Preparing for winter III

clare64

This may be slightly off topic but I am sure that you ladies ( and gents) can help me:)
We have never had a tumble dryer and have just dried our clothes on radiators or clothes airers. Anything that can be hung on a clothes hanger is and is hung up in a doorway. However, we are a family of 5 and as the children are getting bigger we have more washing. We also live in a large house that we can not afford to heat properly.Even though we have just has a new roof, new windows.We also have loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and the central heating system is only about 2 years old, unless we have the heating on for many hours the house just does not get warm. We can live with that but it is stopping our clothes drying.But the cost and the environmental impact is putting us off buying a tumble dryer. Is there anything else that we can do?
Last year I bought a heated clothes airer from Lakeland but it didn't get very hot and therefore did not dry the clothes, they sent a replacement but that was the same.
HELP!
Clarexx

notjustlaura

cleggie wrote: »

Hi all.
Where do you all buy your wellies from? i used to buy them from Clarkes, but cant afford it this year.

I think the last pair I bought came from Mr T.

CH27

clare64 wrote: »

This may be slightly off topic but I am sure that you ladies ( and gents) can help me:)
We have never had a tumble dryer and have just dried our clothes on radiators or clothes airers. Anything that can be hung on a clothes hanger is and is hung up in a doorway. However, we are a family of 5 and as the children are getting bigger we have more washing. We also live in a large house that we can not afford to heat properly.Even though we have just has a new roof, new windows.We also have loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and the central heating system is only about 2 years old, unless we have the heating on for many hours the house just does not get warm. We can live with that but it is stopping our clothes drying.But the cost and the environmental impact is putting us off buying a tumble dryer. Is there anything else that we can do?
Last year I bought a heated clothes airer from Lakeland but it didn't get very hot and therefore did not dry the clothes, they sent a replacement but that was the same.
HELP!
Clarexx

Would it not be cheaper to keep your heating on low constantly & that way the house retains it's temperature & dries your washing?

I kept my CH on 16 degrees constantly last winter & my bills stayed the same.

clare64

Thanks CH - tomorrow I will contact our utility co and see if they can give me any idea how much it would cost for us to do this.
Clarex

Fruball

CH27 wrote: »

Would it not be cheaper to keep your heating on low constantly & that way the house retains it's temperature & dries your washing?

I kept my CH on 16 degrees constantly last winter & my bills stayed the same.

Thats what I do. For me it worked out the same cost as having the heating on a couple of times a day up higher, and the house was warmer, consistently.

Rainy-Days

The car has been cleaned :T it was filthy but thats what happens when you have to use country roads I guess.

My winter prep has just about come to a close, but I am amazed at what I have done this year - I have been like a whirling dervish doing all those jobs.

Just before 6am this morning the rain absolutely hammered down, I was still snuggly in bed but it felt good listening to that rain, knowning that the gutters are cleaned to take the water away and that all exposed wood from bird table to shed to fascias boards are all protected.

Just one final thing of note, it was quite a balmy November this time last year, then we all know what happended after that. In fact I recall St James's Park in London being 15 degrees at night, I was walking through it with my Aunt and commenting how lovely a night it was!!! The snow might cometh, but then again it might not, but either way if it does we are all in one way or another prepared for what winter does throw at us - winter officially begins 1st December!!!

[Deleted User]

clare64 spread a sheet over the heated airer. The clothes will dry much more quickly

Thriftkitten

For all of you that feel you do not have enough loo roll, I have just seen that as of tomorrow Mr T's have on offer Andrex 4 roll, any 4 packs for £3.50 16 rolls for £3.50 is a bargain, will be heading over to shops tomorrow to get some, it says this offer is available online also hth.

23rdspiral

Thanks Sunny Day! Sorry I didn't look at who posted first, was too bleary eyed this morning!

Thanks Confuzzled too!

Will think hard re electric costs vs damp issues.

Re costof keeping heating on low vs on when needed, I'm sure this was in Martins email or Blog last week... Anyway I'm sure it said it wasn't that simple but that it may be cheaper to run in bursts. I dunno. Not easy to post links from here, maybe some one else saw it too?

annie123

Rainy-Days wrote: »

Just one final thing of note, it was quite a balmy November this time last year, then we all know what happended after that. In fact I recall St James's Park in London being 15 degrees at night, I was walking through it with my Aunt and commenting how lovely a night it was!!!

You must have visited earlier in the month, this time last year it was cold! http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EGWU/2010/11/22/MonthlyHistory.html

and by next week it didn't get past 0c during the day and then the snow arrived.

Whilst here in London we often have milder weather, it was nice to see the snow.........for 48 hours! then after that I'd had enough. I'm a softy southerner and London grinds to a halt!

As the scaremongering forecasts were wrong for oct/nov I'm hoping they are wrong about winter and we have a milder winter instead. Our bank accounts will be better for it and so will our health.

However according the the link below a mild November means a cold winter. Time will tell I guess.
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/folklore.htm