Great 'Big Freeze Tips' Hunt

choille

If you have a 'real' fire put the old ash on the ice to provide a grip and melt the ice, its better than salt and environmentally friendly.

Coal ash isn't environmentaly friendly ( not good in the garden, I should say), but wood ash is.

Father_Christmas

Anyone know where to get a cheap shovel / snow shovel?

VeeW

saraht wrote: »

Such a simple tip, but after slipping all over pavements in my work shoes and trainers, I started wearing my wellie boots, which have surprisingly good grip on the soles and stop any wetness getting to my feet. They make walking in the ice and snow so much easier and worth the hassle of carrying other shoes to change into at work etc.

Suggested this very thing to my granddaughter at the weekend for going back to school but it seems she'd rather have wet feet than carry an additional bag with her from class to class:eek:

dipsy81

Env Friendly:-

I have been known to put a king size vallance sheet over my car to save time and money with de-icer.

Then in the morning when going to work, just pull it off the car, put it on the washing line to get rid of the icicles. May not dry it completely but you can sort that out when you get home!

richardc1983

fruugal wrote: »

Put the sink plug in overnight to stop the S bend freezing if you're not centrally heated. (I remember my mother being so cross when I forgot, as teenagers do, in the 60s.)

QUOTE]

How does this work then?

Sami_Bee

Father_Christmas wrote: »

Anyone know where to get a cheap shovel / snow shovel?

you can make a snow board, its just a square/rectangle cut from a sheet of wood with a handle made from 1x1 or similar think like a for sale sign you get outside houses.
My dad amazed his workmates when he cleared his section of the yard in half the time it took them to do their bits with a normal spade

plimsoll

Keep your central heating on low constantly rather than short periods at a higher setting - the biggest cost is heating the water initially, keeping it warm requires less energy. Still waiting for Warm Front to do my insulation so spend more than hopefully would after, but usually in winter (when not as cold as this!) I have heating on 4am-ish (in case baby wakes early so been on at least an hour before up) till 8pm (when kids in bed) at approx 1.5 setting on boiler which costs around £15-20 a week (still on prepayment meters but does at least make comparisons easy lol). For past week and half or so I have had it at 2.5 24/7 which is costing approx £30 a week, and keeping it warm enough with vest (thermal or 2 vests for kids), tee & jumper, plus dressing gown in morning due to temp dropping outside overnight.

ceridwen

I LURVE fleece dressing gowns - I find in this cold weather that its best to dress as normal (with a teeshirt under the jumper at this time of year) and add a fleece dressing gown on top. UNlike "slankets" there is no risk of tripping over them when moving round the house and you can instantly take it off if the doorbell goes. One fleece dressing gown on and a spare one for when that is "in the wash" - way to go...:D

I'll add in my current signature too (before I change it again):

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The "Rule of Three" for cold weather:

Has everyone got:
1. summat to eat (including what is essential to them eg decent coffee/a comforting "tipple"/plenty of fresh fruit/chocolate.
2. summat to do (eg their regular newspapers/magazines)
3. summat to keep warm (hotwater bottles/throws/halogen heaters).

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

The "summat to do" rule is equally important to the others - as many people go "stir crazy" at having to stay indoors for days on end because they are scared to go out walking on ice.

ixwood

plimsoll wrote: »

Keep your central heating on low constantly rather than short periods at a higher setting - the biggest cost is heating the water initially, keeping it warm requires less energy.

..

Sorry, but that's just not true. It's a myth and one that some people really seem to struggle to understand (there are lot so discussions on this on here).

geordie_lass_2

richardc1983 wrote: »

fruugal wrote: »

Put the sink plug in overnight to stop the S bend freezing if you're not centrally heated. (I remember my mother being so cross when I forgot, as teenagers do, in the 60s.)

QUOTE]

How does this work then?

It works if you have a dripping tap and no spare washer to fix it.
Small amounts of water dripping can freeze and block an outlet pipe over night, particularly if it is horizontal rather than vertical, as I learned to my cost a couple of years ago.