Preparing for winter IV

Fruball

Homeagain wrote: »

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

Fit the foil between the radiator and the wall, as close to the wall as you can get it.

awills

After reading about the fleece blankets from Ikea to line curtains, I bought 10 on Friday. Put one up today but they are far to small for my curtains so are going to have to go back. Started searching about on line and bought 10 packing blankets from ebay , much bigger and cheaper, so will do the job nicely on my windows (she says hopefully) :-)

Sadly had to put the heating on earlier for a couple of hours as the house was feeling cold and damp. Really am going to have to watch it as last year cost me a fortune and really dont have the money to spend on the gas bill.

bossymoo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Homeagain
Thank you bossymoo but sorry to sound thick - is the foil facing the external wall or the radiator?

Fruball wrote: »

Fit the foil between the radiator and the wall, as close to the wall as you can get it.

Foil facing the radiator, shiny side to reflect inwards!

shelley_crow

Hello fellow preppers. I've just moved house and the new place doesn't haveany heating in the bathroom or dining room. What is the best (and preferably cheapest to run) method of heating them? I remember reading a while ago about some plug in heaters that cost 1p an hour to run but can't remember what they were called

cornishchick

Ok strange question preppers.
all my doors and windows are DG, and all but the bathroom and kitchen window have curtains or blinds/shutters, is it worth putting a blind or curtain on those 2 as well. ?

The_Boss

Also have a question...will adding net curtains help insulate the windows a bit more? Our curtains are a fair bit set back due to the rail so there's a large gap between windows and curtains at present with a gap at either end

Pooky

Nets won't help at all (unless you're planning on having them to thick and bunched up to see out of). A roller blind would be best (or Venetian blind) or add some thick thermal linings to the curtains to take up some of the "gap".

Awills - I'd worry that the packing blankets are going to be quite heavy? Or am I thinking of the wrong thing?

Whilst fleece will help with curtain linings, the ready made thermal ones aren't that expensive and just hook on to your rail/pole or into existing curtains. It's a lot less faff. If you can use a sewing machine then you can buy thermal lining by the meter too and it's just a case joining widths for wide curtains, a bottom hem and a bit of thin header tape on top.

The thermal linings have the added advantage of keeping heat out in the summer and preventing sun fading to your curtains.


Orderd a dehumidifier! looked at the value one from @rgos but our local store didn't have any, looked at the next one up which had good reviews and shopped around for price, £139 from @rgos, £95 delivered from @mazon!

jim-jim

Whoa!! somebody slow the winter down.
I'm still not ready for it.

It's 6 degrees:eek: here in Derbyshire and that's warmed up from this morning. It was to wet and cold to check before.

Still need to get 2 new duvets 13 tog for dd + ds, plus if funds stretch 15 tog for mine king size plus their beds.

Line curtains, Finish decorating dining, living and bedrooms. Get the biggest rug I can afford for living room, as we have laminate flooring and it gets chilly under foot.

On the plus side I've got loads of grit and a snow shovel. Candles and matches, a rechargeable light. Chest freezer nearly always full when finished shopping, with food to make meals, bread + milk. Thermals, boots, toddler needs a new coat/snowsuit.
I think I need to do a list of what I still need to do, and then sort it out in order of needs must first.
x

calicocat

Well it's vile here, very windy. I've just moved to the coast in northumberland, and I think i'm in for a shock as to how cold it's going to be. With a bit of luck the snow won't be as bad as where I used to live due to the salty air. Where I used to live was terrible when the snow hit.


Anyhow, I am a tad behind with this preparation malarki, but printed off the list last night at work and plan to do/get what I need over the next two or three weeks.

I did organise a pole for a curtain for the conservatory doors, and have looked up a heater for it from the is your heating on thread i think.

I also looked up some of the older stuff which was really good, one thing I found on the 'what worked' thread was that I have an open plan staircase so my heating here may end all upstairs. A suggestion from someone with similar problem was to curtain this off..so as the weather gets worse I will see how it goes and maybe do this as it's a good idea (thanks to whoever posted that).

XSpender

I have taken up and lined DS curtains with 2 of the fleeces from Ik3a and they worked a treat and were easy to do. He was shouting for me in the night though and complained he couldn't see in his room because it was so dark. Must remember to use the night light from now on.:)

I still have our bedroom curtains to take up and line, I do have an old pair of cream curtains but am tempted to buy 2 more Ik3a fleeces as they didnt need hemming. Just being lazy and not very :money: I know as I am not a confident sewer, DS curtains were the first bit of sewing I have done in years:o

I also need to run up another sausage for the kitchen door. We no longer need the one on the living room door as the new carpet is thick and there is no longer a gap but the kitchen door is much wider. I will use up some fabric scraps to make this.

DH has polished his and my winter boots and I have used 2 old magazines as boot trees in mine (they are long ones) and this is helping keep their shape.

Still got to:

Line my curtains and take them up
Apply draught tape to all windows (got to find it first:o)
Check if radiators need bleeding
Create a small store cupboard
Get another lot of scrapers and deicers
Order the foldable snow shovel recommended to me on here
Buy salt for bottom dip of our drive
Garden fleece for Acer trees
Tidy up the garden, put away toys etc
Wellies - me and poss DS depending on how much his feet grow
Gloves - me (wooly ones and driving ones) and DS
Hat - DS
Shoes - DS and poss DH
Tshirts to use as vests - DH
Vests - DS
Dubbin walking boots
Torches
Batteries
Sort out our winter clothes and see if we need anything extra
Slippers - me and DS
Long sleeved tops - DS and me
PJs - DH
Jumpers for work - DH
Check all medicine supplies

Hmmm, I still have a lot to do and the cold weather is already upon us!

I am planning to tackle all the jobs in pink this week and next as it is pay day on Friday.;)