Preparing for Winter V

greenbee

I have double glazing, roller blinds and then interlined blinds or curtains. There is a noticeable difference in temperature if I stick my hand behind the outer layer, and even a drop behind the next layer (and some of these are light-filtering, some blackout and only one thermal). When I was working in Sweden, even with triple glazing you could feel the difference when you opened the curtains!

Layers work just as well on windows as on bodies. I also like to think of books as insulation - it's a good excuse to have plenty of bookshelves  

Primrose

Thick black opaque tights under trousers instead of socks, even for casual indoor wear , make an enormous layering difference when it comes to staying warm.  I just struggle a little these days to get them on ! 

Five minute "walking on the spot" "exercise snacking"  bursts also help too.

-taff

Try some very thin leggings or sports leggings instead?

cornishchick

Si_Clist said:

cornishchick said:

... my fix ended at the beginning of this month and I rang and got the lowest tarriff I could.

Any particular reason why you did that rather than shop around for the best quote from a different supplier?

Hi Si Clist , I did the energy club on MSE and Uswitch. there wasn't a lot in it. I then rang and spoke to my current supplier. who put me on the cheapest tariff and said my DD would stay the same. I have since rung and checked. and I have been told that I may owe a little if my consumption increases, but my current DD will stay the same. my plan is to save £10 a month starting this month in case I do owe.

Primrose

Yes the early bird always gets the worm when it comes to making early winter preparations, especially with the current national  delivery problems.

i'm eyeing up our remaining outdoor tomatoes.  If they can survive today's rather miserable weather, the rest of the week here should give them a final burst of sunshine before picking them and ripening them off on trays indoors.  I rather like the "harvest festival" feeling of having crops ripening off safely in the house.

jozbo

Popping in to say hello. Appreciating everyone’s tips and am avidly making notes.
been sowing some kale and onions this afternoon in our little raised bed.
put a couple of bits on eBay.
Need to do a stocktake of all of our household and food preps, has been dwindling this month as I’m between pay packets so it’s been a case of dipping into our stores quite a bit.
Need to apply for the working from home tax relief linked to above, I’d forgotten about this but should be possible to get the discount through my paye.
Have a bit of renovation work to do on the stairwell, was let down by plasterer who was going to skim but now thinking about either insulated plasterboard or a thermal paper both on a diy basis. It’s a very cold external wall. Any ideas? 

-taff

Cork?..........

jozbo

-taff said:

Cork?..........

Ah that’s interesting, like rolls of cork on the walls? We will then need to decorate on top, would be line over that? We have about 1cm thickness to play with, which is why I’m leaning towards the wall rock thermal paper although it’s really expensive and needs a special adhesive. It’s a large tall area with just the original 1930s plaster visible at the moment .

-taff

Why would you decorate as normal on top? I did see someone using cork wallpaper but it's hellish expensive so I was thinking cork, potentially just tiles and the spray stencil over the top in one area of our house. In fact, i may just do it on the wall the stairs are on because that's an outside wall..

mumtoomany

Leggings, I wear men's thermal long johns, much warmer than women's. Insulating the wall, try Wallrock thermal lining paper. Not cheap, but really works. We've used it in DD3's room, external walls and ceiling, also in the lounge on external wall. Really works. I plan to do all external walls in the house eventually. Just need to pay for it a bit at a time.