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Ideas keeping part of the Kitchen warming without paying extea?

Empire

Hello,

Just looking to see if anyone has ideas or even something buy in terms of keeping one part of the Kitchen warmer without extra more on electricity or in some cases no electric usage.

We have a long kitchen, at the end of the kitchen is the back door and it's always closed, next to the door on the wall is a 3 Column white horizontal radiator and it turns out they do not put out much heat as we expected and it's on high.

And so it's always cold down that end, damp and cold and doesn't help for an older person cooking in a cold room, in fact for anyone. Do not want to put on the oven for the sake of warming the room.  

  • in reply to Empire

    See if you can get into the loft space above the extension and put down insulation. If theres draft getting in around the door then some of that foam strip stuff might help, you can get it from hardware stores, B&Q etc, you stick it around the edges of the frame and door to help create a seal.

    But maybe you'd be best off changing the radiator if you can.

  • If there is space to put a clip in curtain rail to hang a cheap curtain that can help when it gets dark. We used to do that in a rented house as the door was draughty. We then took it down in the summer.

  • in reply to Empire

    A lot of homes built in the 60's don't have very good insuation, is it flat roof extension? To be honest I think you should look into insulation, it may need replacing or topping up something like a plug in oil filled radiator could be good, in the short term, but if the heats is leaking out of the house then ultimately it's a waste of money.

  • in reply to Iain

    was looking at adding another heater, the home was built back in the 60s and then in the 90s the kitchen been extended using the same materials, no idea what insulation it has though and yes it does. 

    The room is at the back of the home that never gets the sun and is also dark and cold compared to the front of the house as son all day. 

  • Empire said:
    We have a long kitchen, at the end of the kitchen is the back door and it's always closed, next to the door on the wall is a 3 Column white horizontal radiator and it turns out they do not put out much heat as we expected and it's on high.

    Do you have an older property - Victorian or similar?

    If so the issues are most likely down to insulation not being present and possibly the walls being painted in a non-breathable paint & plaster.

    Without insulation these areas will always be cold - basic thermodynamics mean the heat is leached to the outside faster than you can apply it.

    Cost wise you could consider adding foam board to the inside of the wall, extending sockets and plumbing to the new wall level then plasterboarding and painting it. Probably a few £k unless you are good with your hands and the saving on heating should be noticable.

    You may also choose to do similar to the floor as these areas on old victorian houses are often laid straight on the ground, so building an air gap and floating floor will make it about as good as it gets.

    I'm asuming you have a draught resistant back door and double glazing as these are also heat sinks.

    There are no cheap solutions, just throwing energy at a problem that is going to give nothing back - the renovations at least add value and reduce bills indefinitely.

    For reference I renovate old properties and have done quite a lot of Victorian houses in England