Preparing for winter IV

calicocat

I think I am pretty sorted for most things. Got candles, and torches in useful places just in case.

Still need to get a tyre-blower-upper from halfords (I live so far away from one now it's getting round to getting one), also some more extra fuses for box but shop didn't have them today...bit worried about that as it often blows and I am miles away from shops that sell them.

Have potatoes boiling now to have part roasted potatoes in freezer....will have to do some serious organising and squishing things around to fit them in.

I have 34 toilet rolls in it seems.....lol. All curtains up where extra needed, have squashed the bedroom ones behind the radiator (as rad is by the window)...why are houses built this way?...seems a bit silly to put them immediately where most heat will escape.

Got fan heater just in case heating should go off for any reason...so I think/hope I have most bases covered................all thanks to this thread I have to say.....so a big thanks!

Fruball

calicocat wrote: »

I think I am pretty sorted for most things. Got candles, and torches in useful places just in case.

Still need to get a tyre-blower-upper from halfords (I live so far away from one now it's getting round to getting one), also some more extra fuses for box but shop didn't have them today...bit worried about that as it often blows and I am miles away from shops that sell them.

Have potatoes boiling now to have part roasted potatoes in freezer....will have to do some serious organising and squishing things around to fit them in.

I have 34 toilet rolls in it seems.....lol. All curtains up where extra needed, have squashed the bedroom ones behind the radiator (as rad is by the window)...why are houses built this way?...seems a bit silly to put them immediately where most heat will escape.

Got fan heater just in case heating should go off for any reason...so I think/hope I have most bases covered................all thanks to this thread I have to say.....so a big thanks!

Radiators are put under the windows for the best air flow. Something to do with the heat rising by the window and moving around the room evenly. In my old house where the rad was by the door, it was freezing and damp in the far corner.

There is method in it but I can't remember the exact science

hollieinbloom

Evening all, It's so cold in the house today, I've had some washing on and just stuck the radiators on to help dry the clothes. I'm going to take another trip to the laundrette this weekend to get more clothes dry. I have been taking towels and bedding down but think I need get some of the clothes done too. It's so much cheaper than buying our own tumble drier. I am going to the supermarket soon to do some shopping and hopefully get some more supplies on my list if they are on offer.

Hope everyone is warm and cosy this evening! layer up xx

Confuzzled

greenbee wrote: »

Confuzzled - it's not just in the states that they have nice easy thermostats you know... if you're renting, maybe have a word with your landlord about needing proper instructions for the controls, or getting better ones put in. My new ones are going in shortly (I hope!) and will allow me to set heating and hot water separately for 4 periods a day, different each day, different temps at different times of day, override from the thermostat for heating, and tell it when I'm on holiday...

nice to know they have them in the uk, honest to goodness i've never seen one in the 14+ years i've lived here!

i would ask my landlord only i have the kind where i hope to goodness nothing goes wrong because he can't be arsed to fix things, we still don't have a bannister on the stairs for the close, and the neighbour had to threaten to contact the council before he put in a light for the stairs, i can't afford to move for awhile so i'm not going to rock the boat by asking for anything unless it's major like the boiler not working or something

it's sad i got such a crap landlord the space is great and the neighbourhood is good, thankgoodness it's a new flat so there aren't any really serious things wrong with it just mostly cosmetic and a few niggling inconveniences

Confuzzled

Scuff wrote: »

If it's the type I'm thinking of then it should spin when you twist it (the dial / unit with the pins on). There should be a little indicator / line somewhere that doesnt twist with the unit (its usually at the top but these things arent always that sensible), and this will line up with whatever time it is now. The whole twisty bit will turn throughout the day, in time with time, and this is how the unit knows the time. Just wait til you're on the hour at some point and then line it up with the correct time on the dial

This is a very convoluted reply, I'm having issues explaining it! Let me know if I'm being ridiculously unclear!!

thanks scuff, i think i understand what you're trying to say and yes it's the little dial with pins that move in and out etc type, it's on the front of the boiler, last one i had was on a wall in the kitchen that was for my storage heaters and electric hot water heater

i understand how the radiators individual knobs work, mostly i think lol but i'm still trying to figure out how to set the timer, i'm not sure if i can set it to shut off it it hits a specific heat level even if it still has time left or not but just having the timer sorted out would be good. i never could get the one for the old flat to work properly but i would just leave the hot water tank on (hot water only) for awhile whilst sleeping then turn it off when i inevitably got up for the loo in the middle of the night so it wouldn't run too long, it was so well insulated i never needed to run it every day even in the worst parts of winter but that's not going to work with this thing lol

tomorrow i'll move the cover and the recipe books in front of the bottom part of the boiler so i can get a better look at the dials and i'll let you know what happens, it's not supposed to be as cold tonight thankfully so i can wait til then, i'm not even supposed to be taking a break right now from work but i'm going quite mad with the tedium and needed a brief respite

pollys

We are having a new boiler fitted on Thursday along with an additional radiator. I can't wait. We have been well over a week with no hot water or heating. I am so looking forward to a soak in the bath.
Still waiting on the roof man to get back to us with a starting date. When that is fixed we will have to get a plasterer in to repair the bedroom ceiling. It seems never ending at the moment.

Still getting on with the boys bedroom, things have slowed down at bit due to me being full of cold. I need to finish the wall papering, measure up for curtains and assemble the wardrobe and drawers.

Hopefully we will be sorted before Christmas.

I bought some more washing powder today. It's £5 for a big family box of Persil in tescos. It's usually £12 . Got quite a stock of it now. Also stocked up on dishwasher tablets (half price)

Keep warm and safe.

Pollys

I_have_spoken

Power crisis risk 'worse than feared' this winter, SSE warns

The risk of power shortages this winter has been underestimated by ministers and the National Grid, with factory shutdowns and “politically unacceptable” price spikes more likely than had been feared, energy giant SSE has warned.

Looking grim indeed.

greenbee

Fruball wrote: »

Radiators are put under the windows for the best air flow. Something to do with the heat rising by the window and moving around the room evenly. In my old house where the rad was by the door, it was freezing and damp in the far corner.

There is method in it but I can't remember the exact science

It's because radiators are convectors rather than radiators (you'd think the name would be a clue, but it isn't!) so they draw cold air in at the bottom (which is why it's always draughty at ankle level) and then it rises, moves across the room and drops. THis forms an insulating layer of heat in front of the windows that stops heat escaping from the room, if that makes sense.

I've just gone through all the science as my radiators are being replaced, and much as I wanted to put them in other places, I actually couldn't find any other locations where I'd get the convection necessary to heat the whole of the room (in most cases). Windows tend to be positioned at the ends of the rooms as well, which gives the best heat flow. Just make sure you don't block the air to the bottom. It's fine for the curtains to hang over them if you have a pole that brings them out far enough in front for the hot air to escape at the top, and they don't block the air at the bottom...

pollys wrote: »

We are having a new boiler fitted on Thursday along with an additional radiator. I can't wait. We have been well over a week with no hot water or heating. I am so looking forward to a soak in the bath.
Still waiting on the roof man to get back to us with a starting date. When that is fixed we will have to get a plasterer in to repair the bedroom ceiling. It seems never ending at the moment.

Am with you on the seeming neverending, although I'm not doing quite so badly on the lack of heating/hot water - they left the old system in place while they put the new one in, and have only switched off today to put the radiators in. I suspect I won't have heating tomorrow, so need to have a bath with the last of the hot water tonight before they take the old tank out tomorrow. I just hope tomorrow isn't too cold, and that they do actually finish on Thursday. It's taken 3 days longer than they estimated... :cool:

nicki_2

Yesterday I finally got around to demoulding the rest of the kitchen ceiling which is above the cabinets. I've decided to try and keep the cabinet tops clear as much as possible as it was a lot worse than I thought. Now all I need to do is get it painted, but I can't see that happening any time soon

I also found some mould in the livingroom near the window when I was swapping the curtains over for the winter ones. So I cleaned that up as well. I now need to buy some more of the mould killer before I can do anywhere else. Just my room, the hall, the understairs cupboard & any patches that appear. Lets hope that I can get rid of it all this year and don't have to spend a day each week cleaning it up!

aggypanthus

Cheapskate wrote: »

I've chosen some fabric from aggypanthus' site she posted about on here, question is do I buy the 5 metres I need, cost £25, or do I buy 10 metres, £40, which works out cheaper per metre, and use the rest for something else? I have a tatty old double sheet that I'm going to use as lining, plenty curtain hooks, just need to buy some track.

A xo

Can you post the link?

I got 17m of a linen mix for £47 , but I have loads left.
I have used sheets in the past for lining, basic tesco range.

Another tip is,some sites sell leftover half widths of fabric, my sister bought loads by mistake, she passed them to me, and I joined them each side of a matching plain coloured width to make a door curtain.