Cold house

We have lived in this house for a little over two years, and are just entering our third winter. It is a three-bedroom end-of-terrace house, built in the 1980s. Yet for some reason it is by far the coldest house that I have ever lived in.

The strange thing is that the house is also quite cold even on a still summer's day, with no breeze to create draughts. It feels like the interior of the house is a constant three or four degrees cooler than the exterior in summer. Perhaps we are haunted with shy ghosts whose only pathetic gift is to reduce the temperature.

In summer this is quite nice; in winter it is highly annoying.

We have tried all of the obvious things: we shut all the ventilation vents over the windows in October, and put the heating on timed. Yet whatever heat we have soon leaks out. The loft is well insulated, and it seems to be well constructed and has been well maintained over the years.

One problems are with the patio doors, through which a slight draught constantly flows when there is a breeze. All the windows are double glazed, yet it seems to have little or no effect. Another problem in the bedrooms is that the radiators are placed directly under the windows, meaning that the overhanging curtains divert some of the heat towards the window and away from the room.

We are both really fed up with this. If we owned the house, then we would consider giving it a firm makeover and try to upgrade the insulation and windows; unfortunately we rent, so that option is not open to us.

We will shiver again through this winter.