Preparing for winter II

suki1964

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

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!:)

Same here - its a 90 mile round trip to get to either Belfast or Derry and we dont even have wilkos

alice-mary

Have just had a call back from a local roofer who is going to re-cover my bathroom flat roof that is now split after the frozen snow lay on it for about a month last year... hopefully it will be fixed some time during the next month and that will be a major thing crossed off my "to-do" list!

In answer to the questions about heating, I live by myself and have an open fire as well as gas radiators so what I did last year was.....

Keep the thermostat on but constantly low at 12 degrees, (so that the pipes didn't freeze) and have the fire going when I was at home. As I work full time, there is no point in heating an empty house, and if I'm at home I'm downstairs all day as bathroom is on ground floor, so the fire was all I needed. If I was in the kitchen, I was cooking so warm enough, if I was in the bathroom I was bathing or showering so water was warm and if I was in the lounge, the fire kept me snug, with HWB and fleecy blankets to snuggle up in as extras. Once I went up to bed, no need for extra heat as I was in bed, apart from the HWB mentioned earlier.

I realise this was only possible as I live by myself and when I had visitors, I did turn the rads up, but ended up removing a layer or 2 of clothing as it got too warm for me! (I think I was an eskimo in a previous life as I can't cope with hot sunny days).

I guess what I'm saying is that there are loads of guidelines for healthy temps etc but the best thing for you and yours is to try different things and stick with whatever feels right for you! Don't get cold and don't get ill, in the hope of shaving a few pennies or pounds off your bills, it's not worth it!

Alice
xx

smileyt_2

Hi all

I was in Poundstretcher today and noticed that in their clearance section they had winter kits consisting of a snow shovel, a fleece glove and an ice scraper for the car windows. Cost around a fiver. So it might be worth checking out your local poundstretcher shop to see if they have a clearance section too.

Kitchenbunny

Got a few winter checks done today. My winter coat (makes me sound like a sheep or something!) doesn't need a clean, and there are only a couple of places with loose threads that need tidying up. Blankets are washed and, as much as I hate to admit it, are looking a little worn in places. If they were matching colours I'd do a chequered pattern with different squares of each and make one big one but as it is I'll get another couple. The two smaller ones we use when camping so get more use than normal!

Freezerwise I've put aside another tub of chopped mixed peppers and one of green beans ready for use another day. I do need to put aside more frozen and/or tinned veggies and fruits to help with winter stores, and I'm going to get another couple of bags of pasta. I now have a cupboard free to act as my winter pantry and I'll start to use it to put a few things away for Christmas, food-wise. It's a nice thought to feel that if I couldn't get to the shops we'd still have a decent Christmas dinner!

I'm experimenting with those sachets of condensed soup that you just add hot water to. I'm also wondering about a travel kettle with the correct connections for car use and keeping a bottle of water in the car!
KB xx

Rainy-Days

By my reconning we all have about ten weeks or so to comfortably prepare for inside things such as storing food. I know Morrisons for a fact do all their special offers on winter food starting in September and they always had the Bounce sheets on BOGOF as well which I used to take advantage of.

Although ten weeks doesn't sound allot, that is not bad going really considering most of us are well on our way now of at least putting in some preparation - so I wouldn't panic just yet. The final and biggest of our jobs (painting the gable ends) will be done next month, then that leaves us with really manageable odd and bobs. I am off work for three weeks in total on holiday leave (OH is off for five lucky devil) but we are going away for two weeks on an actual' holiday so the third week I have marked down for finishing those loose ends at home. I am going to take the beau/quilted duvet into the launderette next week and get her to wash it in the massive machine (which they have round the back) on Thursday and then I will pick it up on the way home from work and get it dry at home.

Those Wilkinsons fleeces wouldn't be a bad thing to have in the car you know especially if you have got children. We are okay for stuff such as that but I am going to make a point of having a good nose around Trago Mills when we are in Cornwall. I was over the field not so long ago with the dogs and bumped into one of the far distant neighbours who we know quite well, anyway I said we had ordered a snow shovel and he was laughing, but he took the point and said you know what I really loved last winter it was great - the fact that we couldn't go anywhere and the village was blocked for two days was bliss. Anyway I have sent him off to check out some websites which he is going to have a look at and what cheered me was the fact that he said he is going to prepare his Land Rover Defender now rather than wait for the end of October. Another convert maybe

the_cake

Apologies if they have already been mentioned (I have read most of the thread, but not all of it!) - Bedsocks! I had never worn them until last winter, but was given a pair and found them made a huge difference to feeling cosy in bed. We have not had any heating at all for the last two winters except for the much loved wood burning stove in the sitting room, so the rest of the house was rather ... bracing! If I ever make my fortune, I will buy some cashmere ones, but in the meantime, whatever my current ones are made of (probably acrylic) does the job well.

Fruball

Re Heating - I have my heating on 24/7 in the winter, but its on very low at night, and I turn it up a bit if I need to during the day or evening... That keeps the chill off and stops the house getting too cold - I find if you leave it off for any amount of time, the bones of the ouse get chilly and it takes too long to warm up.

Like a couple of others have said, it doesn't result in huge bills - in fact my bills are less than any of my friends who have theirs set to come on a couple of times a day.

I am hoping that I will be able to keep the thermostat slightly lower this year as, if all goes according to plan, I will have a cosy open fire to snuggle in front of

Justamum

Frugal wrote: »

Re Heating - I have my heating on 24/7 in the winter, but its on very low at night, and I turn it up a bit if I need to during the day or evening... That keeps the chill off and stops the house getting too cold - I find if you leave it off for any amount of time, the bones of the ouse get chilly and it takes too long to warm up.

Like a couple of others have said, it doesn't result in huge bills - in fact my bills are less than any of my friends who have theirs set to come on a couple of times a day.

I am hoping that I will be able to keep the thermostat slightly lower this year as, if all goes according to plan, I will have a cosy open fire to snuggle in front of

That's what we do. If the heating isn't on all the time it's uncomfortably cold in the house due to the many draughts - cold enough that you hands won't work properly. We don't have a thermostat though so I just have the dial on the boiler as low as is feasible.

We've got lots of wood which we can use up so we can have cosy fires too!

Confuzzled

i saw a post on the grabbit board about chemist direct and had a look myself. i found a few things good for winter prep so i thought i'd share them here. be sure to go via topcashback and get some cashback (not sure if they're on quidco or not)

Fleece covered hot water bottle with moggy 99p!

Night Nurse Cough Medicine 99P

Duracell Plus D Batteries 2 pk 99p

WD40 99P

the reason i added the wd40 is that last year my front door lock became increasingly difficult to open in the cold weather. a few sprays with wd40 and it's been fine since so as part of my winter prep i will be spraying it again before the real cold sets in, just to be safe!

postage is £3.49 if you spend less than £40 and there are tons of light bulbs of all sorts including a 15 watt energy saver, light fixtures and even some small appliances in the sale. hope this helps some of you

rising_from_the_ashes

WD40 is on my list - just about finished my bottle tonight.... finally remembered to spray the springs/wire on the garage door!

Have also added 3 of those gorgeous hot water bottles as want a couple more (mine usually end up in cat beds when it gets really cold - boy am I a soft touch!)