If I arrive mid winter, the house is like a fridge, it takes around 4 days ( and 4 bottles of gas) with the heating on to get the walls and furniture warmed up. On top of that I have a large fireplace that's lit up straight away as well as a couple of electric heaters.
I have found that once the walls and furniture are warm it's not so bad. Then I use the central heating as background heating on low ( 2 bottles of gas a week) and the fire as the main source of heat. Also found electric blankets are one of the best buys around!
Hi
We are looking at getting a solar heater/dehumidifier.....it pumps around 140 cubic feet per minute and increases the external air temp by approx 15 degrees C in average sunlight. Left running all winter it would keep the damp out and keep the rooms warm during the day......
http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/solar-heating/compact-standard-solar-air-heater-and-dehumidifier-mk2
Hope this helps