Preparing for winter II

shegar

mystra wrote: »

oooh this chilliness has really kicked in at our flat!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We don't have central heating, just those stupid electric ones - they're fine in the bedroom but our problem is our living room

We live in a rented flat, the living room is upstairs (the only room up there) and it is huge with a high ceiling, 2 windows at normal level (one facing the front, the other faces the back) and they are so draughty! They're double glazed but we have to block up the little gaps with parcel tape . Then we have 6 massive windows in the 'roof' (sorry i'm explaining this hopelessly!) we can't reach them and they are very draughty (you can see the blinds moving!). We have one heater thing in there and it does nothing as the room is so big and would take forever to heat up (but it doesn't because of the draughts!) and there isn't a door for the room either you just go from the hallway, up the stairs and there's the living room!

The short of it is....we're bloody freezing! Even with layers on and lovely snuggly blankets and hot water bottles, our faces are ice cold!

Does anyone have any ideas or tips? We're forever asking the letting agents to look at the windows and they keep saying they've been and nothings ever any different either

Yea my advise move as quick as possible........I hate a cold house, its so uncomfortable, I feel for you....

mystra

shegar wrote: »

Yea my advise move as quick as possible........I hate a cold house, its so uncomfortable, I feel for you....

that's the thing, i HATE moving house, as a kid my parents were obsessed with 'doing up houses' back when there was a boom, then they lost all their money on a house and basically we moved about 25 times in 20 years... i really love our flat apart from this one problem and don't want to move (flat hunting in London was a nightmare and we really found this flat by chance and got a good deal and doubt we could find something as good again)

I wouldn't mind paying a hefty heating bill if it made any difference lol :rotfl: i could easily cut down on other things!

mystra

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Sorry I can't offer any practical advice Mystra except keep nagging those landlords! I've read on here of people hanging quilts etc on the walls, would that help? Maybe dividing spaces up so you can warm one area? My sister moves into her kitchen in the winter (low ceiling) as she has a mezzanine floor, (lovely in summer, but draughty in winter) and hangs long curtains wherever she can, puts big rugs out, fur-type throws on her chilly leather suite. She lives in a Mediterranean country by the way but those tiles etc can be very cold in winter.
Welcome Alice-Mary I know that I've found this thread so helpful too. I suffer from 'coldtoiletseat' too and have taken to lighting a night light in a lantern if it's a really frosty night! Might help prevent frozen pipes...:)

If the ceilings weren't so high i would be able to divide up the room, but it's like a church roof our living room ceiling, if that makes sense, the annoying thing was it was like a greenhouse in the summer, a real heat trap, lol if only it kept that heat and saved it for the winter!

We've got furry covers and blankets on our sofas as they are the fake leather ones (a good thing as i am hopelessly clumsy and would end up spilling something and ruining a fabric sofa!) but they aren't very cosy with out those blankets!

I'm thinking might be a good idea to buy an additonal heater for the livingroom, that we can at least have nearer to us rather than in the corner that the built in one is, but i have no clue what to buy!!

Going to be like a little old lady tonight, going to properly inspect every window with a candle to find all the draughts and nag the letting agents til their ears drop off! It bugs me that there aren't more rules for letting agents/landlords about this sort of thing i thought we're all supposed to be saving energy!!

adelight

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

NuaBualala there is an oil heater for half price2kw til 23 nov 415/2277 £27.49 or convector one is on offer til 7 dec 415/2198 £17.99 with timer and thermostat thats cheaper than the basic one hope that helps

Where from? The one with the timer and thermostat sounds right up my street :j

Mystra is there a door into the hall way? Or any sort of door way(with or without door) to that room that you could stick a chin up bar in to hang some very thick curtains off? If not you could get a big sheet of something to cover over the top of the stairs like a trap door to stop the draught getting downstairs. Something light that you can just push out the way and drag back over the hole as you go back downstairs.
Is there any way you can climb on a sofa or something to cover up those windows? Even masking tape bin bags over the windows behind the blinds.
Your living room sounds a lot like my bedroom and I just avoid using it! When I have to I snuggle up and warm my hands up on a hot cup of tea every now and again. Ideally i'd take your tv downstairs and abondon it, seal it off with a trap door and use the room as a fridge! With that much light getting in there you could use it to grow lots of winter spinach and lettuce

mystra

adelight wrote: »

Where from? The one with the timer and thermostat sounds right up my street :j

Mystra is there a door into the hall way? Or any sort of door way(with or without door) to that room that you could stick a chin up bar in to hang some very thick curtains off? If not you could get a big sheet of something to cover over the top of the stairs like a trap door to stop the draught getting downstairs. Something light that you can just push out the way and drag back over the hole as you go back downstairs.
Is there any way you can climb on a sofa or something to cover up those windows? Even masking tape bin bags over the windows behind the blinds.
Your living room sounds a lot like my bedroom and I just avoid using it! When I have to I snuggle up and warm my hands up on a hot cup of tea every now and again. Ideally i'd take your tv downstairs and abondon it, seal it off with a trap door and use the room as a fridge! With that much light getting in there you could use it to grow lots of winter spinach and lettuce

There is a doorway, so that's a good idea putting a curtain type thing up there to block the draught coming from downstairs thanks!! the top of the stairs wouldn't work as the ceiling is too high but there is a proper doorway (but no door lol) that we could hang a big thick curtain type thing off of.

haha we could turn the room into a garden, something we don't have! My boyfriend loves spinach so we'll cut down on the spinach bill and have a plantation in the livingroom hehehe!

The top windows really are a full on ladder job, they have a special pole for opening them they are so high up, climbing on the sofa wouldn't even get us half way

My boyfriend says i'm turning into a hermit...as soon as i get in from work i retreat to the bedroom where its warmest and wrap up in the duvet... but i feel so anti social! The TV can sod off upstairs and stay there for all i care lol there's never anything on - if it was up to me i wouldn't be paying for a TV license and just use it to watch DVDs and play games, but my boyfriend likes to watch it (even tho he spends all his time flicking thru the channels saying there's nothing on....:mad: )

diddly74

mystra wrote: »

We live in a rented flat, the living room is upstairs (the only room up there) and it is huge with a high ceiling, 2 windows at normal level (one facing the front, the other faces the back) and they are so draughty! They're double glazed but we have to block up the little gaps with parcel tape . Then we have 6 massive windows in the 'roof' (sorry i'm explaining this hopelessly!) we can't reach them and they are very draughty (you can see the blinds moving!). We have one heater thing in there and it does nothing as the room is so big and would take forever to heat up (but it doesn't because of the draughts!) and there isn't a door for the room either you just go from the hallway, up the stairs and there's the living room!

The short of it is....we're bloody freezing! Even with layers on and lovely snuggly blankets and hot water bottles, our faces are ice cold!

Does anyone have any ideas or tips? We're forever asking the letting agents to look at the windows and they keep saying they've been and nothings ever any different either

I know this may be hard but could you not hire a long ladder and together get up to the rooflights? Then you could find the drafts and maybe seal with skylights with tape/that clingfilm type of double glazing?? You don't say how high the ceilings are, but from my imagination I would recon you would need scaffold type of tower/ladder. But would the expense of hiring it equal out the amount of heating saved and comfort given.

Other than that, and this may sound stupid, the only other thing I could envisage is constructing yourself a tent. Erecting something that has its own ceiling and maybe sides to cut down drafts and loss of heat to the roof. Do you use all of you "large" room?

redlady_1

Well, that's the wood shed full to overflowing, the coal bags are stacked and ready to go. I still havent put the little heaters on upstairs yet so am pretty chuffed about that. The curtains which mum made are proving invaluable too. I managed to keep the fire in last night with logs and it was lovely when I got up this morning.

I managed to blag a new coat for Ernie (my car!!!) after it was so badly frozen yesterday I couldnt actually get in it!!! So, last night he had his new cover and today, no problem, plus the windows were all clear. It is a total pain putting it on in the dark but 10 mins wrestling with the flipping thing will be worth it with the frost.

mystra

diddly74 wrote: »

I know this may be hard but could you not hire a long ladder and together get up to the rooflights? Then you could find the drafts and maybe seal with skylights with tape/that clingfilm type of double glazing?? You don't say how high the ceilings are, but from my imagination I would recon you would need scaffold type of tower/ladder. But would the expense of hiring it equal out the amount of heating saved and comfort given.

Other than that, and this may sound stupid, the only other thing I could envisage is constructing yourself a tent. Erecting something that has its own ceiling and maybe sides to cut down drafts and loss of heat to the roof. Do you use all of you "large" room?

yeah looks like it will be a ladder job then.. the tent idea wouldn't work as we do use the whole room (i have an office at one end and my boyfriend has an office at the other end and we do use them as much as we do sitting on the sofa etc). If it's going to be a ladder job i wont pay for it, if the draughts are so bad the letting agents can pull their fingers out and see to it, i'm not risking breaking my neck lol

Fruball

I couldn't put rubbish in my wheelie bin this morning as the lid was frozen down :eek:

I am terrified for my outdoor pipes this year... Its gonna be a shocker of a winter... I am sure of it

mystra

Frugal wrote: »

Its gonna be a shocker of a winter... I am sure of it

i was thinking the same, but then i swear i think that EVERY winter!! :rotfl: