Things that worked or didn't work last winter

Shropshirelass

Brilliant site!! :j

Can I ask someone who wears them, are these Ugg-like boots waterproof? They look as if they are very warm, but would get soggy and yucky in a wet garden.

I have waterproofed leaky footwear by putting stocking feet into plastic bags before putting on shoes or boots. :cool: I never wear them for more than a few hours but find this very comfy.

asparagus1968

Shropshirelass wrote: »

Brilliant site!! :j

Can I ask someone who wears them, are these Ugg-like boots waterproof? They look as if they are very warm, but would get soggy and yucky in a wet garden.

I have waterproofed leaky footwear by putting stocking feet into plastic bags before putting on shoes or boots. :cool: I never wear them for more than a few hours but find this very comfy.

i've never heard of tugg boots! off to google....

asparagus1968

asparagus1968 wrote: »

i've never heard of tugg boots! off to google....

no,can't find them!
have you a link please?

Shropshirelass

So sorry, I saw them in a previous post, but cant find it now. :oWhat I meant was a cheap version of Uggs, which to my mind are prohibitively expensive. I have seen cheap Ugg-tyoes in SMs, but wondered if they are waterproof and cleanable.

Grimbal

Has anyone any bright ideas on how to stop heat escaping through the cat flap please? We have a cat tunnel through our wall, and the only thing between us & the great outdoors is a flimsy bit of plastic

cornishchick

Grimbal wrote: »

Has anyone any bright ideas on how to stop heat escaping through the cat flap please? We have a cat tunnel through our wall, and the only thing between us & the great outdoors is a flimsy bit of plastic

how about a mini heavy curtain. most cats seem to manage to find their way through... or make a double flap. I did this for mine years ago. a large box over the flap, leading to another flap.. sort of like a carboard porch.....does that make sense?

born_blonde

Have the same problem Grimbal, though in our case it's a pet flap for our lurcher in our fully glazed (brrrr) back door.
We cannot even leave the door curtain drawn as she takes part of it out the flap with her and then traps the flap and cannot get back in!

tryingtobethrifty

Shropshirelass wrote: »

So sorry, I saw them in a previous post, but cant find it now. :oWhat I meant was a cheap version of Uggs, which to my mind are prohibitively expensive. I have seen cheap Ugg-tyoes in SMs, but wondered if they are waterproof and cleanable.

No, they're not waterproof and will leak in. I find them best for cold dry days or to use as slippers. Primark have really warm ones for £5 but I mainly wear them indoors. Also, I find they wear funny and after a while your foot will rotate out the way when you walk. I hope that makes sense, if you look at some people are wearing you see they don't look very supportive after a while.

Grimbal

cornishchick wrote: »

a large box over the flap, leading to another flap.. sort of like a carboard porch.....does that make sense?

might try doing something like this - many thanks ! Not sure the curtain would work though. Our Maisie isn't the brightest of girls as far as I can tell & I think covering up the cat flap would just make her think it's disappeared !!

missrlr

What a great thread, thought I would start with this and see if I can't get more ideas to make the fund go farther this year.
What worked for us over the last few years was thick lined curtains over conservatory doors, memory foam mattress, throws on sofas and beds, black out blinds inside window frames and more curtains every where upstairs, removing the vile laminate and replacing with thickest possible underlay and carpet in the living room, solar power to run under floor heating after midday day and other bits before midday. Free big freezer for hoarding food, all bought either cheap or reduced and prepped accordingly, new boiler. Terrier temperature thermostats on all radiators so we control the house temp properly, closing doors to rooms we don't use much (e.g. Spare bed rooms)

Our biggest problem areas are the front door faces the wrong way for weather and howling gales plus conservatory is useless to heat and so cold and damp.

I also suffer with Reynauds so cold is not my friend and I spend a lot of time workings out which thermal underwear,socks and so on are actually working for me. My stores of these have not been replenished for over 5 years now and frankly have to be, some socks did die despite patching and mending so are now part of draught excluders, but the feet are still cold.

The biggest thing we have done is sort the bay window , discovered this was held in place to the brickwork by a 1inch strip of sealant, covered by a plastic facing no wonder there was a draft! Rally hoping this makes a difference.
We have done all the glazing now, cavity wall insulation and loft is insulated and boarded, and insulation on the eaves too so fantastic storage space and makes so much difference to the heat of the house.

We tried the heated clothes drier , blinking useless didn't get hot enough, but it was much bigger and held more clothes than the other versions so use it sans electricity now! Fits the space at the top of the stairs brilliantly so all heat escaping up there is captured and used to dry clothes. We also blocked off the fire place with some Mdf on hinge so we can use the fireplace if we ever get a fire in it!

Right of too look for some neoprene Wellies .... Apparently very warm