ᐅ Rooms feeling cold despite the heating being on

Hello everyone,

I was very unhappy with my heating system during the cold temperatures at the beginning of the year. The rooms always felt cold to me, even though the radiators themselves were warm to the touch. Now that the temperatures are dropping again, I’m experiencing the same issue and would like to try solving it with reflective foil insulation. What do you think of my idea?

And one more quick question before I finish: How have you improved the sealing of your windows to prevent drafts?

Cheers everyone

Hello Klemmer41,
if the heating is working well but the rooms are not getting properly warm, this is due to heat loss through the external walls and/or windows. It is difficult to say more without inspecting the situation on site.

Reflective foils can help somewhat, but if all walls have poor thermal insulation and the windows are not double-glazed or are leaking, this will not be effective.

Windows can be sealed in two ways:
1. At the rebate of the frame; that is, where the sash frame meets the fixed frame. There are many suitable products for this. You need to pay attention to the thickness of the sealing tape, which depends on the rebate size, so that the tape is neither too thin (window remains leaky) nor too thick (window will be hard to close).

2. Sealing the connection between the fixed frame and the masonry, i.e. the installation joint. However, without knowing the installation situation, I cannot provide more detailed advice on the sealing method.

To what extent can the mentioned reflective foils actually help? They don’t prevent heat loss or even increase the heat retention in the room. Or am I thinking too much in terms of sound, and is the comparison actually inappropriate?

Reflective films won’t help because the problem is more fundamental; it is not related to sound. As mentioned before, check if the windows are sealed properly. This can be done quite effectively using a candle, lighter, or similar; hold the flame close to the joints and the window frame rebate (but be careful). If the flame flickers or flicks, the joint is leaking.

Do you have insulated windows (double or triple glazing)?

Hello,
Year after year, the same issue arises. Warm heating, cold rooms – it’s just unpleasant. Reflective foils don’t help; that’s the wrong approach. My windows and the door are drafty. I sealed them with insulating tape, which helped somewhat. A new boiler also needs to be installed.

Best regards

Yes, that is quite frustrating, especially in cold temperatures. I have also installed new windows and I notice the difference immediately. Now the rooms are comfortably warm, and heating costs are lower as well. Although not as much as the window installer claimed, the costs definitely are not going up.