Preparing for Winter

Princess_kate

It was easy, however after a few hours they fell off! I think maybe because I used velcro dots & not a whole strip, wasn't enough to hold it up, anyway.....I have re-attatched them, with ribbon. I have a pole & curtains with eyelet tops. Anyway i cut 3 small slits in the fleece, 1 either end & 1 in the middle & tied it to the pole behind the curtain, if you know what i mean. When eyelet tops curtains are threaded onto a pole there is one part your cant see the pole & thats where i tied it. When I draw the curtains it just moves along with the curtains & will be easy to remove in summer, if we ever get one!!
Sure they will make a difference, my bedroom windows now have blinds, curtains that are lined with blackout material & now fleece blankets too! hehe
By the way, I used asda smartprice fleeces, £1.77 each & the ribbon was actually from a fleece I bought from primark, came tied around it & I knew it would come in handy for something! Goodness I have officially become moneysaving!

Hope this helps!

I also used the same fleece to make a draft excluder!
We should write a book, 101 uses for a smartprice fleece!

Kate

Scubabe

Ooooh thanks for your post Kate, I've been hyperventilating at the cost of proper lined curtains

Do these fleece blanket linings really keep the heat in?

I might have to go find an Asda!!

toottifrootti

thanks kate - i have ordinary heading tape on mine so will have to think about that but thanks for the tip about asda fleece - I cant say I have noticed them in mine but will go have a look tomorrow. I only founf this thread recently and havent managed to read it all - there are so many brilliant ideas - I am way behind you all!!! but I think I will be warmer than last year !!
toots

Princess_kate

Well they have only gone up tonight & I havent actually got the heating on in the bedroom BUT im sure they will help, extra layer to keep any drafts out & a thick lining to the curtain....bound to help!

I'm pretty sure a few other posters have already tried this so they may be able to confirm if they have noticed a difference.....

Very easy to do though & not perminant so easy to take down again & only £1.77 x the number of curtains! Cheap as chips!

Kate

Princess_kate

The fleeces aren't that heavy so maybe a few tack stitches in the right plack would hold them up and could be unpicked when required?

When I put the blackout lining on my curtains i just ran a single line of stitching across the top done on the sewing machine, ok, my mums sewing machine! & the material just hangs behind the curtains but works fine & was easy to do!

ceridwen

D&DD wrote: »

Ceridwen we had the same problem and the loft hatch is smack bang above the boys beds *3 storey house howling wind!*
I bought some of the stick on velcro and made a little removable cover,like a little blind that covers up all the draughts and keeps the wind from whistling a bit it comes of in the summer and as the velcro strip is white you can't see it
HTH
D

I get yer.....tackle things t'other way round. The house side of t'loft hatch - rather than the loft side of it....hmmmm.....bit of lateral thinking there...and you know how I like my lateral thinking....will go off for a ponder on that...

glitterycloud

Scubabe wrote: »

There is absolutely no way on earth we can buy a tank of oil - we do not have that kind of money. My neighbour just filled his, cost him £1600, and he said he HOPES that will last them the winter!!! I cannot even scrape together £400 for a bare minimum fill, which wouldn't even last us to Christmas.

No, there is just no way I can afford it.

Lilo, thanks heaps for your tip about the heaters and about getting the fire stuff from Argos, didn't know they sold that kinda stuff, off for a look there now.

Nobody has given any suggestions for good places to buy heavy lined curtains, does that mean you just all make your own?? If anyone knows of a good place to buy curtains I'd love to know.

Cheers!

Hi im in the same boat as you we have oil central heating and can not afford 400+ for 500 litres so we will make do like last year with a gas fire, bought from B&Q last year, we get gas bottles for about £23-26 (refil) and it lasts alot longer and is mobile so we can take it upstairs for the bedroom before bed and have it in the lounge in the evening.
Central heating would be nice this year but i think i may just buy another gas heater and be warm that way.
I can't believe how much money MSE site has saved me over the years, its ok not to have central heating on - not if your one of my family - they hate coming to mine as its cold!!! lol

Scubabe

Awwww thanks so much for your post! It's good to know I'm not the only one who's chosen to foresake the central heating and use portable heaters instead!
Did you find you had any problems with damp if you didn't use the central heating? I'm noticing it already, so I'm hoping to buy a dehumidifier this payday.

Ness

mackidee

I've also got a mobile calor gas heater which I recently picked up locally from the free ads.Its a living flame one so looks quite modern.I'm using it in short bursts when I feel cold in the evenings despite the fleece layers/furry slippers/sleeping bag and am finding it doesn't take long to warm up the room so I can turn it off again. I think it would be too heavy for me to cart up the stairs though:rotfl: I'm hoping my £26 gas bottle will last a good while and I wont need to put on the heating unless absolutely necessary.:T

Gryfon

It cost us about £450 to fill our tank in March which should last us till next Spring. I have a question though, I've put our Stanley (like an Aga) on low to keep the chill off the house and also I hang my wet clothes above it and in front of it and they dry either during the day or overnight. I don't have a tumble drier which I would be using otherwise. So do you think I'm actually saving money drying over the heater rather than using a dryer?