Preparing for Winter V

SuzeQStan

Laura_Elsewhere said:

We try to avoid using our small microfibre towels due to the laundry:oceans problem (see below) but damp cotton towels are a problem in our small top-floor flat esp as we don’t bother using any heaters. In summer we hang them up by open windows, but in winter they really have to go in the tumble dryer- and ours has just started to take a Very Long Time…
so we have a new heat-pump dryer on the way! It will apparently take longer but much less electricity and much less heat so probably better for our clothes too!

(everyone has their personal priorities- we avoid plastics but still eat meat; others might use microfibres but be vegetarian.. no criticism intended!)

Don’t think anyone could be offended by your reasonable outlook Laura -  it can be costly to be green so making moral /budgetary personal decisions is a balancing act and no two will
ever be the same. 😊👍🏻

let us know how you get on with the heat pump dryer please. Our old dryer is on last legs. And we are similar to you in struggling to dry anything without the dryer in winter 

HappyinDevon

Ah I have one of those catcher thingys meant to stop the fibres escaping into the washing machine, but tbh I’ve no proof that it works, but thanks for reminder about microfibres.
As ever  it will be a battle between mould forming in my windowless bathroom,with elderly extractor fan and heating/ environmental costs…. Summer is much easier I can just dry them outside! 

Laura_Elsewhere

Thanks, @SuzeQStan  

My husband is the sort to spend days and days researching every aspect, so I'm pretty confident it will be a good dryer- but I'm intrigued to know how it will do in terms of useability, how much the longer drying times might be a problem, or whether it will be so much quieter that it's not a problem, etc... and very intrigued to see whether the amount of fluff coming off in each load changes!! Every lot of fluff I remove from the filter is our clothes getting threadbare, after all!

He is in the kitchen now, sawing- for ten years we've had two clumsy plastic cutlery trays inside the 60cm top-drawer, and they've never worked properly for our needs, so we investigated, and now two bamboo-wood trays have arrived, which are about 7cm too wide, side by side, so he is sawing one compartment off the side of one, to snug it up against the other and give us one full-width thing to hold all our stuff. We just laid them out and put in everything we need to put in, ignoring the bit that's going, and even just seeing them laid out on the hob I can see how much less irritating it's going to be! 

greenbee

I have a heat pump dryer and it's been a significant improvement over the vented one I had previously. 

Primrose

A blow for our winter food shopping today.  Learnt that our valued village butcher is about to close down. Know that we have Ben unbelievably fortunate to have had one for many years, but they will be greatly missed.  Where else can you go to get large free  bags of chicken carcasses for stock making?  And attend a home butchering course?.  We have just bought extra supplies but sadly comes at a time when freezer is crammed with current home green beans and gifted soft fruit.   It does seem that every day more bad news creeps out of the woodwork, especially for older people without their own transport.

Jellytotts

We put an extending clothes line in the spare room last year, zigzags across from one side to a hook and then back further along and gives me plenty of drying space.  1 small dehumidifier, a fan on low and 2 windows on the catch mean I can dry a load overnight without heating.  We pop our towels on there after morning showers and they dry nicely too.  I hate having airers around the house so this works wonderfully.

Found the most amazing blackberry patch earlier in the week so am picking up to 1kg a day as they ripen, plenty of apples and plums in boxes outside house in the village too so I’m filling the freezer and making jam.  Veg has slowed right down in the garden but it’s all very welcom,

Cherryfudge

@Primrose, that's a real shame. Before he goes, see if he can recommend anyone who delivers. It's a bit of a slim chance but worth a try.

mumtoomany

Hi all, @Laura_Elsewhere, possibly locking the door after the horse has bolted, but we had a similar problem with our drier last year. It was taking longer and longer to dry a load. Turned out that the hose, that vents the damp air outside, was partly blocked with fluff. Cleared it out, problem solved. I know you said you have a new one coming, but if this solves your problem, at least the old one can be passed on to someone else. Save the planet , one tumble drier at a time. 
Hugs, mumtoomany.xx

HappyinDevon

4 Chimneys swept yesterday ( had the unused bedroom ones done too) now need to make vented covers to go up bedroom chimneys  so that’s there’s air flow but something to catch any falling dust…. Opening up the old chimneys has really helped with the slight damp we were getting on breast in bedrooms…. Not surprising when I discovered the amount of sticks/ nests and bird deposits that were up them( previous owner had cowls fitted and blocked up chimneys without any vents and didn’t empty them first 😳) 
looking forward in a weird way to return of lighting woodburners, but know the novelty will wear off if it’s a long winter like last years was!!
man coming next week for hopeful repair of kitchen window, as arm broke off it rendering it inoperable 2 years ago and I can’t handle the condensation dripping down walls every time I cook something in winter for another year…unable to have a vented extraction fan due to position of cooker/ party wall with neighbours courtyard….. I can see that they wouldn’t want my steam venting over their garden every time I decide to cook, just another quirk of living in an old terraced listed place 😆

Laura_Elsewhere

@mumtoomany - thanks! Nope, we've cleaned everything possible- even hauled it right out and took the back off so my husband could vacuum the innards... it's just built-in obsolescence...