Why is my house so cold?!

[SteamyTea]

4 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

One way to deal with those is MVHR.

Another is an industrial dehumidifier.

But only if damp is the real problem.

 

It is always worth getting, or making, a temperature and relative humidity logger.  Only cost a few quid and will be very useful for ever.

There are a few plans on here on how to make one.

Edited October 26, 2021 by SteamyTea

[SteamyTea]

@Gone West

I think the main thing is that it can easily take more than twice the energy to warm up a damp house. So if the heating system was designed to deliver 6 kW, you may need 15 or 18 kW before there is any noticeable change.

Without the ability to get enough energy in the structure, it will always feel cold.

This could be an important point when fitting an ASHP in a new, traditionally built, house. Not so much a problem with TF and plasterboard.

[billt]

On 25/10/2021 at 16:04, ProDave said:

Now house in the Highlands, I bet it's colder than where you are, heating not on yet, 20 degrees inside still.

 

Yes, but yours is nearly a Passivhaus so needs very little heat input, and it's already up to temperature.

 

Any house will eventually follow the mean outdoor temperature when not heated, though it may have a very long lag.

[Cognis0]

On 26/10/2021 at 08:43, Gone West said:

I would wait until you have a replacement gas boiler fitted and check that all the radiators are working correctly before deciding your house is especially cold. We moved into a bungalow in May that had been empty for a year. It was cold, as it hadn't been heated and the construction is a mix of 650mm thick stone walls, concrete block walls and insulated concrete block walls. We filled the oil tank and turned the central heating on and after a couple of weeks the structure was warming up (thermal mass?) and now it's a nice 23C throughout the house.

Heating has been on for 2 weeks and the cold seems to be a distant memory! I suppose I had better check the gas meter to see how much its costing to keep the house warm..

[Cognis0]

On 26/10/2021 at 10:36, Ferdinand said:

 

How much older are you now, and does that alter perception?

Yes, that was over 40 years ago! As I recall the house had one of those nice 1960s gas fires in the living room and some kind of gas heater on a quarter landing on the stairs! It also had a gas "geyser" water heater. This was my first house bought in 1979, just before a big upward price move in the market, so we were lucky (sold it two year later for twice the price). No doubt I would now find that house horribly cold, although it seemed fine at the time.