Cold room solutions.

DeVlaeminck

We moved house in the Summer and our bedroom is freezing - it has a radiator but it's far colder than any other bedroom - it's like going back to my childhood before we had central heating and a gas fire in each bedroom.
1 It's mostly above the garage which is unheated - the garage ceiling is lined with thick foam.
2 - it's at the end of a fairly long thin house so has 3 external walls though one end is an en- suite so the actual bedroom only has one end with double glazed window and door to a balcony.
3 - Half of the bedroom ceiling is very high and follows the slope of the roof (no loft space) which gives a nice spacious feel but I'm guessing lacks (much) insulation - was thinking a false ceiling might enable me to add some.
It's a 60s/70s build I'm assuming it'll have cavity wall insulation but I'm not sure ??

Anyone more familiar with this kind of thing advise what the starting point is?

ddraver

The only solution I've learned after a summer of cornish holiday cottages is an electric radiator with it's own thermostat. The problem otherwise is that the thermostat measures the temperature in a 'warm' room which so stops the heating coming on for the cold rooms.

My parents house has the same issue, especially when they put the fire on...

I suspect people that know what they're talking about might know better.

harry-s

I've got a similar room by the sound of it. If the floor/garage roof is already insulated then you've got that covered.

I went for:
Cavity wall insulation.
Windows covered with a roller blind and curtains.
Not all the walls have a cavity, so I also papered with this stuff:
https://www.toolstation.com/wallrock-thermal-liner-kv600/p21152

It's hard to say which has had the most effect, I suspect it's a case of minimal gains.

monkimark

Balancing your radiators might help, or perhaps the radiator is too small for the room?
https://www.bestheating.com/info/a-best-heating-guide-how-to-balance-radiators/

surrey_commuter

Start with the cheap stuff. Sounds like the radiator could be a long way from the boiler so is it getting hot enough? If not bleed it, top up the system and then balance your radiators (google it)

Maybe put a suspended ceiling in the garage and get more insulation in there (we did and it made a huge difference)

How old is he glazing? modern makes a huge difference.

Suspended ceiling in room will also reduce cubic metres

rjsterry

All good stuff so far.

Another point is that insulation is only any good if it is well fitted. If there are gaps then it's as effective as a bucket with holes.

Similarly check the window for draughts.

That said, the roof is probably where most heat is escaping and will be where you can have the biggest impact. Insulation needs to be fitted with care, though, to avoid interstitial condensation (moisture from warm internal air condensing within the colder structure). Especially if fitting internally. It might be worth having a poke around behind the ceiling to see what the construction is.

Munsford0

60s / 70s often had cavity walls but no insulation. Can you get into the loft and peer down into one? Failing that a contractor will soon drill a few exploratory holes. High bedroom ceiling is where all the hot air from the radiator is going. You say it's following the roof so it could also have little or no insulation; that's a bit trickier to investigate / remedy. If garage ceiling has spray foam insulation from beneath it may mean there was no rockwool / fibreglass insulation under the bedroom floor originally - adding some now would make a big difference

DeVlaeminck

monkimark said:

Balancing your radiators might help, or perhaps the radiator is too small for the room?
https://www.bestheating.com/info/a-best-heating-guide-how-to-balance-radiators/

It's huge but it doesn't heat up as well as some others - plus all the radiators are quite old so there are certainly gains to be made there.

DeVlaeminck

Munsford0 said:

60s / 70s often had cavity walls but no insulation. Can you get into the loft and peer down into one? Failing that a contractor will soon drill a few exploratory holes. High bedroom ceiling is where all the hot air from the radiator is going. You say it's following the roof so it could also have little or no insulation; that's a bit trickier to investigate / remedy. If garage ceiling has spray foam insulation from beneath it may mean there was no rockwool / fibreglass insulation under the bedroom floor originally - adding some now would make a big difference

Thanks - I'll investigate those options - the rockwool stuff isn't something I'd thought of.

singleton

Maybe a bit left field, but..
Is it worth considering running some underfloor heating in the bedroom?

photonic69

DeVlaeminck said:

monkimark said:

Balancing your radiators might help, or perhaps the radiator is too small for the room?
https://www.bestheating.com/info/a-best-heating-guide-how-to-balance-radiators/

It's huge but it doesn't heat up as well as some others - plus all the radiators are quite old so there are certainly gains to be made there.

If I was you, I'd get the whole system serviced and powerflushed. Also old radiators are quite inefficient. I replaced our bedroom one last year. I was 30+ years old and though it got hot to touch, it didn't really warm the room. The new one has the TRV turned down to half and the room is always toasty warm. Looking at doing the other two bedrooms now, but will probably wait till spring.

Re the loft insulation - have a look at what they have done to the rest of the house in the loft space. Might give you an indication of what is above your sloping ceiling. It might be woefully inadequate throughout so spending a few hundred quid might make you more comfortable in general and reduce the monthly bills. A ceiling fan can also be used to circulate the warmer air high up. Have you ever been up a ladder indoors in Winter when the heating is on? You'll know where all that hot air is going!

pblakeney

photonic69 said:

Have you ever been up a ladder indoors in Winter when the heating is on? You'll know where all that hot air is going!

I fitted new smoke detectors at the weekend. The temperature difference even in the small elevation gain to our relatively low ceilings was astounding!

surrey_commuter

DeVlaeminck said:

monkimark said:

Balancing your radiators might help, or perhaps the radiator is too small for the room?
https://www.bestheating.com/info/a-best-heating-guide-how-to-balance-radiators/

It's huge but it doesn't heat up as well as some others - plus all the radiators are quite old so there are certainly gains to be made there.

I transformed the kids play room by balancing the radiators

rjsterry

singleton said:

Maybe a bit left field, but..
Is it worth considering running some underfloor heating in the bedroom?

Unless you have the fabric of the room up to scratch, underfloor heating will struggle to heat the space. Fix what you have before adding new stuff.

rjsterry

photonic69 said:

DeVlaeminck said:

monkimark said:

Balancing your radiators might help, or perhaps the radiator is too small for the room?
https://www.bestheating.com/info/a-best-heating-guide-how-to-balance-radiators/

It's huge but it doesn't heat up as well as some others - plus all the radiators are quite old so there are certainly gains to be made there.

If I was you, I'd get the whole system serviced and powerflushed. Also old radiators are quite inefficient. I replaced our bedroom one last year. I was 30+ years old and though it got hot to touch, it didn't really warm the room. The new one has the TRV turned down to half and the room is always toasty warm. Looking at doing the other two bedrooms now, but will probably wait till spring.

Re the loft insulation - have a look at what they have done to the rest of the house in the loft space. Might give you an indication of what is above your sloping ceiling. It might be woefully inadequate throughout so spending a few hundred quid might make you more comfortable in general and reduce the monthly bills. A ceiling fan can also be used to circulate the warmer air high up. Have you ever been up a ladder indoors in Winter when the heating is on? You'll know where all that hot air is going!

If the sloping part of the ceiling is just plasterboard onto the back of the rafters and some underlay and tiles on the outside then this will indeed be where all the heat is disappearing. It will cost more than a few hundred quid to insulate, though as you will need to strip out the ceiling. Fit the insulation (checking that you are not cutting off the ventilation of the roof structure) and then refit and skim the ceiling.

DeVlaeminck

Yes thanks I suspect that may be the outcome

joeyhalloran

harry-s said:

I've got a similar room by the sound of it. If the floor/garage roof is already insulated then you've got that covered.

I went for:
Cavity wall insulation.
Windows covered with a roller blind and curtains.
Not all the walls have a cavity, so I also papered with this stuff:
https://www.toolstation.com/wallrock-thermal-liner-kv600/p21152

It's hard to say which has had the most effect, I suspect it's a case of minimal gains.

Any tips for fitting this? I was planning to do it to our bedroom with two external solid brick walls.

harry-s

Stick to the recommended amount of adhesive, - it seems a lot at the time, but it's needed. It was heavier than I anticipated, it's a bit like wallpapering with carpet, but the results were worthwhile, it feels warm to the touch and paints well. Take care to get the joints between drops right when you're hanging it, it's easier and gives better results than filling afterwards. I was pleased with it in the end.

Make sure you get the thermal adhesive, it's unique to that particular 'paper'.

I had intended to do the ceiling as well, but didn't have any help at the time so didn't bother, it would definitely have been a two man job. I guess this would depend on the size of your room though, this one was about 3.5m square and the lengths of paper would have been a bit unmanageable.

oxoman

DV.
3 - Half of the bedroom ceiling is very high and follows the slope of the roof (no loft space) which gives a nice spacious feel but I'm guessing lacks (much) insulation - was thinking a false ceiling might enable me to add some.
It's a 60s/70s build I'm assuming it'll have cavity wall insulation but I'm not sure ??
You may be lucky with the sloping bits of your ceiling and be able to insert polystyrene foam slabs into the space between the plasterboard and the roof tile battens. I managed it at my first house but it wasn't easy squeezing right into the eaves to do it. Certainly the better option is to do it properly and re-board using foil backed plasterboard. To get the most up to date insulation rating you may have to batten out to accommodate the thicker insulation. Your cavity wont be insulated unless it has been retrofitted anytime between the early 80s foam insulation or fibreglass blown in from the 90s onwards.

Pross

Do the radiators have individual thermostats or is it all controlled from one point? I'm just wondering if the issue is you are losing heat or if the room isn't getting chance to heat up as the thermostat is in a warmer part of the house and cuts the heating off before the bedroom gets warm. Usually you get the opposite issue where upstairs is warmer than downstairs but for all the reasons you've mentioned it might just be the room doesn't warm up quickly enough before the thermostat cuts in.