Preparing for winter IV

MrsChristmas

Funnily enough I was chatting to my friend yesterday, some what tongue in cheek about prepping for the zombie apocalypse, but happen to mention that I always have bottled water in as a matter of course.
She looked at me odd until I happened to remind her that our town was without water for a good day when a water pipe burst a few years ago and then it took another half a day for it to run clear again.
We are an old town with only 3 roads in & out, so when it has snowed we've been cut off for a day. Delivery lorries could not get in (2 of these roads are hills making it doubly difficult) & the local shops quickly ran out of bread & milk & bizarrely wet wipes! I remember because the children were still babies & we had to improvise!
So since then I usually have YS bread in the freezer, part baked rolls in the store cupboard, pizza base mixes ect & UHT milk.
We've also been without electric, again not for longer than a day, but for that reason we keep a camping stove & gas cannisters because the cooker is electric. I also fill the kettle last thing at night before bed in case we wake up to no water... at least I have all bases covered to be able to make a brew ... everything seems better after a cuppa
Currently I'm running down the stock cupboard of all our tins & packets because I don't want things to go out of date & to waste but will do a big restock at the beginning of next month at A!d1 for the winter ahead. Although our heating is still off & the weather has been mild up until now, I wonder whether we may pay for our long summer with a harsh winter this yr?

pigpen

We were 5 days without gas or electric a few years back over New Year when a gas main exploded and took out the electricity cables with it.. That was evil.. very evil! BBQ's were very chilly for the cook!

quidsy

We have a camping stove too & full gas bottles, enough for at least 2 weeks of regular cooking. I also fill the kettle before bed MrsChristmas, just in case a pipe goes.

115K

I was going to order some thermal curtains from Dunelm, does anyone know if they are any good? My curtains are too thin for cold weather.

pigpen

115K wrote: »

I was going to order some thermal curtains from Dunelm, does anyone know if they are any good? My curtains are too thin for cold weather.

You can probably get better quality ones probably cheaper from elsewhere Dunelm curtains are quite expensive. They will be better than thin ones though.

[Deleted User]

115K wrote: »

I was going to order some thermal curtains from Dunelm, does anyone know if they are any good? My curtains are too thin for cold weather.

I have curtains from dunelm and I think they are thermal, with a coating on the back. I have a huge window that slopes inward at the top and I joined 2 large curtains together, so I could slide the whole one to the side. It is a brilliant curtain, doesn`t let light through and is definitely efficient at keeping the cold out. Worth the money and cheap at the price. I was so pleased with it that I bought the same for the other 2 bedrooms on that side of the house

The other option for you is to buy thermal lining material and make linings for your thin curtains. You could use bits of velcro to keep them together to make one curtain

mardatha

Does anybody have ideas for a large patio door that covers a whole wall in my daughter's new house? She says its pretty cold now so will be worse come winter. it's floor to ceiling and two wide glass doors.

lobbyludd

other than very big curtains (could use plain cotton cheap duvet covers and line - perhaps even line them with cheap duvets???) - can she attach fittings to the walls that are perpendicular on either side of the window?

for my large windows I have a fleece curtain then triple layered thermal lined roman blinds (like quilts really, home made) and huge curtains that are lined and interlined over the top - I've had to build this up over years - ex hated curtains so when we separated I had nothing - just hung up duvets for privacy - it was blooming cold - but psychologically warmer than nothing, and we survived (youngest was just under 1).

kezlou

Long curtains and maybe place "snakes" along the bottom to stop any further drafts

[Deleted User]

mardatha wrote: »

Does anybody have ideas for a large patio door that covers a whole wall in my daughter's new house? She says its pretty cold now so will be worse come winter. it's floor to ceiling and two wide glass doors.

Mar, we have large patio doors, the equivalent of 3 floor to ceiling wide doors but in reality one door, one tilt/door and one all glass but not opening and all that glass is set inside a kind of alcove. It was very tough trying to think how to get curtains up and how to keep them etc. Dh put up a pole thing without ends and with split hangers so that the curtain rings can glide all the way along. The pole hangs on the top of the alcove, like on a ceiling. We had to have a curtain especially made (I could have made it but was fed up of sewing at the time). Our curtain is very wide ie 2.5 times the width and is also very long and is in one piece. We draw it to the side and tie it back and had it lined as the sun blazes in and it would be faded in no time. The curtain was made in Scotland and is pure wool in a rustic tartan and suits the room but was epensive

The dunelm mill curtains are good and it is relatively easy to sew one to another to make a wide width. It depends how your daughter wants to hang it for ease of opening

A lined warm curtain over such a big expanse of glass certainly makes a big difference and anyway I hate seeing dark outside through autumn and winter. I love cosy with curtains and candles