Preparing for Winter V

Si_Clist

Deleted_User said:

... No TD.

Sorry, but I have to ask ...

[Deleted User]

Si_Clist said:

Deleted_User said:

... No TD.

Sorry, but I have to ask ...

No tumble drier x

mumtoomany

I think TD is tumble drier, if that's what you are asking. 
Money saving tips:
Remove some of the bulbs from fittings with more than one in them. 
Slow cooker not only cook your meals, but warm up the room they are in. Plug them in the room you want to heat. Nothing wrong with coming tea in the front room.
Sit in a sleeping bag at night while watching the telly or reading. Even better if you have your feet on a bit water bottle inside it.I
Hope these help. Mumtoomany.

Laura_Elsewhere

Primrose said:

Would it help if we all shared our 'one liner' hints for reducing power consumption as much as possible, even if the ideas may seem a bit "off the wall"  Somebody may find them useful.

Mine for starters:
- Thermal underwear and clothes layering indoors.
- Batch cooking, especially soups & casserole dishes to reduce fuel consumption
- Wear clothes an extra day where possible to reduce washing machine energy use

- Turn off heating an hour earlier & go to bed earlier!

Adding mine:

- if you put laundry in a bucket of plain cold tap-water overnight, much of the time it only needs a "quick wash" at a lower temperature next day. Check colour-fastness, of course - if everything can be washed together without problems, hen you can start the washing-machine with no detergent, on 'cold, and hen press the 'off' button, leaving the machine half-full of water and everything soaking in there - but put something against the door to stop you absent-mindedly opening it next day  
But basically - cold-water overnight soaking can cut your laundry bills considerably! 

Oh and experiment with cutting the detergent - our bottle says "54 washes!" and we get about 120 washes from it, AND we're in very hard water for which they recommend using extra...! 

-taff

Get second hand lined curtains from charity shops, ebay, freecycle, gumtree or similar, they make a hell of a difference as I can attest . Velvet type ones are the best. They might not be cheap if you're thinking a tenner, think more thirty or forty quid but factor in you'll use them for years. I bought one set from ebay four years ago, they were forty ish or slightly less quid,massive, so I cut the bottoms off and sewed them to the sides. I put those ones in my hallway in front of the door and two other charity shop sets in the bedroom against the windows [ two sets there, one in the bay and one across] Will be getting another one for the door into the lean to this year. The cats can go out but the curtain will insulate.

If you can't afford or get those, look in charity shops or free sites for those cheap fleecy throws and attach them behind your curtains with safety pins or sew them for extra insulation.

Primrose

-Let winter sun into your rooms when possible to lift temperature slightly but close curtains everywhere to insulate  when  temperatures drop and darkness falls.
-  remember gentle exercise indoors, even walking across a room a few times or walking on the spot , helps circulation when you're feeling chilly.
-  wearing a bobble hat or some kind of headgear indoors helps retain body heat

Primrose

I rarely use my tumble dryer. Itsfor emergency drying only
  Try to finish our washing machine activity early enough in winter to use residual heat from various radiators for drying before morning timer switches heating off.

Winter  bedding laundry usually waits for a good outdoor drying day rather than sticking to a fixed washing day schedule. Easierto do this being retired though ! 

Kaylataste

I posted on here a few days ago because I was worried about heating my home,well,I’ve just had an email to say I will be paying over £200 more this year than last year,and last year nobody was home during the day.So I think I am realistically looking at £300 more.Just posting as a warning to others to check their emails so you don’t get a nasty surprise! 

Fiona236

I'm going to say shawl, slippers, padded or quilted couch blanket and a cat on your knee!

fionaandphil

Lots of good ideas on here. We are lucky to have swapped our fixed product over in May and so glad we did. It has cost us an extra 10 per month for 3 months but it would have been 30 per month more if we'd waited. My only hints would be get your woodpiles ready before winter hits and don't forget your firestarter pile - we are still working our way through lots of old, broken fence panels. Warm but cloudy today here so we have bedding drying outside, picking apples and blackberries and my DH is splitting more logs. Enjoy the rest of your day