Preparing for winter II

anguk

broodylass wrote: »

Heating question again...(answered previous one myself by looking elsewhere on MSE and found that timer is better than constant) what times does everyone here have theirs set to? My DH thinks the heating shouldn't come on at all during the night because we're all tucked up in bed.

I never have the heating on during the night, we just get all toasty under the quilts. I do have it timed to come on about 6am for an hour or so to get the house warm for us getting up.

I have it timed to be on again at 3pm for a couple of hours for DD coming in from 6th form, other than that I just switch it on and off manually depending on how cold it is. If there's just me in the house I don't have it on as much, I'd rather save the gas for when we're all in.

cat_smith

esio_trot wrote: »

Been lurking around and enjoying your posts and ideas. Question of my own now! Has anyone used interlining on their curtains? Is it worth the fiver or so per curtain? I'm ok using other curtains/fleece on most of the windows but the living room has 2 massive windows and fleece doesn't fit particularly well or look right from the outside on them.

Yes its worth it. Just a pain to make the curtains. It helps a lot with keeping the heat in.

lrb_2

Rainy-Days wrote: »

I too have a three beautiful orchids that I have been able to bring on for a second year, my home thankfully though is warm enough so I don't have to worry. Orchids like the same warm and moist conditions as us humans and that is another reason why they do so well in a home environment. The main thing is that they do not get frost on them - for any houseplant this is a killer. If you can leave it in your bedroom where it is the warmest that would be the safest and best place to keep it. Orchids do well in an east facing position with moderate morning sunlight. I have mine on my window sill in the bedroom and it is happy there!

Many Thanks!! I'll try that.
Lx

VJsmum

Just bought two fleeces from wilko. They are not too bad a size - certainly not bad for huddling under while watching TV - am going to see what i can do with regards to the 2 linings i want and may get some more, although there weren't many left.

So there i was in home bargains in their fleece sections - one had come out of it's packaging (honest) so i was in the middle of the shop trying to stuff it into a cushion cover. And, like cinderella's glass slipper, it fits . So that's the plan, a few fleeces and empty cushion covers et voila - somewhere to store the fleeces. Two birds and all that!

Poundland still has lots of camping stuff - whoever said about that. I saw foil emergency blankets - i bought 4 double packs, 2 for the car and 2 for our rucksacks for walking, there were thermal socks, torches, emergency shelters, oh all sorts.

toottifrootti

oh you are lucky VJsmum - I went to our poundland on thursday for the foil blankets to use behind the radiators but they had very little camping stuff left.

rising_from_the_ashes

VJsmum wrote: »

Poundland still has lots of camping stuff - whoever said about that. I saw foil emergency blankets - i bought 4 double packs, 2 for the car and 2 for our rucksacks for walking, there were thermal socks, torches, emergency shelters, oh all sorts.

This is where I get frustrated living in a rural area - nearest £land and Wilkos are around 40 miles away:eek: (in different directions!).

I love living in the country but it would sometimes be nice to have a better selection of shops (and cheaper ones) to hand!:)

Rainy-Days

I have got the horses rugs delivered today to a specialist horse rug wash place. They will be ready to collect by the middle of next week, then that is another job that is crossed off the list for the horses. They are completely sorted now, so there is nothing left to be dealt with. Just a re-tidy of the tack and feed room but that is about it for them.

Tomorrow I shall go into town and pick up some of the things from the winter shopping list and get as much of that out of the way. When I was driving home the farmers were out in the fields bringing the potato harvest in so I think it won't be long before they will be putting the notices out for the sacks of potatoes for sale!

Just a note on the heating question. I am like the rest who have responded, ours comes on around 5am and goes off at 8.00am, it then comes on again at 4.00pm and goes off at 9.30pm. Yes we do use our thermostats on the radiators as well. When it was at the peak of the worst winter last year, we did not switch the heating off at all, we turned it down to 17 degrees and then when we got up in the morning we put it back up to 20 degrees. I checked every Sunday morning on a meter reading and we were only using an extra 2 units of gas per week having it on constant! Bearing in mind how bitterly cold it was I think that was pretty good.

Confuzzled

hello all,

well i finally managed to get my rugs all washed an on the line, it keeps threatening to rain but i tried to do this last week and it promptly started pouring so i HAD to take advantage now while its def NOT raining (plus once they're on the line to dry they can just stay out there til they are dry rather than stinking up the house!) didn't expect to be fighting to line dry clothes this early in the year :eek:

i've been doing some searching online for a better winter hat and found this one i thought some of you might like http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004A5AH4A/ref=oss_product i got the black/black one and paid nothing as i have £30 amazon voucher from maximile surveys :T i think the total charge with postage was just under £9 i think i'll be happy with it as i dislike a proper scarf around my neck, just enough to tuck inside the top of my coat so this should do the trick. also my coat has a hood but it's so big it always falls off but if i wear a hat underneath the friction of the hat and the hood rubbing against each other seems to be enough to keep it in place... this will be a more fashionable fix to either wearing my himalayan sherpa style hat (not keen on but they were cheap and my ears were cold!) or wrapping a scarf over the top of the hood to tie it on :rotfl:

i have had a very big disappointment... our two wild cherry trees are devoid of cherries! i found one single cherry, not yet ripe... our weather was very cold this spring so i guess they just never even set flower properly. i did check the ground and trees thoroughly to see if i'd just been too late but there is no sign of ANY cherries other than that lonely little one i spotted so i just think they didn't happen this year. last year they were so heavily laden we went back 3 times and there were still many left for birds and others so i'm very very disappointed

however, my daughter showed me some more areas the kids play and we have tons more rosehips than i thought so i will be collecting as many as possible as they ripen. i have found that not only are rosehips nice with apple puree they are also a very interesting tomato substitute. i have made spag bog sauce with them in the paste, you need to add more spice as it's not as tangy as tomatoes but it's also not as acidic so that's good for me as some tomato based products make my stomach a bit off.

they make for a lovely frangranced slightly sweet tomato-esque base. and of course they are lovely mixed with berries, apples even banana. i'll probably make some fruit leathers with the free apples and rosehips. also our neighbours apple tree is heaving. he used to share with the neighbour downstairs but he has gone into a nursing home so i'm hoping he might share some with us this year as i'm always loaning him things...keep your fingers crossed for me! the other 'wild' or rather abandoned apple tree produces very small, mottled apples but they taste very nice and are great for cooking so i'll have some free ones one way or another.

squeaky

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

When the weather was really bad last winter, I did change the timings and have it come on for an hour during the night to stop the house getting too cold (worried about my pipes!). However, it was at a lower temp than if I was up and about (I think it was 14 deg).

I had mine set to 17° for daytime, and it didn't come on very often because the house is fully double glazed, insulated and draught-proofed. If I felt cold I'd either put an extra layer on, or, better still, get up and do something active. ( I guess I ought to point out that I'm home all day - and that one way or another I spend a fair bit of time in front of the computer)

Night time I'd turn it down to 10°. That way it only came on enough to "take the edge off" but ensured that nowhere got cold enough in a hidden corner to freeze a pipe.

And my bills are low, honest

suki1964

broodylass wrote: »

Heating question again...(answered previous one myself by looking elsewhere on MSE and found that timer is better than constant) what times does everyone here have theirs set to? My DH thinks the heating shouldn't come on at all during the night because we're all tucked up in bed.

During the very cold weather, after the boiler froze we set the boiler to come on twice a night for 15 mins a time.

Yes we were nice and toasty indoors with fleeces etc but the boiler being an oil boiler is in the garage and that prolonged spell of minus temps meant many people with frozen oil tanks and frozen boilers. Setting it to come on in the night for a few mins was cheaper then having a monitor fitted which would have had the boiler running most of the night as it was that cold