Preparing for winter III

Becky_2

This is the first time I am living in a warm house, which is great. The only problem is that the downstairs feels cold and the upstairs always is warm. Luckily all the radiators have a thermostat. To save on heating costs would it be wise to keep the radiators upstairs on low settings?

bramble1

My winter coat made it's first outing last night. Sheepskin was a great choice. The minute i put it on i was snuggly.

Still holding off on the heating for as long as possible.

darkrev

Becky_2 wrote: »

This is the first time I am living in a warm house, which is great. The only problem is that the downstairs feels cold and the upstairs always is warm. Luckily all the radiators have a thermostat. To save on heating costs would it be wise to keep the radiators upstairs on low settings?

can you identify why the house is cold one area and warm the other ? :j

Pooky

Got my store cupboard finished, it's now stocked with enough to keep us going for 2 weeks. Picked up another two car loads of wood from freecycle this week, it needs chopping but that's this weeks job.

Had the "ok" from the solar panel surveyor so fingers crossed they should be on and working by the end of november, that in mind we've invested in a large oil filled radiator and will get a couple of smaller ones this week too. The open fire in the lounge heats the lounge, dining room and hall way nicely, so with the oil filled rads in the kitchen, landing and family room, the electric heater in the bathroom and the emersion heater for hot water, we might get away without putting the main central heating on during the day (whilst using the free electricity).....should save us a fortune!

tugrin

Becky - have you done all the usual stuff that will help like checked for
raging draughts around doors and windows.
is the double glazing OK
, have you thick curtains
is there an open fireplace
what is on your downstairs floors
Let us know and we'll come up with tons of advice!
Its great that overall the house is warm - treasure it and yes of course do make use of those radiator thermostats.

Rainy-Days

I will be honest I have now pretty much got to the bottom of my winter list of things to do. I have just got the cordylines to sort out and a chop back in the garden, oil of locks for the gates, clean the windows, cover the outside tap and sorting the cars out. Then we are absolutely done.

I am going to try and get these jobs done this week if I can. I haven't really done very much this week, it's all been inside jobs to be honest.

I have bought some Yankee candles to get us through winter. Mainly because of the scents although we have the extractor fan last year I didn't want to open the kitchen window up too much when it was biting cold so having the candles on will take away the cooking smells - or thats what I am planning on at least.

Glad you are all making considerable progress well done you all :T

D&DD

Well I splashed out on a pair of Hunter welly warmers I just loved the colour..cornflower blue and they'll look nice with my navy boots

I did use a 20% off coupon and I plan to use them as a pattern to make a few more pairs from fleece I already have so it is moneysaving really..:whistle:

Just picked up the trolleyload of cooking apples so have them to do now but have no more jars or freezerspace so will have to dehydrate them.

Does anyone have a list on the fridge for a 'Last minute shop' when they know the weather is going to get bad??

I made one last year as we had plenty of warning re the snow and it was very effective,Tesco's delivered the day before it snowed and we really didn't have any problems apart from the usual strawberry one!

tugrin

Rainy - are the yankee candles really that good? I have been caught so many times by something that smells nice in its unburnt state which smells of noting when I get it home and light it!!! I think its something to do with the essential oils burning at too high a temperature but Im no chemist. If they are really effective then I moght get a couple for Xmas.

Fruball

tugrin wrote: »

Rainy - are the yankee candles really that good? I have been caught so many times by something that smells nice in its unburnt state which smells of noting when I get it home and light it!!! I think its something to do with the essential oils burning at too high a temperature but Im no chemist. If they are really effective then I moght get a couple for Xmas.

I was wondering that too - if they really are that good I might get a couple but they are expensive so i'm not getting them if they aren't going to make my house smell like a candle shop

chirpychick

My downstairs is really cold too! its open plan kitchen and living room, ive sealed the gap by the back door and got thick lined door curtain there and blind in the kitchen window and thick curtains in the living room bay window. But we have laminate flooring. Ive got a draught excluder on the living room door. I dont know what else to do.

great news today though - we went to do the car boot this morning (car said 1 degree at 7am!!) we sold a fair bit i made enough to pay for the bra i won on ebay (£5.50) and cover pitch costs etc and then after that i went around hunting for what we needed.
Slippers 20P brand new never worn!!!!!!!!!!!
I got 2 pairs of velour joggers £2 which is such a bargain as theyre evans! and i live in them around the house and only had 3/4 ones and needed long ones.
also a entire tracksuit velour bottoms and zip up jacket for £5 also evans and i know that would sell for £15 on ebay so well chuffed with that too.
got a radio which runs on batteries incase of powercut and also has a mains plug, id been after one for ages as we normally leave the telly on when out for the dogs so hubby says this will save slightly on electricity too.
i got 4 board games for christmas 25p each
6 dog toys for their stockings 20p each
thermos flask £2 its a huge 2ltr one so will save on repetitive kettle use
teapot and tea cosy £3 but that will be from hubby for me for christmas
little hedgehog teddy for 20p to go in the hedgehog mug i got for hubby for christmas
got a chess set in a wooden box for hubby for christmas for £1
woolly hat that goes over the ears (i have 1 hat already but doesnt go over the ears) this one was 20p and i couldnt turn that down!
And the best buy was a pair of Karrimor walking trainers in my size brand new £3.50! (im so chuffed as i lived in one pair of trainers for 3 years until they completely fell apart, my feet are wide so i struggled to find a replacement pair 2 months ago and when i did discovered karrimor i brought a pair £20 reduced from £30 from sports direct and theyre the most comfy ive ever had so now i have a spare pair and for less than a 1.4 of the price!)
im just now in need of a shovel (have found one am just awaiting payday)
3 x hot water bottles
fingerless gloves
de icer
3 fence panels (next month will have the ££)
finish buying hubbys christmas presents (only £5 left to spend)
get 1 dog and the cats booster jabs (next month)
buy expanding foam
stock up cupboard store and medicine cabinet from asda (payday)

thats all the stuff i need to buy now so if anyone has any ideas where the cheapest fingerless gloves and hot water bottles are id be grateful.

the rest of the winter prep will be finished by the end of october. so i feel much better now ive made headway this weekend.

it really is getting chilly now - backdoor is officially closed for hibernation!