Preparing for winter II

rising_from_the_ashes

Well, I've finally got around to making some hot water bottle covers....

I got two out of an old hand towel - basically cut it in half, stitched up both sides and have a sort of pillowcase cover that they slip into.:D

Not as easy as I thought mainly as the towel (double thickness) was a bit thick for my sewing machine and the thread broke a few times, but I got there in the end:D.

Need a rest before I make the other two I need!!!

However, two bottles now filled, in their covers and keeping my feet warm as a bit nippy here again today.

CH27

pinkmami wrote: »

Just looked at my central heating timer & it says 17 degrees now & I have the kitchen window open! Its cold outside but I'm luck as this house really is toasty (terraced). Once the lobscouse is ready I'll shut it to keep the warmth in!

I usually have the CH on for 20 degrees in the winter. Never more.

lobscouse! Yummy:D

goerdievik

LadyDee wrote: »

Looking on the Energy Saving Trust website they say this:

"No! If you want your house to be readily heated up when you wake up in the morning or come in from an outing you should use the timer/programmer to switch the heating on a suitable length of time before hand. You can time how quickly your home heats up and cools down by switching the boiler on and measuring the time taken to reach a comfortable temperature. If this is for example 30 minutes then set the programmer to switch the heating on 30 minutes in advance of times when you know you will be waking up or arriving home. Leaving the heating on for any longer than this when you are out the house even on a low setting means that the boiler will be working continuously when the heating is not needed and all the energy it produces will be wasted".

I'd have to disagree with the EST on this one, and completely back-up Confuzzled - we have a stone house with walls 18" thick, and for the last couple of years we have had the heating on at a constant 18c from October to February. The temperature of the house has been much more comfortable - when using the timer we found it never felt warm, and were always bumping the thermostat up to 25c in a desperate attempt to warm up.

We won't go back to using the timer over winter unless we move to an insulated property. Maybe the EST are advising based on houses with cavity walls etc.?

V

ajs88

I've got a bit of a to do list.... drain radiators, put reflective foil stuff behind each one, mend or replace OH slippers, find jumpers in charity shops, make draft excluding curtain for front door and sew two blankets up. I've got two very pretty duvet covers that are no longer the right size for our duvet so I'm going to put wadding in them and sew a like patchwork quilts.

ajs88

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Well, I've finally got around to making some hot water bottle covers....

I got two out of an old hand towel - basically cut it in half, stitched up both sides and have a sort of pillowcase cover that they slip into.:D

Not as easy as I thought mainly as the towel (double thickness) was a bit thick for my sewing machine and the thread broke a few times, but I got there in the end:D.

Need a rest before I make the other two I need!!!

However, two bottles now filled, in their covers and keeping my feet warm as a bit nippy here again today.

I need to that as I currently wrap an old cardi around mine and it slips of

Justamum

goerdievik wrote: »

I'd have to disagree with the EST on this one, and completely back-up Confuzzled

I third this. Once our heating goes on for the winter it will be on 24/7 on a low temperature.

toottifrootti

I have a problem that the boiler is in the attic!!! and I cant get up there so.................... I suppose I need to turn the thermostats on the individual rads down and leave the heating on - that would be the same? ther isn't an overall thermostat down here so I cant set that - any other suggestions?
tootsx

[Deleted User]

I`m now looking at ways of having a hot drink if the power goes off and have ordered a couple of good (but expensive) flasks that keep liquids hot for 24 hours. They should last us a lifetime. I`ve still got the ordinary ones that keep hot about 4 hours but I wanted something better, so I`ll just keep the new ones on the go and replace the water every 24 hours, using the old water for washing up

paidinchickens

I am fed up with the cold and early dark nights already then I remembered the clocks have got to go back yet:eek::eek:

I will try doing meter readings to see which works out cheapest but I am not putting the heating on yet!!

Early nights under the quilt from now on I think.

inspirespirit

I'm trying not to put the heating on until October. I'm really cold today and have noticed a few draughts that I hadn't noticed before (only moved in here earlier this year). So will be off to look for draught excluders ready for October. We have snow forecast already for October (and I live in the Midlands), so goodness knows what it will be like for those of you up North.