Preparing for Winter V

Si_Clist

Another vote for the Anker ones.  It's amazing how long they hold the charge!

Renoir64

And another vote for Ankr. Good product at a good price. 

Papillon55

Thanks everyone for your ideas about water  bottle storage - super helpful. I feel more confident about it now with a few tweaks. 

With all the storm damage & power disconnect  others have suffered in the UK, and another storm apparently brewing, I’m bound to be back with a portable gas fire question shortly! 

Stay safe and warm. 

Lucy5781

annieb64 said:

We keep spare gloves,  thick socks etc in a flat cardboard  box under the passenger  seat of the car. DH made a loop handle out of a piece of rope sp it can be easily pulled out. We also keep a couple of fleece blankets on the back seat.We've never had to use them in snow but they come in useful for picnics .

I need to put the kids small ones back into our new car, thanks for the reminder!

Renoir64

I was thinking about a tip I was given years ago about walking in the snow.
You put a pair of old acrylic socks over your shoes and they give a good deal of grip.
I tried it once and it really worked

I suppose the sleeves off an old jumper might work in a similar manner.

Laura_Elsewhere

Renoir64 said:

I was thinking about a tip I was given years ago about walking in the snow.
You put a pair of old acrylic socks over your shoes and they give a good deal of grip.
I tried it once and it really worked

I suppose the sleeves off an old jumper might work in a similar manner.

Wool works just as well - anything knitted, really. It's because it flexes as you walk so the snow cracks and falls off. In rural Russia, the women traditionally have thick felted-wool boot-socks they wear to go outside for doing chores, because they are less slippy than boots would be. 

LadOnTheHill

Between damp weather and a guttering problem, we've had to put some of those moisture absorber trays in various rooms. Refills of the white chalk-y looking stuff are expensive for the price, but looking online it's called calcium chloride and available for a lot cheaper in bulk. We found it for ~£2/kg on ebay, in bulk, buying the official sachets was ~£6/kg.

Fun fact, it's also known as "pickle crisp" and can be used in pickled foods to keep them crunchy.

Laura_Elsewhere

We have a 'rechargable' one, about 1.5-2kg -  every few weeks we dry it out by putting it in the microwave and then holding it under the kitchen extractor fan to steam - it takes ten minutes or so to do but we get 100-150ml of water out each time so it's worth doing! 

Toonie

From next week my DP will be working from home 3-4 days a week (he is in an office of three and there needs to be one person on site each day). Unfortunately the spare room/study upstairs in the coldest room in the house as it has no radiator and has the loft hatch so I'm planning ways to keep him warm whilst he's working as normally when it's just me at home I don't have the heating on. So far I've pulled out a blanket for his lap, made sure his woolly socks are near the front of the drawer, and planned some warm lunches for next week. I've also told him he can have a plug in heat pad if he gets chilly. He's got plenty of layers that he can use. Otherwise I think it's going to be a case of telling him to get up and move around every now and then to keep the blood pumping, and maybe going for a lunchtime walk if the weather is good.

LadOnTheHill

You can get 250w personal fan heaters that are designed to go under desks. They're great if you can put a sheet or cloth or something round the desk area to keep the heat in. It'll cost about 6-7p per hour to run, depending on your electricity tariff. Get one with a thermostat and it'll be even cheaper.

Also, I got a relative a heat pad that you put your feet on, very low wattage but it's enough for her to keep her feet warm. It's designed for use by pets, about a foot square.

Also we have an electric
heated throw for the sofa, it's less than 1p per hour to run on the lowest setting and is great for snuggling under.