Preparing for winter III

Rainy-Days

A thaw is going to happen but not until mid next week. I don't mind telling you that I will be glad to see the back of this current weather.

It was minus 13 here last night and we kept the heating on low all night as well. Before we went to bed last night DH checked the BBC weather website and the monitoring station down the road was already reading minus 8 so he said we must keep it on - we are rural and we live in a detached home. We are supplementing our heat with the fuel burner at the mo, which is a huge help because that kicks out so much heat and keeps the gas down.

The water in the horses buckets was frozen and despite massive efforts to extra lag the outside tap at the stables it had frozen solid so we had to fill five gallon containers to give them fresh water today. Three nights ago I felt that the boys needed extra on, so I put their medium rugs on them and then put their heavyweights on top of that. I cannot tell you how lovely and warm they are.

We put out extra fat balls out for the birds as they have been going barmy for them. We are also now preparing our list for the Spring and Summer jobs to plan ahead for next Winter - sad I know but now is a good time to do it because we can see and feel what needs to be done.

Eenymeeny

'We are also now preparing our list for the Spring and Summer jobs to plan ahead for next Winter - sad I know but now is a good time to do it because we can see and feel what needs to be done.'
What a good idea, you tend to forget about it in the summer don't you? This is our second winter in this house and we are still discovering draughts that I'm sure weren't there last year! I'm regretting taking down the thick curtain that was on the front door, We decorated during the summer and I decided that it looked old fashioned, but we've put new sealing strip on but I can still feel a draught and the door feels cold
I'm using up some of the big supply of 'gift candles' that I have by burning them in the cold spots in the house. They're something that I wouldn't buy myself and am enjoying the lovely smells as I move around the house but please stay safe everyone!
Hope those who are suffering with frozen pipes get sorted out quickly. I'm also fed up with this cold weather, you just don't want to venture out do you?

bossymoo

I bought a thermal lined door curtain last October. The door is in a shallow recess, so curtain is about 8" in from the door.

It's unbelievable how much colder it is behind the curtain. Even the toddlers have stopped using it to hide behind lately! I keep it shut in the day too, unless the sun is very bright through the glass panel.

I also had the loft insulation added to and I think the house seems to be retaining a lot more heat than previous winters, we won't tell on the gas bill though, as there has been someone here pretty much all day every day,using fuel, unlike previous years...

twiglet98

Rainy-Days wrote: »

A thaw is going to happen but not until mid next week. I don't mind telling you that I will be glad to see the back of this current weather.

It was minus 13 here last night and we kept the heating on low all night as well. Before we went to bed last night DH checked the BBC weather website and the monitoring station down the road was already reading minus 8 so he said we must keep it on - we are rural and we live in a detached home. We are supplementing our heat with the fuel burner at the mo, which is a huge help because that kicks out so much heat and keeps the gas down.

The water in the horses buckets was frozen and despite massive efforts to extra lag the outside tap at the stables it had frozen solid so we had to fill five gallon containers to give them fresh water today. Three nights ago I felt that the boys needed extra on, so I put their medium rugs on them and then put their heavyweights on top of that. I cannot tell you how lovely and warm they are.

We put out extra fat balls out for the birds as they have been going barmy for them. We are also now preparing our list for the Spring and Summer jobs to plan ahead for next Winter - sad I know but now is a good time to do it because we can see and feel what needs to be done.

We're in the same boat, -13 here too and the hosepipes have been frozen since the previous weekend. The mares have hardly gone out because one had laminitis last winter, I dare not have her standing in snow for long, and the other hates being turned out alone. They haven't been clipped since October and are just wearing two rugs each, glad we didn't clip at Christmas as they're only happy hackers nowadays.

I have to carry water up from the kitchen to fill four buckets for the horses, one for the chickens, two for the ducks, plus water for the birdbaths. Pheasants come down from the wood each morning to drink in the garden, and forage under the apple trees for spilt sunflower hearts where some of the feeders are hanging. The robins, wrens and tits come to the birdtable nearer the kitchen window, but the shyer birds prefer to be over by the trees. I was pleased to get a pack of 10 flat suet cakes half price at £7.99 in the garden centre, having gone in for peanuts as I just missed the farm shop where I usually get bulk bird food. I must remember to order online well before I run out, it's much cheaper especially with cashback through TCB or Quidco.

My washing machine had flooded the kitchen yesterday morning, having had a load put on the night before. I guess the outlet pipe had frozen, but haven't yet taken all the pipes apart to check for a blockage. I hope it is just a pipe and not the machine itself - I had two separate repairs last summer - but have to go to work now for a few hours so will have a go at it later. All my work clothes from last week need doing, as well as all my grown-up family's work stuff, and bedding, and towels... I feel a trip to the launderette coming up this evening, 8 miles each way and I can't afford their dryers so the dehumidifier will be on another night to dry the towels, it was on all last night to dry the carpet tiles from the kitchen and I left the heating on at 15 all night too. The prospect of a burst pipe in the loft flooding the house and bringing ceilings down scares me as much as the thought of fire, I'll be glad when the temperatures are back to normal.

Keep warm everyone, I don't think there will be much more snow for those of us in the southern half of the UK so no more pretty photos, and a rather easier life when it's thawed!

twiglet98

bossymoo wrote: »

I bought a thermal lined door curtain last October. The door is in a shallow recess, so curtain is about 8" in from the door.

It's unbelievable how much colder it is behind the curtain. Even the toddlers have stopped using it to hide behind lately! I keep it shut in the day too, unless the sun is very bright through the glass panel.

I have a lined curtain at all the external doors and the front door opens into a small lobby, with another door to the main room which we keep closed, so the lobby is pretty cold. The heating was on all day and all night but behind the curtain, the hardwood front door had ice all over it :eek:

singlestep

I'm a bit jealous to not have had bad weather in a 'grass is always greener way'. I'm not sure I could have coped with proper bad weather on top of the recent stressful weeks at work. Still, a long weekend should help me recharge my batteries a little before the really mad part of the year begins.

I did a really good job on stocking up my freezer. I haven't had to make soup in ages and, in fact, I haven't in about four weeks, I've even been giving some away to my mum and there's still loads left. Plenty of chilli, curry, stew and other stuff left too, to the point where I'm going off it slightly!

The only problem I've had is that my combi boiler stopped working on one of the days with freezing fog (temperatures a comparatively balmy minus 2 or 3) and the usual trick of turning the valves didn't work as one was stuck. It turned out it had something to do with the people downstairs turning off the water supply. The plumber I use wasn't going to charge me for coming out to fix it!

Eliza_2

I know it's a bit early to start the 'what worked last winter' annual thread yet but people talking about cold behind curtains reminded me that the window quilts I made have been amazing!! Wish I'd thought to use them before. The cold behind them when I took them down this morning was incredible. They're back up tonight though.

The other thing is that when I had the thermal camera audit thingie a year or so ago, they found the window sills were really cold. Walls are 2ft thick so sills are just thin bits of wood sitting on top of cold stone. I made duvets for them too at the same time - and the cold under the duvets was incredible too. After 10 yrs in this house I feel I'm almost getting to grips with winter here - now if I could only find a way to stop the oil solidifying in the pipes I would have definitely sorted it!

Cake4brains

I have no idea what window quilts are but they sound like my cup of tea!

greenbee

Eliza wrote: »

I know it's a bit early to start the 'what worked last winter' annual thread yet but people talking about cold behind curtains reminded me that the window quilts I made have been amazing!! Wish I'd thought to use them before. The cold behind them when I took them down this morning was incredible. They're back up tonight though.

The other thing is that when I had the thermal camera audit thingie a year or so ago, they found the window sills were really cold. Walls are 2ft thick so sills are just thin bits of wood sitting on top of cold stone. I made duvets for them too at the same time - and the cold under the duvets was incredible too. After 10 yrs in this house I feel I'm almost getting to grips with winter here - now if I could only find a way to stop the oil solidifying in the pipes I would have definitely sorted it!

Sleeping bags for the pipes?:p

Eliza_2

greenbee wrote: »

Sleeping bags for the pipes?:p

Well I've tried pillows, so nearly the same!! Have wrapped pipes in pillows then bin bags, have tried those foam tube things that are intended to insulate pipes, various things. Nothing makes any difference I still have to unwrap to pour boiling water on them. I think maybe the only solution is to have them buried underground - can't afford that at the moment.

And window quilts are self explanatory I think. You make a thick quilt out of whatever you've got, cover it in pretty fabric if you can be bothered and fix it up at the window. According to google much used in the States and Canada. Very home-steadish! I used left over grey insulating spongey stuff that goes under laminate floor. You can fix it with velcro or whatever you like but I found it was rigid enough just to tuck under the curtain rail and stand on the window sill, then under the curtains on both sides. Easy to put up and take down each day (if you can be bothered!) Made a massive, absolutely massive difference - I have a mix of double and single glazing.

I revisited the energy audit I had done a year or so ago and see that 55% of heat is lost through he walls. I need to look at ways of lining the walls to stop that happening. Has anyone lined the walls on the inside? And what with?

Eliza