Preparing for winter IV

pigpen

And... my new sheets are too hot... Summer weight duvet and top sheet and I ended up kicking them all off by about 3 am.. I'd been in bed about an hour!

Homeagain

Well I think I should finally stop lurking and thank you all for your suggestions and ideas. I have read (and subscribed) to this thread and the advice has proved invaluable. I, (and I guess I am not alone here) am terrified of winter, I find it so challenging and I think it knocks a few extra years off me every year!! Anyway, thanks to you all I have done the following, (new house, very small and a bit sad):-

shortened the lounge curtains so that they don't cover the radiators;
bought and fitted a hit and miss air vent to cover the gaping hole in the kitchen which had just a cover over it and caused a huge draft.
bought a washing line thing to install over the bath to hang washing - can't use a drill though so I will have to think on this one;
made net curtains for the kitchen and lounge and bedrooms to keep some heat in;
bought wooden rails and a set of thick curtains (from a boot fair - very MSE) to hang up in the kitchen - unfortunately its an archway with no door and ceramic tiles which are freezing. Once again the drill problem remains ;
managed to scrounge some vinyl to try and install on the kitchen floor which I think might help;
bought (again from a boot fair back in April) a small oil heater which should take the chill off the kitchen in the mornings before we leave for work/school. Not very MSE I know but it won't be on for long and it saves putting the central heating on for such a short time. I will see how this works.
I think the house (because its so very small) will be quite warm overall except for the passage and kitchen.

I think that's about all for now - just got to sort out the drilling problem. I am a bit confused as to why silver foil at the back of radiators help keep the heat in. Is it better to cover a piece of cardboard and just put it behind the radiator and how does this help?
Thanks all:)

bossymoo

Homeagain if your radiator is on an external wall, a proportion of the heat will be lost through the wall. A foiled panel behind the radiator in between the brackets will reflect the heat away from the wall and up into the room.

In theory, your boiler doesn't work so hard to get to the required temperature, thus saving money.

Hope that makes sense!

Pooky

Can any one recommend a dehumidifier? Our upstairs is feeling quit damp but it's no where near cold enough for heating yet.

Homeagain

Thank you bossymoo but sorry to sound thick - is the foil facing the external wall or the radiator?

boultdj

Pooky wrote: »

Can any one recommend a dehumidifier? Our upstairs is feeling quit damp but it's no where near cold enough for heating yet.

I'm using the arg*s value 1, had it for about 3 year's.hth

Becky_2

Homeagain wrote: »

bought and fitted a hit and miss air vent to cover the gaping hole in the kitchen which had just a cover over it and caused a huge draft.

Homeagain, what's a hit and miss air vent? Where did you buy yours?

thanks

Becky_2

Becky_2 wrote: »

Earlier this week I noticed a draught coming from underneath the zink area. When I looked I noticed that there was a gap underneath the zink and where the kitchen cupboards are. A day or so later I thought to myself I wonder if I can fill the gap with a pillow and that's what I have now done filled it with 2 old pillows and hardly any draught is coming through now.

Unfortunately, I have had to remove the pillows underneath the zink. One of the kitchen cupboards are smelling of damp which only started to smell after I added the pillows. The cupboard is already smelling better so it must be because I stopped the draught underneath the zink.

If anyone has got an idea how I can stop the draught then I would be grateful.

Tiglath

Today I bought a 15.0 tog kingsize duvet, new pillows and new brushed cotton/flanelette bedlinen; never had anything so warm and cosy before, I've always had thin cotton. Can't wait for bedtime although the cats have beaten me to it already

We only have thin Ikea shiny type curtains downstairs so I may have to look at replacing those. The problem is the bay windows - we have 3 separate wooden poles as we couldn't find a decent bendy track, and the curtians are never fully drawn back; we just tie them with ribbon so they hang in front of the vertical frames between the main window and the two smaller side windows.

b_girl

Tiglath wrote: »

Today I bought a 15.0 tog kingsize duvet, new pillows and new brushed cotton/flanelette bedlinen; never had anything so warm and cosy before, I've always had thin cotton. Can't wait for bedtime although the cats have beaten me to it already

We only have thin Ikea shiny type curtains downstairs so I may have to look at replacing those. The problem is the bay windows - we have 3 separate wooden poles as we couldn't find a decent bendy track, and the curtians are never fully drawn back; we just tie them with ribbon so they hang in front of the vertical frames between the main window and the two smaller side windows.

We have just moved into a property with bay windows and were umming and ahhing about what to do for curtains so might do this! Thanks for the idea :T was going to have a go at making curtains from 2 duvet covers but will look into 3 poles now.