Preparing for winter II

welshcamper

fayhare wrote: »

I have a pair of rip off crocs wellies and they did really well in the snow/ice last winter. But please check the soles as my normal crocs have very worn treads and I go flying even if its a little bit wet.

i bought my daughter a pair of these in the summer for £2!..but i am having trouble finding a pair for myself thats quite cheap...any ideas?...thanks

Poosmate

Evening all, hope you don't mind me joining but I'm dreading the winter. My house is so cold my lounge is usually 13.5 degrees rising to 17.5 when the gas fire has been on for about an hour. The kitchen is 9.5 degrees and so is my bedroom. The bathroom goes to 5.5 degrees. Are these rediculously low temperatures? I'm at work all day but put the gas fire on when I get home and when it's really cold I'll leave it on all night.

Last year I bought a 1.0kW oil filled radiator but it didn't warm the kitchen so I have that one on the landing and bought a 1.5kW one for the kitchen. Heating the kitchen and the landing for a little while brings the whole house temperature up by a few degrees.

I don't sleep in my bed in winter - it's just too cold, so I sleep on the settee in the lounge.

I have double glazing but no central heating, just one gas fire.

I may get cavity wall insulation if I have enough money left after paying the gas and electric bills and my car insurance.

I'm also thinking of lining the loft (on the rafters) with bubblewrap, from ridge to as far as I can reach into the pointy bit at the edge, then I'll pin it down to the joists. There is already some insulation between the joists but I'm not sure it's enough and most of the loft is floorboarded now.

I've decided to pin bubblewrap on the joists of the garage too. I usually seal up the garage door (from the kitchen). There's a sheet hanging up on the garage side, fire door, then tape up the door edges and finally another sheet on the kitchen side - no-one goes in or out of that door!

It's still really cold so hopefully the bubblewrap will help this year.

Anyone got any thoughts on the bubblewrap idea? I've just checked on ebay and it's about £10 for 100m x 50cm so might need 2 or 3 rolls to do all that!

Thanks

Poo

gtx

bluebag wrote: »

I'm not very sure, but I read somewhere that it isn't illegal to have a spare can filled but it's not advisable. Something about the fuel degrading I think.

think i'll go back to my original stockpiling idea then - thanks

cloudberry45

Hi All, have just finished all 21 pages of this thread...has taken me ages! I am loving this thread. Now I know what I need to do to try and keep the costs of heating down this year. Problem is I read so much without writing anything down and now cant find the the posts again!

Where does everyone buy their fleeces from? I don t have an IKEA near me and its not worth the hour trip there I dont think.

I also want to have a go at making the sausage draught excluders for the doors downstairs.

I have never sewn anything in my life so guess now is the time to start! Can anyone reccommend a good sewing machine? I have seen that one advertised from JML but have seen a few bad reviews....I cant afford an expensive one but dont want a really cheap one if it doesnt do a good job.

I dont really need a car box as I only take 10 mins to travel to work and im in a town, but I do need to make one for hubbie as he travels up and down the country and sometimes abroad. I know he has a few bits but I want to make sure hes got everything.

Morrissons is a 15 min walk for me so no need to stock up really.

My last question would be about my conservatory. My conservatory is freezing in the winter, and as this room leads off of my kitchen with no door between it makes the kitchen so cold. I am thinking of putting up a curtain rail to help but we do have a kind of 'minimalist' look about our house and am concerned it wont look quite right. But I would rather be warm than worry how it looks We do have blinds in the conservatory but its through the glass in the roof that we loose the most heat.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help

mineallmine

pink_numbers wrote: »

please come and join us on the 'Free Your Freezer Challenge' thread, I'm hoping the more people we have, the quicker the freezers will defrost

Right will take a look for that, thanks pink_numbers.

cloudberry - do you have a ceiling fan in your conservatory - as I remember reading that if you switch it to the opposite setting it forces heat downwards (help anyone!). What flooring do you have in there - could you try and pick up a cheapie rug from Argos or somewhere?

nickydee5

Hi everyone, I've just found this thread and am trying to keep up to date with Part 2 and gradually working my way through Part 1, thanks for all the great tips and ideas (A4 list of things to sort out or buy already)
Just thought I'd add my bit to the thoughts for the car supplies, last year I kept a pack of biscuits, mini first aid kit in a plastic zip bag, spare sachets of ketchup etc in the glove box (that wasn't my winter planning lol, just things in there left over from days out in the summer) and when it started to get colder I went into the glovebox to get something out and found everything chewed into pieces. Lots of the biscuits were half eaten, I had bits of dried tomato sauce all over the place and the plastic from the first aid kit had been totally shredded....a mouse had somehow found its way into the car through the back of the glovebox from the engine/dashboard and decided it was warmer in there (and meals on wheels!). So I'd definitely recommend a box with a lid for any food, or even any chewable things....it was a bit of a job getting rid of it!

northwest1965

hmc wrote: »

im not having much luck getting heavy lined door curtains. never seem to be any in the charity shops. at the back door i have an unlined curtain which is about 15" from the floor. if i were to pin(safety pin?) a fleece to it i think i would need 2 for it to be long enough. am i beint thick or is this the only way to do it.thanks

I too cant seem to find one. Who sells them? I did look at the Dunelm Mill site but the search returned nothing

Fruball

nickydee5 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I've just found this thread and am trying to keep up to date with Part 2 and gradually working my way through Part 1, thanks for all the great tips and ideas (A4 list of things to sort out or buy already)
Just thought I'd add my bit to the thoughts for the car supplies, last year I kept a pack of biscuits, mini first aid kit in a plastic zip bag, spare sachets of ketchup etc in the glove box (that wasn't my winter planning lol, just things in there left over from days out in the summer) and when it started to get colder I went into the glovebox to get something out and found everything chewed into pieces. Lots of the biscuits were half eaten, I had bits of dried tomato sauce all over the place and the plastic from the first aid kit had been totally shredded....a mouse had somehow found its way into the car through the back of the glovebox from the engine/dashboard and decided it was warmer in there (and meals on wheels!). So I'd definitely recommend a box with a lid for any food, or even any chewable things....it was a bit of a job getting rid of it!

That made me smile :rotfl: Will make sure I get one with a lid!!!

csarina

northwest1965 wrote: »

I too cant seem to find one. Who sells them? I did look at the Dunelm Mill site but the search returned nothing

I got Dunelm to make me a door curtain last year, it was velvet thermal lined and cost me £68. we had a glass door and window in the hall with a tiled floor which made it very cold even with the radiator on.......I cannot stand the feel of velvet on my hands makes me feel sick, so I had to draw it using the lining!! LOL I still have it, need to try and find someone local who can alter it for me, we have two doors in this haouse that could do with a curtain on.

I did order mine on line, try putting in i curtain the width and length you want and see what happens, otherwise you might have to go to the shop and order it, you could telephone I supppose but going in would be better, you could be sure you are getting what you want then.

cloudberry45

[/QUOTE]
cloudberry - do you have a ceiling fan in your conservatory - as I remember reading that if you switch it to the opposite setting it forces heat downwards (help anyone!). What flooring do you have in there - could you try and pick up a cheapie rug from Argos or somewhere?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that I forgot I had read that about 16 pages ago! although my ceiling fan only has 3 settings - slow medium and fast!

I do have a rug out there too as we have tiles and would be even colder without it. I imagine you could possibly get blinds for the windows on the roof but I bet they would cost a fortune to be made.

I will try out putting the curtain out there this year and hopefully that will help. Im considering making my own as anything im looking at is seeiming so expensive!
:D:D