Preparing for Winter V

queenb1981

I also used to be on this page but have returned after many years of just lurking.  I bought some great solar lamps for £12 each. I leave them on the windowsill charging all day then use at night.

Beige8

queenb1981 said:

I also used to be on this page but have returned after many years of just lurking.  I bought some great solar lamps for £12 each. I leave them on the windowsill charging all day then use at night.

Wow - where did you buy these please?

queenb1981

Beige8 said:

queenb1981 said:

I also used to be on this page but have returned after many years of just lurking.  I bought some great solar lamps for £12 each. I leave them on the windowsill charging all day then use at night.

Wow - where did you buy these please?

Pound store.  Did get them a month or so ago so not sure if they still sell them 

Beige8

Thank you - will take a look 

CJRyder

My Remoska Grand has arrived at work. We also have a solar wind-up radio and some solar camping lights that double as USB chargers.

Singlespeeder

Afternoon. Some great ideas on here

I'm not sure on the thinking behind candles, not in these days of leds. Candles give off very little light, about a candlepower ! Sure USB lights are vastly superior and safer, cheaper to run and just generally more useful.

We have a camper van and have several different lights for different occasions, cooking outside, reading in bed etc. We just have a 20,000mAH Anker battery pack (with a built in torch and 3 usb outlets.) It'll charge the phones, run the lights, do everything. We can charge when driving, or in work, or at home if you've only got the lights in case of emergency.

We have heavy duty lined velvet (not velvet) curtains over the front door, the big DG patio doors and to segregate the snug where the log burner is ( there's a room and another passage way with no door fitted, the curtains work perfectly. We close all the curtains and doors in the snug while the burner is warming up. It's a fairly small room and does warm up fairly quickly. Once it's getting too warm, we can either sit in there and let it die down a bit or open the door to the lounge and let the heat go in there etc...

I think we may have enough wood in store for this winter.

I work from home. We never put the heating on in the morning and only have it on if it's pretty cold and maybe from 5pm til 8pm. Same with the log burner, light it about 4pm and let it die down after 9pm. So the house is cold during my working day. I have and electric throw blanket which is fabulous.  On full whack it's too warm after 20 mins. This is 80w. so it could be on for 12.5 hours on full chat for (at today's horrendous prices) 52p or 4.16p an hour. I have to turn it down to level 2 or 3 so probably half that. We also sit under it at night on the sofa if we've not lit the fire. 
I've bought 5 more, one for the missus and one each for the kids ( grown up and live away from home) ... the blankets are a no brainer. Heat the person not the space.

I'm lucky enough to have a reasonable garden with a shed with a large overhanging roof to the front. I've just fitted a clothes line utilising this covered space, this should negate the use of the tumble drier.

Every little helps !

Sorry if this has droned on. Oh and David Bellamy died in 2019.  

Laura_Elsewhere

We are stuck with using the tumble dryer as we're in a rented top-floor flat - but I shall be trying hard to use the old methods of airing and spot-cleaning so that I only wash things that are actually in contact with us, and other things can be cleaned in other ways or just rinsed through to refresh the shaping. I can drape a few things over the hot water tank in the hall cupboard... 

We've never yet used the heating here - the double-glazing is 20 years old but works very well. Even when the two flats downstairs were empty one October we still never needed any heating. We were lucky to get free loft insulation early this year. We have several Victorian 'stone pig' ceramic/earthenware hot water bottles that act as mini storage-heaters - filled form a kettle they stay hot, properly hot, not warm, for 8-10 hours if covered ie in the bed, or for 2-4 hours if I'm using one as a foot-rest, sitting at the table working, with a towel or rug loosely over. 

Brambleberry

Hi everyone, popping in from lurking to say thank you for all the inspiration and reminders of good winter practice.

Thought I'd mention our unusual emergency lighting find. DP bought some wireless LED lightbars to go in the glass cupboard a few years ago, but his memory/executive function isn't great these days so they were just stuck under the shelves and rarely used.
We went for about a year without charging them, including a couple of longer power outages, before I even considered checking to see if they worked during the storms last year - I'd assumed they would have discharged. They were still working fine, and I felt very silly for muddling about with torches/oil lamps/candles!
The magnetic strip will hold on to the cooker hood so we can have excellent working light for the camping stove, and in the living room I can rest one in the metal loops of the light fitting.
I can also walk around the house holding one like a lightsaber if the mood takes me

sammy_kaye18

Afternoon all

I'm starting to wonder if a few push button battery powered lights dotted around the place might come in handy for things like if the lights go out and being able to get to bed and the bathroom etc as we are in an old miners house and the bathroom is downstairs at the back of the house so it can be quite a walk if your bursting for the toilet at night, let alone if you cant put a light on to help you! 

I think a few under cupboard push lights might be next to add to my list - just in case. 

So far I have added 
- a door curtain pole
- a thermos flash
- solar lights if I can find them (failing that I could use ones in the garden) 
- stock up on drinks 
- a king size duvet if I can find one or a spare second double duvet (husband has a habit of feeling the cold and curls up in the duvet when he's cold - so I get left with either no duvet or the weird side where there's duvet cover but no actual duvet. Might have to make an investment in a premier inn one though since they are so comfortable and cosy! 
- hand warmers for the kids going to school
- winter bag for the car
- torches

Uniscots97

sammy_kaye18 said:

Afternoon all

I'm starting to wonder if a few push button battery powered lights dotted around the place might come in handy for things like if the lights go out and being able to get to bed and the bathroom etc as we are in an old miners house and the bathroom is downstairs at the back of the house so it can be quite a walk if your bursting for the toilet at night, let alone if you cant put a light on to help you! 

I think a few under cupboard push lights might be next to add to my list - just in case. 

So far I have added 
- a door curtain pole
- a thermos flash
- solar lights if I can find them (failing that I could use ones in the garden) 
- stock up on drinks 
- a king size duvet if I can find one or a spare second double duvet (husband has a habit of feeling the cold and curls up in the duvet when he's cold - so I get left with either no duvet or the weird side where there's duvet cover but no actual duvet. Might have to make an investment in a premier inn one though since they are so comfortable and cosy! 
- hand warmers for the kids going to school
- winter bag for the car
- torches

I got USB lights that can be set to on or motion sensor to come on and levels of brightness. I'm using them for my porch.