Preparing for winter II

jtz

Have avidly been catching up on some posts on this thread and am really motivated to have a 'warm' house this winter. It's freezing in the summer in our house so just imagine the winter! :eek:I have a gas heater in one of the rooms like this one. If left on low throughout the day or half the day, the room stays lovely and warm. I was told it has low running costs but not sure now.

I've bought some radiator reflector foil- a roll for £1.50 in a car boot sale;) and plan on puttting it behind the radiators of the 2 coldest rooms/most used rooms in the house. I bought draught excluders (the roll ones) for the window in the dining room last year and it came off within a couple of days. Any ideas why and any suggestions of which ones I should use?:think:

lutzi1- that fleece mattress cover looks fab,but sadly none near me. I shall be taking out my electric blanket very soon. It really warms you up as soon as you enter your bed. For now, though I am wearing fleecy socks when I sleep. If your feet are cold, your whole body is cold.
For thermals, I use thick leggings/tights underneath and long sleeve body tops. A big tip, I think I got from here last year is to tuck everything in, to prevent heat loss. So tuck your leggings in your socks,your vest/tops in your leggings/trousers. It really makes a big difference. In an unlikely chance I do find cheap thermals, I'll buy them. Anyone know where you can find cheap kids ones?
I shall also be getting my winter wardrobe out, predominantly of thick jumper dresses.

Lastly, but definitely not the least, I now have my first 'winter' cold!!:(_pale_:(
Have glugged down 4 cups of honey lemon water since yesterday morn, and hopefully making a slow recovery, in time for work tomorrow! If anyone has tried and tested home remedies of colds and flu, please please share.
Right, off to nap now to get better soon.:p

NualaBuala

top_drawer wrote: »

Hey Nuala!!

Thanks everyone for a really interesting day. I started reading this thread sometime this afternoon and have finally finished .......... I really enjoyed last years thread too and have found that I have already done a lot of the things and so they dont need doing again this year (so pleased with myself on that!). Last year I found the radiator reflectors to be HUGELY BENEFICAL and cheap too since I made them myself.

I have spent a futune on ebay buying bit towards preparing for winter.... I now have a RAC windup torch on its way, a pair of slipper boots, a snuggle fleece blanket and some dylon to dye my thermal sheets to match the rest of the bedding. I also have bids on a hand knitted hat and scarf set (I would love to be good at knitting but I am just not!), two hand knitted cardys and some walking boots .... Its going to be a cheap couple of week in terms of food lol.

I love battening down the hatches but hate being cold. I just cant cope with it. Tommorrow I will dig out all the things I put away in the airing cupboard and then next week I am going to sort out curtains and rugs as laminate is sooo cold.
Jen

Hi Jen :wave: sounds like you're well-sorted for winter! I hate being cold too. I'm already wrapped in fleeces and wearing fluffy socks!

I've still got plenty to do.

• stock up on more food (doing a little bit every time I go shopping)
• buy a wind-up torch
• get more candles (probably next week)
• get chimney swept (on Monday)
• get central heating fixed (have been chasing them for an eternity, fed up at this stage)
• make a draught excluder out of old PJ bottoms
• get a hot water bottle or make a wheat bag type thing for warming up the bed

anguk

jtz - Aldi have got kid's thermal sets on for £4.99 on Thursday. Adults £8.99 a set.

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_15755.htm
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_15761.htm

Justamum

happyin_devon wrote: »

when does everyone close their curtains for eve?

This is a very sore point in my house! I tend to spend my evenings in the kitchen (clearing up after dinner etc), but when I go into the lounge where everybody else is, the curtains are still wide open! :mad: Nobody else seems to notice or care or make the effort to close them!

crumblepie

compforus wrote: »

We are in rented and all the windows and doors have those pole and ring type curtain rails. This leaves huge gaps between the wall and the curtain on all sides. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop the drafts? Where the radiator is underneath the window the heat just goes up the gap. We sit the curtain on the window sill where possible but it is not always possible and also quite unsightly (though not of huge importance when cold).

Sorry forgot to add this to my earlier post. I rent too with similar set up of curtain pole and rails and radiator! I put up a roman blind, ( I'm sure I can fill in two screw holes when I leave) but put a fleece onto the blind. I sewed the fleece onto the blind around the edges and then added a couple of stitches through the fleece along the plastic bars that go across to attatch the it to the blind IYSWIM, so that when I pull it up it doesn't sag. I only pull the blind up half way up the window so it lets in the light but the fleece/blind still covers a bit of the window.


There is less of a gap between the window and the curtain and the curtains I've got which are thin don't look too bulky when they're pulled back.

valk_scot

Got sent some coupons for Sainsbury's this week...£10 off a £40 shop, so a good chance to stock up a little. (We have a new Tesco opening nearbye so I'm expecting a lot of encouraging coupons from Mr S!) I was scribbling down a little list which might be of interest. I won't get all of it from Mr S of course, just if I see it on offer there.

Salt for paths.
12 x 500mls UHT semi-skimmed milk.
Tub of dried milk
Tea bags (Currently 1/2 price at Mr S)
6 bags of sugar.
2x jar honey.
Bread flour and more yeast.
12 x tinned tomatoes.
12 x baked beans.
Stock cubes
Cat food and litter
4x corned beef.
Bottle oil.
Toilet rolls.
6 blocks of butter and 6x Stork for freezer.
3lbs cheese to grate down for freezer.
Big bag od pasta.
Big bag of rice.

I've got candles and a 3-way camping fridge, camp cooker, gas for both and indeed any other camping gear that I may feel the need for in January. One of the advantages of being a camper! The other one of course being that as I spend 2 months every summer living in a tent I know how to live without electricity. So I don't need anything for extra fuel or lighting. Most of the list above can be used next summer for camp food (not the cat food!) and replaced for next winter too.

I've got an allotment so the cold downstairs utility room will be full of stuff like spuds and onions soon.

Got two freezers, both of which run pretty well stocked. If the power goes, I'll eat the contents of the one with a door first. The chest freezer is good for at least 48 hours unopened.

The larder is always well stocked. The above list is just a bit extra "in case". Anything else I might have forgotten? I usually have enough food of some sort in the house to last us 3-4 weeks, with the addition of milk and eggs.

shegar

Justamum wrote: »

This is a very sore point in my house! I tend to spend my evenings in the kitchen (clearing up after dinner etc), but when I go into the lounge where everybody else is, the curtains are still wide open! :mad: Nobody else seems to notice or care or make the effort to close them!

I have very large bungalow windows , I have curtains with swags tied back , down to the ground and also vertical blinds , Ihave shut the blinds but have never used the curtains ,Ive got good double glazed units and no draughts, so I never bother....:rotfl:

SpaceMonkey

crumblepie wrote: »

Sorry forgot to add this to my earlier post. I rent too with similar set up of curtain pole and rails and radiator! I put up a roman blind, ( I'm sure I can fill in two screw holes when I leave) but put a fleece onto the blind. I sewed the fleece onto the blind around the edges and then added a couple of stitches through the fleece along the plastic bars that go across to attatch the it to the blind IYSWIM, so that when I pull it up it doesn't sag. I only pull the blind up half way up the window so it lets in the light but the fleece/blind still covers a bit of the window.


There is less of a gap between the window and the curtain and the curtains I've got which are thin don't look too bulky when they're pulled back.

I tuck the curtains behind the radiator

hmc

the electric blanket in lidl on monday,does anyone know if you put it under the sheet? sorry to be dense. lol
also i want some of the aldi thermals as our primark dosnt open until nr xmas. i will be struggling to get there on thursday, do they do what lidl do and put the stuff out the night before? thanks, loving all the tips

hmc

the foil behind radiators? is it normal cooking foil? how do you get it to stay there? the door curtain i have up at the back door, lined with the old too short door curtain ,has already made a difference to a badly fitting door, its too long but i dont mind. i just wont look how grubby the bottom is for a few months lol
now just need pole for front door