I just moved into an older Victorian house. I haven‘t run the heat or air conditioner, but last night the temperature was 45 outside and it went down to 62 on the first floor where the thermostat is. The 2nd floor where our bedroom is was cool, but not that cool. It did warm back up to about 70 or so during the day, but the house really didn‘t warm back up too much.Do you think I have a problem with lack of insulation and that is why it‘s getting so cold at night?
A house that old probably has little or no insulation in it at all!
My house isn't that old, but I just had to put in an entire central air system. My guess is you need to do some updates on your house. Do you have air conditioning too because with out insulation or insufficient insulation you will have large power bills. Do you also have old windows because you may have to re-chalk them. Good Luck in your new (old) home.
Victorian houses can be bloody freezing! The wall cavities are near none existant and usually vermiculite or 100mm of insulation in the loft at best on the lat and plaster ceilings. Also the roof is probably not underfelted (the black stuff underneath the slates). You want at least 400mm insulation. Rockwool is a good brand. Even the BQ stuff. You can even apply to your local council for vouchers to get it cheaper from BQ. If you are over a certain age (usually 60) you can get it done for next to free on a grant by firms like Solarwall. Basically get yourself some fibreglass insulation, some rubber gloves, a parer suit, and a good dust mask (the paper ones are crap), pay about ?15 and get a proper face hugging rubber respirator one, the difference in performance is huge. Make sure you dont pack the insulation right to the very edges as your loft needs to 'breathe'. Leave about 4 inches. The cold air meeting the warm air without fresh air blowing thru your loft causes damp. Damp means mould and mould means damage! The insulation stops the warm air in your house escaping thru your ceiling, not keeping it in the loft. You have a cold house by nature. You can maybe get cavity wall inulation but i doubt it due to the zero/near zero cavity. Hope this helps. Get some double glazing. Get some draught excluders. If you have a coal fire close the draught diverter. Need anything else just ask! Heating engineer for 12 years.
