my house is freezing!

horrorhag

im in exactly the same situation (aside from the energy bills) and i went to a curtain shop and got an extendible pole for heavy curtains. no screws, nails or marks. i highly recommend getting a tension rod/extendible pole

GlasweJen

Me and my friend live here, we have a room each and a study between us so we don't need an HMO according to the local council. I called the letting agent today to ask about changing suppliers and they will talk to the landlord on our behalf. Meanwhile I have dug out the summer duvet for using in the livingroom when we're watching tv.

Emily_Hall08

I'd really like to know more about the extendible pole thing, for putting curtains up without making holes etc in the wall, as my curtain rail is pathetic, it falls down most times i pull the curtain, but they won't replace it
Our house is freezing, and it's only october, it's only going to get worse (we were here last winter and it was cold)
To put up some kind of thick curtain without making any permanent changes would be fantastic - i did a little googling but don't really know what i'm looking for!

melancholly

in one house i stayed in, i used a 13.5 tog duvet all year round - just with different numbers of blankets. you will get used to it a bit though - no help now, but worth thinking about!

to make the bed a bit better, put a big thick blanket on top of the mattress to be an insulating layer under you. you can probably find a thick but ugly one in a charity shop very cheaply! put your underwear on the radiator and have the heating on for when you get up. warm pants make getting up a lot less horrible!

get some cardboard, cover it with kitchen foil and put it behind the radiator. then you'll heat the room more and the outside wall less.

get some thick slippers - warm feet can fool you into feeling a little less cold all over.

ikkle87

iv slept in gloves and a scarf with big wooly socks before.

I would suggest a cheap way for the time being would be an extra duvet, socks, hot water bottle etc.

collingwood21

It might be worth looking into electric fan heaters. I used these a lot when I was a student as it was a cheaper and more effective way of heating a room than having he central heating on - they are not that expensive to buy, and mine lasted me for several years.

I also used to buy vests as extra layers (not at all sexy, but quite effective) and wear thick walking socks around the house as they are warmer than ordinary cotton ones. Drinking Options hot chocolate also works quite well!

I would have something done about the landlord, though. I have the "you can't change your energy supplier problem" as well and I know how hard it is to tackle, but your university accommodation office should be able to offer you advice on your position. The state of your flat/house sounds quite poor (and possibly has safety issues) so you should be able to get something done about it - or at the very least get this landlord blacklisted by the university.

Good luck!

mellymeep

We just light candles a lot in our living room because its exceptionally cold in there for some reason! and this is a massive house, we just can't afford to heat it. Although you may have to be careful because in some contracts theres a clause saying you're not allowed to use candles. Make sure you blow them out when you leave the room too! They are actually pretty effective though, we bought some cheap lanterns and tea lights from wilkinsons and they heat up the room nicely.

Leave the oven door open after you've cooked, the heat will float round the house seeing as you've not got a door between kitchen/living room. As for your bedroom, try and get some thick material and pin/blu tack it inside the window, and keep your curtains closed over winter, it'll do a little bit towards keeping the heat in the room.

culpepper

do you have a microwave? If so make some rice bags. fill a cotton bag with raw rice and sew the top shut or you can use cotton socks and tie the top in a knot. Put in clean dry microwave and heat for around 3 minutes(try a bit less if unsure) before you go to bed. Put bag in bed and when you get in it will be toasty. You can push the bag down to your feet. It acts like a hot water bottle but isnt icy cold when you wake up next morning.
Wear a wooly hat indoors if your head gets cold, looks a bit odd but being warm is more important .

horrorhag

Emily_Hall08 wrote: »

I'd really like to know more about the extendible pole thing, for putting curtains up without making holes etc in the wall, as my curtain rail is pathetic, it falls down most times i pull the curtain, but they won't replace it
Our house is freezing, and it's only october, it's only going to get worse (we were here last winter and it was cold)
To put up some kind of thick curtain without making any permanent changes would be fantastic - i did a little googling but don't really know what i'm looking for!

Hey, sorry about the delay. I got my polls from curtan shops and diy shops. they look like what they are called... in the box they just look like poles with rubber feet at both ends and you twist the middle to extend them. try googling tension rods

heres an example of them


http://www.ukbathroomstore.co.uk/croydex-heavy-duty-telescopic-tension-p-2320.html?currency=GBP

get one that looks quite sturdy as most of them are aimed at net curtans rather than curtans but found and own two that are for heavy duty use. the curtan i have got up are linned but i wouldnt say they were really really thick. If you find your tension rod slipping we use a bit of card board on either end to give it some friction. i hope this all helps.....