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Topic: Cold rooms  (Read 4643 times)

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Cold rooms
« on: December 30, 2008, 08:24:09 AM »
Ok is it just my house or does every house here have very cold rooms and hallways?  It must be the darned radiators.  They are horrible at heating but is healthier than forced air.  I still prefer forced air heating even if dries my nose but at least the rooms gets heated evenly.  I've lived in 3 homes in the last 11 months here, all have very cold spots.


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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2008, 08:36:01 AM »
I agree with you to some extent - my own experience is with rental units.  Our flat had very high ceilings and I felt the radiators were too small for the rooms.  We lived in front of the fireplace in the living room, and I dragged an oil filled radiator with me from room to room when I needed to be warm!

We're now in a rental house.  Lower ceilings.  The living room, the bedroom and the bathroom (oh, heavenly!) stay comfortably warm.  The kitchen is drafty, the radiator in the hall doesn't work properly, so those 2 areas are cold!  The other 2 bedrooms we don't care about, we don't use them.

The houses I've been in that are owned by the people who live in them - two in-law families, an uncle and a friend - don't seem to have cold spots anywhere when we're there.  I'd think that they're cranking the heat up for us, but I know this is the way my parents-in-law's house is...

I'm still more comfy than I was in my non-centrally heated (or air conditioned!) house in Wisconsin though!
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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2008, 08:42:41 AM »
Ok is it just my house or does every house here have very cold rooms and hallways? 

In our house we've got super cold, super hot and the heat that Goldilocks chose.  There are 3 bedrooms upstairs.  Two have normal radiators that put out enough heat to keep the room pleasant, while the third puts out so much heat I'm thinking of opening a geothermal power plant.  Downstairs, the bathroom is exceptionally hot, while the kitchen is cold.  The radiators for these two rooms are on opposite sides of a wall, so they are close in distance, yet miles apart in climate.  It makes no sense, and I've given up thinking about it.

Carl


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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2008, 09:19:05 AM »
our downstairs is pretty cold, even with the heating on- but then we only have single glazing on our windows. :(  But even in our last house which did have double glazing the downstairs was noticeably colder than upstairs..ugh.  I'm downstairs typing this at the minute actually, and am warm only because I'm wrapped up in fleecy pajamas and an afghan throw.  We do have a gas fireplace in the living room that takes some of the chill off, which is nice.

It's not all houses, though. Our friends live in a mid-terrace less than a mile away from us which is built like a furnace- it's warm in winter and roasting in the summer!
« Last Edit: December 30, 2008, 09:21:04 AM by springhaze »
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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2008, 09:36:10 AM »
My house isn't conversant with the laws of physics.  You can feel the heat hit you as you come DOWNSTAIRS.  Upstairs is freezing, downstairs is balmy.  I suspect that the insulation between floors is substantially better than the loft insulation, but it's an old house, what are you going to do? 
I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer.



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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2008, 09:50:48 AM »
Our hall going upstairs and the whole 2nd floor is freezing! And our kitchen tends to be pretty cold.  I don't understand the boiler here AT ALL it's always really cold like the second it is shut off! But we bake when it's on. 




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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2008, 10:13:19 AM »
I always had radiators, rather than forced heat, in the US too, so I think I'm used to them. However, I'm currently living with my future inlaws who are VERY STINGY with heat, so it's ususally freezing. I know it's expensive to heat a house, but I was always willing to pay for my creature comforts when I was living on my own. I've always considered warmth more a necessity than a luxury. But for now, I generally bundle up well and always have a hot water bottle with me in bed.
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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2008, 12:22:04 PM »
I've had radiators most of my life, too. They work great -- if you turn them up. We're getting by on a low trickle of central heat, plus a coal fire at night in the livingroom. My interesting bits are all chapped. It's cold this Winter!

Also, there's no radiator in the kitchen. It's a country cottage, so I suspect I'm supposed to have an Aga   ::)


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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2008, 01:05:34 PM »
That's interesting I had horribly chapped lips when I first arrived for about a week:( Maybe not quite as interesting but still hurt ;)




Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2008, 01:36:44 PM »
We're currently living in a period property.  It has gas central heat, but it's also got the original sash windows with secondary glazing and yeah, it's cold.

There's a gas fire in the living room, but we have to top up in the bedrooms with halogen heaters.

Bbbrrrr.


Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2008, 01:50:54 PM »
Ok is it just my house or does every house here have very cold rooms and hallways?  It must be the darned radiators.  They are horrible at heating but is healthier than forced air.  I still prefer forced air heating even if dries my nose but at least the rooms gets heated evenly.  I've lived in 3 homes in the last 11 months here, all have very cold spots.

wait -- are you saying that in God's chosen country of the US of A, there are no cold rooms in houses in the winter?!  :o  ???


Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #11 on: December 30, 2008, 01:56:42 PM »

I've lived in 3 homes in the last 11 months here, all have very cold spots.

Perhaps you have a ghost or spirit that is following you?  Or a spiritual presence in your home?


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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #12 on: December 30, 2008, 01:57:12 PM »
My flat gets cold easily because the insulation is awful and we can't do anything about it because it's rented and the landlord won't spend the money.  My gas bill is much higher than it should be because of this.

I'm used to the opposite extreme. The apartments I lived in when I lived in New York were always overheated because the landlords were required to supply central heating in winter and if it wasn't hot enough you could complain to the Housing department and the landlord could receive a fine. There were lots of old tenants who were always cold so the landlords tended to overdo it. I used to walk around in my underwear, sweating in the middle of winter. And I didn't have to pay separately for heating; it was part of my rent.


Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #13 on: December 30, 2008, 01:58:21 PM »
And I didn't have to pay separately for heating; it was part of my rent.


How nice would that be!!!  :D


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Re: Cold rooms
« Reply #14 on: December 30, 2008, 02:18:27 PM »
Yeah, I lived in an apartment building in Rhode Island with a single thermostat, located in the apartment of a very old lady. The rest of us suffered from the heat in Winter. I'd go around in my underpants with the windows half open.

Heat and hot water paid for, $180 a month. A very long time ago, obviously, in a terrible neighborhood.


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