How cold can I keep the house safely?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

JKJ wrote: »

Ref not drying washing indoors to keep condensation at bay - what do people do then when it pours with rain for a week and they have no tumble dryer? I never know what to do for the best.

Go to the launderette.

lindseykim13

JKJ wrote: »

Ref not drying washing indoors to keep condensation at bay - what do people do then when it pours with rain for a week and they have no tumble dryer? I never know what to do for the best.

Don't wash for a week
Seriously i have a fold up airer, on a rainy day or one that looks iffy i will wait for a break in the rain and pop my washing in the garden on this just by the door. If it starts raining i can just reach out and grab it. I leave it near the door and it goes back out again when the rain stops.
Bit of a pain but i will tend to watch the weather like a hawk and any dry days in a row i will get a lot of washing done to keep us going. I will hold out doing the washing though if there are a few rainy days in a row.

I'm not saying it completly dries like this but it cuts the drying time down a lot. If stuffs nearly dry i will bring it in during the evening and pop in the airing cupboard or over the stairs. I do then have more condensation in the morning but it's nowhere near as bad if i had just left it indoors for 3 days! Just wipe the windows down.

I do have a tumble dryer in the shed for emergency use, but i never use it. Would litrally be if it rained for a month.

thriftyniftyme

I do dry outdoors as far as possible but if not it takes as long as it takes. I've not had a problem with damp but I am careful. We firstly try to cut down on how much washing we need to do. If something ends up in my laundry bin it'd better be because it actually needs washing! I made sure I got a high-rpm washer and I ventilate the room I am drying the laundry in as much as possible. I do have a dehumidifier and that helps if I can't do anything else. I found one of those JML dri-buddies in a charity shop, I don't really rate it as a drier but it is good for getting that last bit of damp out of clothes before they are put away.

Like Lindseykim I do have a tumble-drier, MIL gave us her old one, but it is very rare that it is used.

JKJ

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Go to the launderette.

Nearest launderette is 20 miles and 2 bus rides away so no use. But thanks anyway

daisiegg

JKJ wrote: »

Nearest launderette is 20 miles and 2 bus rides away so no use. But thanks anyway

There is no laundrette in my town or the next one either! Also you can't dry everything in a tumble drier...my OH would go mental if I put one of his £90 work shirts in the drier. I dry most things around the house and only tumble towels, sheets, underwear and pyjamas.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

JKJ wrote: »

Nearest launderette is 20 miles and 2 bus rides away so no use. But thanks anyway

Still cheaper than the costs of treating dangerous mould levels in the home. Or having clothes that smell like a crypt in the office.


But I've got space for a TD and live round the corner from at least two launderettes, so it's easy for me to say it.

I didn't always, though. So we smelled bad, the flat was mouldy, the eldest had breathing problems from allergy to mould spores, I had final warnings at work for being smelly and I hated every second of living in that place. It was worth struggling down the hill in the rain with a load of essential washing (no bus) to reach the nearest launderette, just so we could have clean clothes.

mysuni

those of you with dehumidifiers what make/model do you have and what sort of price did you pay? I'm looking to get one as my house is very damp.
thanks

thriftyniftyme

mysuni wrote: »

those of you with dehumidifiers what make/model do you have and what sort of price did you pay? I'm looking to get one as my house is very damp.
thanks

I got the cheapest non-mini one I could find, which at the time was Argos £90ish. I did look for one second-hand, but nothing came up - it was a few years ago now though.
It's pretty good. TBH I have nothing to compare it to though. On full whack it uses about 200W, collects a surprisingly large amount of water.
There are two types of dehumidifier. Dessicant ones warm the air which could be handy but are dearer both to buy and to run (I don't know exactly how much by). Coil ones use cold coils and are cheaper to buy initially, and to run. But they blow out cool air. That is the kind I have. I wouldn't say they make the room noticably cooler.

VikkiiKawaii

I don't really put the heating on at home at all and when I go to my mum's and she has the heating on to 21 degrees I feel uncomfortably hot and usually end up wearing bare minimum of clothes (i.e a top and trousers, no socks/cardi/coats)

valk_scot

JKJ wrote: »

Ref not drying washing indoors to keep condensation at bay - what do people do then when it pours with rain for a week and they have no tumble dryer? I never know what to do for the best.

You dry it on the radiators or heated airer but keep the windows open, at the top if possible. Yes, it's not ideal but you've got to vent the moist air or you'll get mould. In the old days when you had a clothes airer hanging from the kitchen ceiling your clothes dried using the heat from the cooker and you'd have had the kitchen window open while cooking anyway to vent the steam. Then at night you'd shut the kitchen door anyway because the kitchen would be otherwise unheated apart from perhaps a boiler or range. It was a good system and classic Victorian design (same as sash and case windows, best design ever to get good airflow through a room) but of course modern houses are seldom designed with such mundane things as drying washing in mind. Low ceilings, small rooms (or conversely open plan) and hermetically sealed = condensation.

Best compromise is to designate one room for drying clothes, a dining room or spare bedroom being ideal. Buy a heated airer and keep the window open and door closed.