old houses let in lots of air anyway so vents are somewhat moot

Use masking tape to tape up all the opening windows you don't use. It sticks like **** to a shovel after a while. If old sash windows then tape up the top sash and in winter time, tape the bottom too. If you can prevent warm air from hitting those single panes, you''ll slow down the rate of heat loss. Sheets of thin, stiff plastic sheeting (art shop?) cut to size and stuck to the frame on the inside would cut down the rate of exposure. I'd envisage condensation building up between the sheet and the glass so perhaps leave a couple of mm open top and bottom to get some ventilation through to keep the condensation at bay. A small bit of extra heat loss compared to sealing it completely but better not to have condensation build up






Consider attic insulation, it's the big kicker in terms of ease of insulation vs. payback. Perhaps get some end of job lots on adverts.ie. Even a single layer of 4" or rock/glasswool will make a big difference. Start with the space above your bedroom if very stuck for material. Modern specs say a foot thick (3 layers of 4") so as much as you can afford. Feck, even old duvets from a charity shop would be better than not having any attic insulation.

Get a couple if those electric 2kw converter heaters from Argos around €25, they ideal for heating one room very cost effective too, just cost around 20 cent an hour to run.

studdlymurphy

Steer55 wrote:

Get a couple if those electric 2kw converter heaters from Argos around €25, they ideal for heating one room very cost effective too, just cost around 20 cent an hour to run.

Really? Thought they werefairly expensive to run. About 20 cent pet kwh x 2 is 40 cent per hour. Adds up fairly quickly.

looksee

Have a few small fleece blankets handy to wrap around you or over your legs when you are sitting.

my3cents

Also thick carpets and rugs cover up surfaces that make the house feel colder.

Alkers

What way is the heating controlled? If it's simple with no zones or only timed settings as opposed to temperature controlled you could ask your landlord about upgrading and there are seai grants available.

Ubbquittious

_Brian wrote: »

Get yourself some incense sticks, they are handy for checking round windows doors etc for draughts.

Thx for the tip

Kiith

Cheers for all the tips folks. Will put a few of them into action this weekend, and see how much it helps.

Simona1986 wrote: »

What way is the heating controlled? If it's simple with no zones or only timed settings as opposed to temperature controlled you could ask your landlord about upgrading and there are seai grants available.

It's a simple on/off system, with no zones or anything. I asked the landlord about getting some money off the rent this month to cover these expenses, and am waiting for a reply.

Michelle_b

Also good electric blanket. There is some good ones in Argos that are low cost consumption. If getting home late won't be long heading to bed and will give a bit of comfort

Heavy curtains really make a difference. Shaws sale is on at the mo and I got a really heavy set in there. Specifically sort the rooms you will be in most at night at first

harr

I was in same boat when I rented, I got a few rolls of insolation for attic and put it down my self, the attic door was especially drafty.
We got thick second hand curtain for front door and worked great and easy to put up.
We also used clear sealer where we found drafts ...while all the stuff above worked fine the house needed double glazing and proper insolation in the walls.
We also used those reflective sheets for behind the rads which helped the heat come back into rooms more rather than into the walls..
One other thing is if could afford a smart switch for your heating where you could turn on the heat remotely before you arrive home.

manonboard

OP, If you are in Dublin, I have an electric blanket you may have. It's a double.

Bazzy

With regard to the stove

I find coal is a lot cheaper than oil i was in a position to buy and store a ton of coal cost €335 delivered

With the evening thing it might keep you warm at night with heat into the rads the ovoids I got are great for heat and half abucket will keep a stove going overnight

I got my OH an electric blanket for christmas as she is always cold and she swears by it reckons its the best present she ever got it was less than €40 with free delivery on littlewoods

Hope our landlord plays ball I was in your position once and it wasnt a nice place to be best of luck with it

cocaliquid

No insulation in the walls or in the attic best to move out. Little fixes here and there will not solve the problem.



https://i.pinimg.com/originals/00/42/5a/00425ad54c542449d665ba7fcb88c1cc.jpg

Kiith

With the coming winter (it's cold today, and got me thinking :P), I was reminded of this thread. We never really got around to doing much of the above, but will start implementing some of the above suggestions.

One question for you...given how bad the oil system is, and how quickly we burn through said oil, would space heaters be a better idea? We only need 1 or 2 rooms warm at any stage, and it takes ages to heat up these rooms. I know the cheap ones can be extremely inefficient, but would one or two good space heaters be a better way to keep us warm?

Also, if we went for a space heater...oil or electric?

muffler

If its oil fired heating you should consider using thermostatic valves on the rads and depending on location of the rooms you refer to maybe include zoned heating i.e. heat upstairs or downstairs only or both in a 2 storied house

listermint

Kiith wrote: »

With the coming winter (it's cold today, and got me thinking :P), I was reminded of this thread. We never really got around to doing much of the above, but will start implementing some of the above suggestions.

One question for you...given how bad the oil system is, and how quickly we burn through said oil, would space heaters be a better idea? We only need 1 or 2 rooms warm at any stage, and it takes ages to heat up these rooms. I know the cheap ones can be extremely inefficient, but would one or two good space heaters be a better way to keep us warm?

Also, if we went for a space heater...oil or electric?

I would start with implementing what you were told in the thread tbh.

there is no point in launching into space heaters when you will get the same result having not done anything suggested in the thread.

Why not just make a start, its still summer now is the time to finish out projects.