Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Primrose

nomoney - I think we're all asking ourselves the same question now. It's not a stupid question at all. Our water heating and central heating are both gas fired but can be operated separately so until we're forced to put the central heating back on, I'm using the bathroom (with its radiator heated via the hot water system) as our drying room. I try to get the washing done and stored in there to dry to take advantage of the 2 hour water heating slot in the mornings. I keep the door shut but the window open slightly to ventilate. It's not a very elegant solution but it does help dry the washing and saves heating the whole house. I also cheat slightly sometimes by ironing the worst of the moisture out of some items although I'm not a great ironer by nature. This also speeds up the drying time. If you're heating areas and rooms which don't really need to be heated, simply to dry washing, it's costing extra money.

lauren_1

Primrose wrote: »

Adopt this motto for all the family: "Put on, Not Switch On !!
And stick it on your Central Heating thermostat contoller.

Sounds much better than my 'put up and shut up' motto

sammy_kaye18

lauren_1 wrote: »

Sounds much better than my 'put up and shut up' motto

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: think i should make this motto for my boyfriend#


also any of us with fur babies - never und estimate the heat a fur baby can give off - i have a small jack russell who seems to think despite having a bed in the hallway, a bed in the living room, two chairs to choose from in the living room that no matter where im sat my lap seems to be the best place. Either that or lounging on the chair with my 4 year old.

born_blonde

I have a lurcher whose favorite place is on the bed, she is a big warm girl. Whippets used to be used as hot water bottles for Miners children or so I've heard.

poppyoscar_3

born_blonde wrote: »

I have a lurcher whose favorite place is on the bed, she is a big warm girl. Whippets used to be used as hot water bottles for Miners children or so I've heard.

I find a large tabby and white barn moggy does much the same job!:D

lemontart

Lindylou54 wrote: »

I have found an old sleeping bag in the loft, I keep it behind the sofa in the lounge and tonight used it and I was very warm. I had deliberated with putting the heating on as it was cold, but resisted. Especially as DH was moaning how cold it was, --- he had on a pair of shorts and no socks. I told him more clothes before we consider heating, so he ended up with the rug that I usually use over his legs.

Men!!!!!!!!!!

I have a teenager like that lol just handed her a set of thermals to put on .........to say she was not amused would be and understatement ....lol

sprogs

I have not read all the threads in this post, have a broken tumble dryer at the mo and have decided to try and manage without it!

What I do is use the upstairs stairwell - It's a bit hard to describe, but I use the banister on my upstairs landing to balance the bottom of the airer on and then the top rests on the opposite wall (which is the highest point of the stairwell) the type of airer I use is one that you would usually use in an upside v shape on the bath, but it can also be fixed 'open'.

I can easily get two airers on the landing banister which is fab for drying the washing as heat rises! Larger items such as bedding can be pegged accross the two airers.

Loads of people have commented on what a good idea it is and you can still get up and down the stairs without the washing brushing the top of your head! Much prettier than having it all downstairs too!

Primrose

sprogs - it's amazing how innovative we become to get our washing dry in wet weather! I'm currently having to wash everything by hand as our washing machine has given up the ghost. I do have a tumble drier, but it's coping with all wet laundry in the first stagem when it's still dripping wet and impossible to put in the tumbler drier which is pushing my creative inventiveness to the extremities at the moment! I just can't imagine how how our grandparents and great grandparents coped with large families and none of our modern appliances. As a child I still have memores of constant streams of wet laundry draped on the clothes horse in front of a coal fire throughout the winter, (the only heating in the house), blocking out all the heat and the steam filling the room. And I recall rather ashamedly now how I always used to grumble at my mum saying "Do we have to have all this horrible wet stuff in here??". Truly with age comes wisdom and understanding!

Magentasue

Primrose wrote: »

I just can't imagine how how our grandparents and great grandparents coped with large families and none of our modern appliances.

My nan had one of these:

Gigervamp

I've been looking at mangles on ebay. I'm seriously considering buying one, but they seem to go for quite a bit.