Preparing for winter III

tillycat123

We have just had a new Dunelm mill open in our town this week. They were putting out today loads of packs of curtains that said seconds on the bags. Priced from £6.99 up to £14.99 as far as I could see.

Anyway I managed to get a really thick lined pair for £6.99, perfect they are nearly £100. Can't see anything wrong with them eaither to make them a second.

That's one window nice and snug for winter now.

rising_from_the_ashes

Frugal wrote: »

Each to their own and we should all have (be able to have) our heating on as much as we need it... My Mum's house is wayyyyy too warm for me, and my house is wayyyy too cold for her!!!

We are all different

Its sad that some people aren't able to have their heating on when they need it because of costs

I like the house cool and hate my bedroom being anything over 17 deg (awful in the summer as it's got up to 34 deg:eek: some years).

I guess I've got used to it over the years - grew up an a big very old & drafty house with very little heating, then lived in many very cold houses most of my life (worst was waking up in winter and the room only being 4 deg :eek: on regular basis - that's a bit cold even for me!)

I tend to find other peoples houses far too warm but really feel that people should be able to use their heating without worrying about the bills if they feel they need it - there's nothing worse than being frozen cold.


Don't get me wrong, I do still get really cold sometimes and crank the heating right up if I need it - I have problems with my circulation and often find that central heating doesn't warm me properly and need to go and have a hot bath when I get like that.

Confuzzled

shirleymarye wrote: »

I am one of the elderly and I always have my flat between 21 and 24 degrees,I was brought up in a very warm household and have always lived like that even when younger,can't stand being cold! My windows are often open as I like fresh air too and the funny thing is that in the block of 8 flats that I live in I have the only flat without any damp or mould anywhere

i've not had any issues with damp here even when we weren't heating one of the rooms last year, i just turned the heater on in there any time it got below 12C to keep damp away but didn't get any at all. the only condensation i got was in my bedroom window but it wasn't bad, this year i plan to put a dish of salt in that window.

obviously if people have condensation issues they may need more heat but really a dehumidifier is a better option. if i had damp issues i would turn the heat up higher if i didn't have a dehumidifier but i don't need that here and i dislike it being too hot, i find that warm houses in winter give me sinus headaches and i tend to get MORE colds vs staying in a cooler home. they also make my skin and lips very dry and chapped, i loathed winter in the states with their forced air heat it was always super dry in winter as well as often being too hot, what a miserable thing and then if you have a cold too :eek:

i leave my trickle vents open for an hour or two every few days and that seems to do it for us.

tiff

Chimney sweep came today and we now have a working open fire. No hearth yet but we couldnt wait so now have a nice roaring fire. The kids described it as "awesome"! The first real fire I've ever had, just wish we had it last year during the big freeze!

tugrin

There is a thread on here about being hungry or being cold which would you choose - I would rather be hungry than cold any day. I remember crying with the cold when I was growing up so many times and trying deperately to warm my feet up on the fire surround once the fire was on. And yes I know if you eat you do warm up but its a deep seated fear/misery that I am sure I will nevr leave behind. I Could easily live somewhere like Italy but I would miss 'Blighty' too much.

VJsmum

Oh dear - i had cause to need the emergency long life milk at the back of the cupboard only to find it's best before date was over a year ago. Now i don't worry too much about dates but that was a bit much :o

Hence it went down the sink and i now have a new one. I haven't double checked my list lately but i don't think i'm doing too bad. Still haven't bought a couple of 5 litre waters that i want. DS needs a new coat, gloves (well pretty much everything actually - try to take a 12 year old boy shopping??? Impossible :rotfl:) The more difficult thing is the fleeces at the windows and blinds in the bathrooms - hopefully work is slowing down a bit for a while and i can get those sorted.

Nearly finished knitting DD's chunky sloppy joe jumper and can make a start on something for me. Not been cold enough to wear my chunky cardi yet - it's the only reason i want to experience some cold weather.

I wondered if anyone had ever tried making a poncho out of a fleece blanket? I was sitting at my desk marking the other day, the heating was off but i thought that i could have done with a blanket over me - didn't want to put on another jumper as that would have been too restricting with typing. DD had a poncho nearby so i used that and then wondered if cutting a square of fleece with a diamond in the middle for your head would work? Might be worth buying a couple of quids worth of fleecey blanket to try it out. COuld even put a fringe round. Whaddya think?

rising_from_the_ashes

Confuzzled wrote: »

i've not had any issues with damp here even when we weren't heating one of the rooms last year, i just turned the heater on in there any time it got below 12C to keep damp away but didn't get any at all. the only condensation i got was in my bedroom window but it wasn't bad, this year i plan to put a dish of salt in that window.

obviously if people have condensation issues they may need more heat but really a dehumidifier is a better option. if i had damp issues i would turn the heat up higher if i didn't have a dehumidifier but i don't need that here and i dislike it being too hot, i find that warm houses in winter give me sinus headaches and i tend to get MORE colds vs staying in a cooler home. they also make my skin and lips very dry and chapped, i loathed winter in the states with their forced air heat it was always super dry in winter as well as often being too hot, what a miserable thing and then if you have a cold too :eek:

i leave my trickle vents open for an hour or two every few days and that seems to do it for us.

mmmm the house felt really damp yesterday (did stick the heating on for 1/2 an hour to try to help) but I've got condensation this morning:( (down to 4 deg overnight).

Think I may be forced to put the heating on (even though I'm not feeling the cold too much) to try to counteract this.

Will be having a hunt around at dehumidifiers today - I used to have the wee tubs that you put the crystals in but gave them all to DM when I moved here (her house is terrible for damp).

Most rooms aren't too bad - little bit of condensation on the patio doors and kitchen window but nothing too bad.

Upstairs is a bit different - even in the depths of winter I never have the heating on above frost protection upstairs and get a wee bit in the bedroom which is OK.

However, this morning the wee bedroom where I dry my washing is running:(

ETA - all my trickle vents stay open all year

LavenderBees

Good morning, Fellow Preppers!

Feeling very perky this morning after sleeping very well in my winter cocoon of duvets. I LOVE being warm

Yesterday I inadvertently started prepping for NEXT winter, and it was all free! :T A very large branch fell on my car in the work car park...luckily didn't cause any damage at all, but being so much more aware and :money:these days, I asked if the caretaker could chop up the branch and let me take it home. The caretaker told our office manager that he maybe had some other wood for me, so, after work last night in the pitch dark, I found not only the branch stashed for me, but also a pallet and 4 large sacks of wood that will be fab to use for kindling. And I'm on the office manager's list of people willing to take offcuts of wood away for burning at home (I didn't know there was such a list until yesterday).

What is it about a useful freebie that perks me up? :rotfl:

Of course, now I have to find a nice neighbour with a saw..I might try the old "oh, I really don't know if I can saw it myself" trick, and see if that works to get someone to saw it all for me :rotfl:

On the subject of heating/condensation etc. At the moment, I still haven't had to put my heating on. :T It's so incredibly mild, and long may that continue. Like many on here, I have had condensation. but I have my bathroom and bedroom windows open as long as possible each morning, and so far that seems to be enough. I would usually have my back door open too, but the kitten is too young to be allowed out, so I need to keep that closed. As I'm planning to be in most of this morning, I'll leave the windows open until I go out, I love feeling the air changing in the house, iyswim.

Other winter prep this week has included topping up my payg old mobile. Now the new battery has settled in, it's like having a new phone again, so I've topped it up in case I need to get in touch with someone in snow drift emergency or my electricity goes off.

Still not found my hot water bottle stopper...have decided not to rely on kitten to find where he's put it. He's obviously an unreliable witness! I'll have to move furniture and see if I can find it myself. He's continued his winter prep sabotage this week, by weeing in the coal bucket...obviously thinks it's just big chunks of cat litter :rotfl:. Gotta love him

Have a great day everyone & keep the tips coming - this must be one of the most useful, and friendliest, forums.

Lavvy x

Ellidee

Big reductions on coats and knitwear at T*sco from Monday

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3591273

LavenderBees

Yay! Winter prep is back on schedule - have found the hot water bottle stopper and it's now hidden safely away from naughty kitten :T. Hmmm...there were a few other manky things (a decaying tomato, a carrot top, wine bottle top to mention a few) under the heavy sofa too...hmmmm....wonder who could possibly be responsible for that...?

Forgot to mention earlier, a thank you to whoever gave the tip of Lidl having the thermal windscreen covers in. Got one yesterday evening. Have often seen them on other cars and thought they were a good idea, but not been aware where to buy one (without having to go miles out of my way), so that's now in my car ready too

Right, off to the farm shop soon to get some oxtails for slow cooker soup for lunches next week.

L x