I'm cold...

circulartriangle

Hello! Great advice given already but just wanted to add my support for the hot drinks idea! I feel the cold a lot (insane amounts - e.g. I wear a fleece even in the summer) and don't like tea or coffee, so was really missing out on the warming element of hot drinks until I started drinking cuppasoups, hot squash etc last year. It really makes a difference to how warm I feel, and I often have a hot water bottle on my lap during the day too (I work from home so no shame about how layered up I am!). Keep warm and good luck (o:

Ilona

I am sitting here wearing 3 teeshirts, one sweatshirt, one big fleecy top, pair of leggins, pair of jog bottoms, woolen calf length skirt over that, fleecy dressing gown over the whole lot. I've got a thin pair of socks on, knee length thick socks, big furry slippers, a scarf, and fingerless knitted gloves.

I've just had a drink of hot fruit juice (dilute cordial). At bed time I take a layer off and go to bed in the rest of my clothes. During the night I get a bit warm so peel some layers off underneath the bedclothes. I have one duvet underneath me, and two on top, with a throw over that. Snug as a bug in a rug.

I have hung a second set of curtains over the top of the first ones, so most windows have two sets. I have a cross trainer in my living room, ten minutes on that warms me up. You could put some dance music on and leap about a bit to keep warm.

I have three cats, they have soft cushions to lie on, or they go on my bed. One cat gets into the bed with me :rotfl:

I limit my heating because I don't want big bills.
Ilona
PS. The thick woolen skirt really does work.

foxgloves

I can really sympathise with you, as our house is very cold. It's had a kitchen wall knocked out at some point to make the hall/kitchen/lobby/stairs open-plan & it's nice & airy in the summer, but a nightmare to heat in the winter, & this winter just seems to be going on & on. Some really good advice on here. The most useful things I do to keep warm in the day without racking up even bigger monthly energy bills are:
*Hot drink every couple of hours. Try hot blackcurrant squash or similar if you don't like tea & coffee.
*Thick socks & thick soles. (Even so, I've managed to get chillblains this winter, which shows how cold it's been as I haven't had those since I was 12 years old!)
*When you are not moving around, have a hot water bottle on your lap or in the small of your back.....it works wonders!
*Put extra layers over the bed.....if you are a crafter, knit or crochet a blanket out of all your old odds & ends of yarn. If you are not crafty, see if there's anything at the charity shop.
*Search the charity shops for a thick wool cardigan. Doesn't really matter what it looks like....it needs to be big enough to be buttoned up over 2 or 3 thinner layers underneath.
*Fingerless gloves indoors. This winter, I've even been knitting with my fingerless gloves on!
*Do you have a smallish, easier to heat room which you can use more while it is so cold? I've got a little bedroom which is used as an office/study, but this winter, I've moved a chair & warm rug in there, so that I can sit in there & knit, read, or whatever, knowing it's the cheapest thing to do heating-wise.
*Our spare bedroom heater is turned to very low (just to keep things above freezing) unless I need it warmer for drying washing. No-one using it at the mo, so why pay to heat it?
*You can make a quick draft excluder just by stuffing the leg of a pair of old leggings or similar with rags/even plastic bags if you don't have anything else to hand.
*Door curtains are worth having. I have safety pinned a thick fleecy throw to the back of our door curtain & it does make a difference to the draught.....it can be taken off when winter's over.
*If the weather warms up even slightly, turn the heating down a notch. We've got one of those free electricity monitors & it amazed me how much difference in cost was showing on the monitor, when I've turned storage heating down say from No. 5 to No. 3.
The last thing, is not to feel embarrassed or alone about how hard you are finding it to keep the house warm. I don't know anyone at the moment who isn't worried about the soaring cost of energy bills. It's not something that's going to go away, so I think most people, unless very wealthy, are going to have to adopt a lot of these cost-cutting measures. Our bills have hit £100 a month for gas/elec combined & that's a figure I don't want to go beyond. As prices only go up (despite the massive profits these companies make), my useage HAS to come down. Here's hoping we do finally get a Spring x

Popperwell

quintwins wrote: »

Also i was surprised someone said they found and electric blanket expensive to run i've barely noticed a difference in my electric bill.

That was me...I'd love to use it and I was so cosy. Perhaps I used it too much and used high setting too long?

mishmash

Do your council do a scheme of energy efficiency? Be worth enquiring.
They came and put reflectors behind our radiators, insulated our loft and but drought excluders in the doors, they would have done cavaty wall insulation too but we didn't need it! And it was all free.

It did make a difference, have a look online.

quintwins

Popperwell wrote: »

That was me...I'd love to use it and I was so cosy. Perhaps I used it too much and used high setting too long?

I don't think so i've been ill and used mine all week, maybe try it again for a night and take and elec reading before bed and after to show how much it acually uses, if it's an older one it may use more or if it's broken (your local fire station should check it for you) I love mine and would never be without one now.

YORKSHIRELASS

Sounds daft but sometimes if you are feeling cold getting wrapped up and going for a brisk walk outside can warm you up. Just half an hours walking and when you come back in the house you feel warmer, for a while at least.

I also work on the principle of making sure one room at least is warm. Even then our main room is around 15 degrees which is supposedly too cold but its fine for me.

Is there any chance of finding a bit of voluntary work so you arent at home as much? That way you are using someone elses heating and it might help with your job hunting too.

booter

I agree with everything everyone's already suggested - some good, sound practical advice! My two pen'orth, fwiw , is to do with colour psychology. If you have a house decorated, for example, in monochrome, it will "feel" colder than a house with, for example, lots of warm colours. To give an example, I've just made my sis a pair of curtains & duvet cover for her son's room (charity shop fabric find ), which is quite a cold room and had very little colour in it (pale green walls, grey carpet). It now has a huge splash of bright orange and they're both delighted and have commented on how warm the room now feels. So, add some sunny colours - and it may not only feel warmer but make you feel cheerier too!!

Popperwell

Not going to hijack this thread but...

This is the blanket...just started to use it...unless the electric bill increased because of the electric pump that pushes the water around the gas central heating.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4500496.htm#pdpFullProductInformation

wik

Hi,
A tip for if you have a concrete kitchen floor with lino... Get 2 cardboard boxes, flatten and put one in front of the sink, and one in front of the cooker, it really makes a difference on a cold day to not be standing on a very cold floor.
My grandparents had a thick cork mat in their bathroom, and it had a bath mat under it, so you got out of the bath and didnt get cold feet!
wik x