Under floor heating Vs Condensation

[Trikie]

Hi Peeps

I have a question; a bit of a long one so please bear with me. I live in an old Victorian house that has been turned in to flats. I live on the ground floor and my bedroom I believe used to be a kitchen. My bedroom as it is now protrudes off the back of the building and also has an extension on it. The room measures 9ft wide x 12ft long with the ext being 6ft 6” x 6ft 6” making the room a total length of 18ft 6” it has 3 external walls and the ext is a flat roof; it has two windows and a very small radiator. I have a big problem with condensation in the room. In the evening/night the walls are very wet to the touch mould grows in the corners and clothes in the wardrobe and draws get damp and mouldy and smell. My property is rented and the landlord fitted the room with an extractor fan which is quite noisy and not practical to run at night they also lined the inside of the three external walls and the ceiling with sempatap but this has not made any difference. I was wondering if I was to insulate the floor and install an electric under floor heating system and tried to keep the room at a near constant temperature would this reduce the condensation in the room and thus cure my problem?
Would just like to add the room is always cold and I have to use an electric blanket so the bed is dry when I get in it

Many thanks

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Sounds like a typical budget rental conversion. Adequate heating is key, but as a tenant you should not be installing stuff like that. Talk to your local council environmental health lot, they should be able to determine the true causes of the problem (to me it sounds as if the radiator is undersized for the room, the external walls are almost certainly solid not insulated and it won't be a surprise if they're only half brick) and they are definitely able to require the landlord to undertake work required to make the place fit for habitation.

Do you control the heating system or is it communal?

 

[Trikie]

I control it but like I said it a very small radiator about 2 maybe 2.5ft in a room that has a floor area of about 166sq ft. It's a housing association property and they are useless (don't want to spend any money if they can get away with it). Although they have offered to loan me a dehumidifier. It's got to the point where if underfloor heating would cure the problem I will fit it myself and get a spark in to wire it up.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Be a lot cheaper to put a bigger radiator in (if there's space on the wall where the small one is). Do the heat loss sums on one of the online calculators (this one is OK http://www.bestheating.com/btu-calculator) then have a look at radiators with that heat output (from wherever you like, Toolstation aren't bad but there are others) & see big they are. For your 'room' you'd have to do 2 sums, not sure how accurate that result will be but it'll give you a clue.