Preparing for winter II

angelaloveschocolate

Can I ask advice please, I've just bought an electric underblanket from Mr T's, http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.211-1330.aspx , do you think I could use this as a heated throw on the sofa as well? I cant think of any obvious reason why I should'nt but my oh thinks its a crazy idea. What do you think?

Gigervamp

Rainy-Days wrote: »

I know, thats why we are determined to get the couple of odd jobs that need to be done outside completed by next weekend. If it is prolonged and heavy for weeks then I just don't think that employers are going to be flexible, a week maybe, but when it stretched into further time last year I could see the bosses in our place making comments such as "we made it in why can't they"!

The problem hubby had last year was that although we only live about 4 miles from his work, we're up country lanes, up a hill, which never see a gritter lorry and he just couldn't get out of the drive. On top of that, the buses and trains down in the village a mile away had stopped.
But there were other people in his office, who live 30 or 40 miles away, but they travel on the motorway which was fairly clear and they were able to get in, so it looked bad that hubby wasn't able to.

darkrev

candie_gill wrote: »

Hi everyone, not posted for a while but been following you all

Some may remember i bought an electric blanket a while ago, well unfortunately its supposed to be a double but it doesn't sit under the sheet big enough so the wire is uncomfortable running onto the mattress. On the instructions it says it can be used as a heated over blanket too, so if i cut the strings off it would it be ok to use on my sofa etc when its cold? TIA

Hi i'm not a professional in this field, so I can only offer an opinion, I would be reluctant to take the blanket to the sofa,
firstly, the stuffing in the sofa would be less heat resistant than a mattress ( foam or stuffing) and would have a lower ignition point,

secondly the foam can give of toxic gasses when heated ( arsenic). I do not know how much warmth it would take for this to occur.

Thirdly, with a bed the weight distribution would be reasonably even as to the pressure exerted on the wiring . But with a sofa it does not have the same support ( think of when you fluff up the cushions on the base) so the chance of causing breakage on a wire would be higher.

Lastly, if something was to go wrong and you had to claim your insurance, I'm guessing it would be void because the product was not designed for that purpose.

I'm sorry to be a killjoy and there will be many people who know much more about this than I do. I would go for a duvet and hot water bottles instead. Hope you still manage to stay snug this winter, we are all trying ;-)
What I do remember is that some fire services will do a fire check and if they find faulty things, they will replace them for you. perhaps that is a way to get a single one for free ? hope that helps

sparrer

Is it just me or are others embarrassed to let people know they buy cheap loo roll? Daft beggar that I am I keep a few rolls of the more expensive one and put that out when I'm expecting visitors :rotfl:

angelaloveschocolate

Thanks Darkrev, your answer applies to me also and you make a very reasoned argument. Thanks for your reply:)

Pips_Mum

sparrer wrote: »

Is it just me or are others embarrassed to let people know they buy cheap loo roll? Daft beggar that I am I keep a few rolls of the more expensive one and put that out when I'm expecting visitors :rotfl:

I do this too!! When I have friends round I put a posh Andrex roll on and then when they have gone I take it off again! :rotfl::rotfl:

Ida_Notion

Maybe I'm just thoughtless and unfeeling to visitors, who could well be whispering behind my back to each other about the dismal quality of toilet roll on offer here (I doubt it though), but it's never occurred to me to upgrade for anyone. The way I see it, the worst that anyone who judges me negatively because there's Smart Price toilet roll in the bathroom can do is decide they don't want to know me any more, and that's the kind of person I wouldn't miss anyway.

squeaky

On my way to the village shop yesterday I spotted a car in a driveway for sale...

£860 later I find myself the proud owner of a fully comp insured car with a years MOT and 6 months tax!

I've never spent that much on a pint of milk before

Anyway - more to the point, I can't remember which post in the thread held a fairly definitive list of preps relating to a car...

Anybody?

Tthere's an older post from the earlier thread, but I'm sure there was more in this one? I'll modify the first post to point to it when found.

rising_from_the_ashes

squeaky wrote: »

On my way to the village shop yesterday I spotted a car in a driveway for sale...

£860 later I find myself the proud owner of a fully comp insured car with a years MOT and 6 months tax!

I've never spent that much on a pint of milk before

Anyway - more to the point, I can't remember which post in the thread held a fairly definitive list of preps relating to a car...

Anybody?

Tthere's an older post from the earlier thread, but I'm sure there was more in this one? I'll modify the first post to point to it when found.

Congratulations!:D A very expensive pint but a bargain too IYSWIM!;)

Re car kits, a couple of posts recently that spring to mind on page 351:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2714253

Rummer wrote: »

What items should I have in my car? Last year a few people were snowed in at my work and I was thinking the following would be useful to have ready either to get my car out or to make sure I am prepared to walk home :eek:. If you can think of other things or good suppliers please let me know:

• First aid kit - already in the car
• Folding snow shovel
• Spare hat, scarf and gloves
• Waterproof trousers
  
• Water
• Drink
• Snack bar
• Change for bus
• Scraper
• Blanket - foil/woolen or both?

I always have with me a fully charged mobile phone and in the winter I wear snow boots (proper not fashionable :rotfl:) and a waterproof ski jacket.

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Pretty good list & depending on where you live it could be fine left at that .... My winter car kit is everything on your list, plus:

De-icer
Concentrated screen wash & funnel
Pump for tyres
Wellies & thick socks
Sleeping bag & several blankets
Carpet squares (use as mats but handy to put under wheels if you get stuck)
Torch & batteries
Couple of old mags
Box of tissues (& now a loo roll;))
Antibacterial hand wipes
Rope
Emergency whistle
Size larger than I need - thin waterproof jacket & trousers (easy to put on over whatever you've got on, even if you look like the michelin man!)
Walking stick (can be very hard going in deep snow/ice)
Huge bag of sand

Some of these may seem excessive but I mainly travel on very rural (often single track) roads so if I did get stuck, I'd likely be stuck for a while - not always able to get a mobile signal to get help either:(.

If I have to do a journey and it's really bad, I also take:

flask with hot drink
Camping stove & gas
Pan with lid
snacks/food for 24 hours (packets of pasta-n-sauce, flavoured rice etc as easily cooked on stove as well as biccies etc)
lots of bottled water
extra jumpers, change of trousers & socks etc
Spare pair of boots

If the dog's with me, I take some of his meal as well as making sure his water bottle's full (lives in car as does a bowl).

HTH

My list started off from the one on the old thread and just kind of grew:o HTH

squeaky

Thanks for those

I'll point to your post since it has two lists in it