Gas fire - just not very warm

[boogaloo]

hi all,

Our house seems very cold, and hard to heat. Main problem is the sitting room, which has a gas fire. It just doesn't seem to heat the room much at all, and there's always a competition to see how can get to sit nearest to it for a bit of heat. There is also a radiator in the room, which is not under the window, so heat not getting out that way. We have draft excluders on the door. Wooden floor. Fairly big window, but tuck the curtains up in the evening. What else can we do to try and warm the place up a bit? Would a big floor rug make any difference? Or maybe better curtains with heavy lining?
any suggestions welcome, thanks.

 

[PGD1]

Your gas fire is probably just for effect. Most of them are just for effect.

 

[Thirsty]

do you need to bleed the radiators?

 

[boogaloo]

Kildrought, we did bleed the radiators a few weeks back, didn't make any difference in the sitting room, helped a bit in one of the bedrooms alright. We are wondering at this stage if we'd be better off boarding up the gas fire and just bringing a superser in to the room. It would look ugly but if it did the trick we'd put up with it.
Anyone think that a huge floor rug would help insulate the place a bit? I have a notion in my head that it might but other half doesn't think so.

 

[pennypincher]

We had a similar problem years back and the reason was the fire place was a standard fireplace-could also burn coal/wood etc and it was converted to gas.As a result the gas fire never worked effectively...like you said you had to stand in front of it to get any heat.We have since moved house and have a new gas fire,the back of it is made out of some metal material,it is more steeply sloped and the fire will heat the room.

 

[Sue Ellen]

This heat loss calculator might be useful.

You appear to have a more serious problem than just heavier curtains/rug will correct.

This previous thread How to calculate size of radiator for room might help also.

Wouldn't recommend Super Ser at all as they cause serious condensation/mould problems and that's why no one uses them anymore.

 

[pricilla]

Hi, I don't know anything about fireplaces, but one of the lads working here was saying the same thing recently, it seems the the wall behind the fire was cementy type stuff and it was soaking all the heat instead of reflecting it out around the room. So as far as I know, he got a new back made of a reflective material on the fireplace, and that worked great. Sorry I don't have better information, I sort of tuned out

 

[MAJJ]

I believe that pricilla is talking about a 'fireback' which for gas fires is often made of ceramic which reflects/radiates heat.

 

[redbhoy]

Do you have a thermostat? It may be broke or set to a low temp!
The thermostat can be situated anywhere.
Are the rads heating everywhere?

 

[z107]

Anyone think that a huge floor rug would help insulate the place a bit?

I wouldn't think so, as heat rises. Maybe if you stuck it to the ceiling Might make the place look warmer, especially if it's a red or brown rug.

Is the radiator hot when it's switched on?

I would suggest getting one of those stoves instead of the gas fire, and maybe pump insulation into the cavity of the wall.

 

[fobs]

I would suggest there might be something to what previous posters said about the back as when we have our gas fire on the room heats up very quickly and is warmer than our previous house with an open fire!

 

[huskerdu]

Is the house old or new ?
Are the floorboards old or new ?
It's a long shot, but if you have old floorboards and no concrete foundations, you will lose loads of heat through the floors. In this case, rugs will definitely help.

 

[z102]

The radiator is obviously in the wrong place, it belongs into the coldest spot of the room , usually under the window.