Preparing for Winter

OddjobKIA

well our preperations for winter this year are...


running around after 4 kids keeps us warm enough to wear t-shirt and shorts even in the coldest weather.....


but on a more serious note..

closing the curtains before it gets dark helps..
not going barefoot
draughtexcluding strips arouind all doors and windows (even though they are double glazed).

Barneysmom

I've got the same problem as you nicki,
being on the end that great big wall gets all the weather. We got sdome new carpet for the hall, it was £62 and with new underlay it's quite thick and so far no so cold.
We did have a lot of dampness a couple of years ago, but hubbby took up the floorboards in the cubby hole and found the underneath had been filled with soil (there used to be a cellar). He dug it all out and now the house can breathe a lot better it's not so bad at all.
I think that these old houses were built with cellars and they should have been kept that way, to give the house room to breathe.
You could try lining the walls with the polystyrene rolls then papering over it.
pop outside and check your airbricks are clear too. In my old house one was completely gone, and I couldn't sleep till it was fixed, imagining rats getting in and under the floorboards :eek:

kersplatt

Hullo ladies, I'm going to join this thread too. I have electric only in this house, ineffective double glazing, wooden doors and single glazing on the front and back, and laminate and tiles throughout - so our flat gets more than a little chilly being on the ground floor.

Before winter properly sets in I need to get the lined curtains up on the front and back doors, make a couple of draft excluders, get some condensation crystals - we already have a dehumidifier. We have to make sure that we move the furniture around regularly otherwise we get mould growing up the insides of the internal walls which is great - yeuch

I have been scanning the thread for tips for a couple of weeks but hope to contribute a bit as well

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

mardatha wrote: »

The back of my house is like that Nicki, although I'm in the mdidle of a terrace of cottages. It faces north and is baltic in winter...plus doesnt get the sun at all from oct to about march because of the hill. I never did get round to that double glazing film yet !!

Our old house was like that,always freezing and dark in the livingroom even in summer as it faced north.We hardly ever used the room and lived in the kitchen as it was south facing and sunny.
The house we live in now although an end terrace(houses were built on at a much later date)was the first house ever built on this road in the 1800s.The architect was very clever he built it so that the doors and windows were positioned so that it got sun all day long from sunrise to sunset.It realy is a pleasure to live here all year round something I could'nt say for my other houses I lived in.How can you tell it was commissioned by a middle aged lady we have the plans and she certainly knew her stuff when it came to having a house built.

BigMummaF

Good ole' mum came to the rescue at 6:00 this morning :eek: No1 had to scrape the car windows & I sauntered to the Black Hole[it's not under the stairs & is supposed to be a larder but no good for anything than a glory-hole ] & found the de-icer I'd been secretly stock-piling from the last freeze
Don't really like using the stuff, but can't remember the 'recipe' for making your own--think it involves meths or such-like--& much prefer scraping the windscreens till they're frost free. As it was tho, at that time of the morning, I came across the chemicals first.

I have to say I don't like driving when the sun is so low in the sky &/or the windows misted up, but then I don't like driving anyway But I do like the crisp fresh air & the smells of autumn; damp earth, bonfires, pine needles...every season has it's good bits too don't you think?

mardatha

I think old houses were carefully POSITIONED, and new ones are PLONKED. Any old house you see is usually facing the sun and angled to catch as much as poss. My front is like that, with the livroom and our bedroom. But the kitchen bathroom and spare room (guess where my pc is...) faces the back, due north, and isnt nice in winter.But I do have the most fabulous views, that takes your mind off the cold !
Got a lot of geese going over just now, must be changing weather somewhere.
We should have recommended reading on this thread---I nominate "Call of the Wild" , or ""White Fang" ...LOL

Butterfly_Brain

BigMummaF wrote: »

Good ole' mum came to the rescue at 6:00 this morning :eek: No1 had to scrape the car windows & I sauntered to the Black Hole[it's not under the stairs & is supposed to be a larder but no good for anything than a glory-hole ] & found the de-icer I'd been secretly stock-piling from the last freeze
Don't really like using the stuff, but can't remember the 'recipe' for making your own--think it involves meths or such-like--& much prefer scraping the windscreens till they're frost free. As it was tho, at that time of the morning, I came across the chemicals first.

I have to say I don't like driving when the sun is so low in the sky &/or the windows misted up, but then I don't like driving anyway But I do like the crisp fresh air & the smells of autumn; damp earth, bonfires, pine needles...every season has it's good bits too don't you think?

If you leave your windows open for a little while when you come home it helps to keep the windscreen frost free, or cover the screen with some tarpaulin or heavy plastic

Butterfly_Brain

A pensioner friend of mine always told me to wear layers and a wooly hat to keep warm indoors in winter - think I will be taking her advice this year!

groatie_queen

Here's another purchaser of a PDSA hottie complete with fleece cover for just £2.99 brand new! I had a bit of luck whilst in there and spotted a second-hand lovely fleece blanket for £1.99. It has been through the wash and is drying on a radiator rack atm.

Looking forward to snuggling into it on the sofa tomorrow night.

Still looking for a long heavy lined curtain for the front door.

GQ

Menolly_2

We put the thermal curtain linings up in the sitting room - we have a huge expanse of double-glazed window at the front and (not very well fitting) french doors at the back which lead into the conservatory and it is amazing what a difference these thermal linings make to cutting the heat loss!

We are about to replace our 20+ year old boiler, which we have been nursing along until we had the money to do something about it. We will have thermostatic valves put on all the radiators as part of the job.

We have investigated cavity wall insulation and are arranging for the surveyor to come and quote next week; I have been to B & Q, Homebase and Focus and priced up loft insulation (we can do this ourselves) which we really need to top up.

Our utility/breakfast room has single brick walls on 3 sides (it used to be a coalstore), so we plan to insulate them using Thermafoil, before finishing with wallboard - the whole room is being changed around as the old boiler is floor-standing and the new one will be wall hung, so it is a good opportunity to sort the room out.

We are lucky in that a policy matured at the beginning of the month, so the funds from that have been earmarked for all these jobs!

We have the autumn/winter duvet on the bed, with a comforter for the chillier nights (we also have the wonderful warming properties of three semi-longhaired cats - furry hottie bottles LOL).

I bought us both thermal undies as soon as they appeared in M&S - DH's ones were on a 3 for 2 offer (mine weren't :sad: ) and since I tend to wear fairly long skirts and boots in the winter, I bought nice thick warm tights as well. My last-year boots have been reheeled.

I also got one of the radiator boosters - a trial run indicated that it really does work too!

We put draught excluder round the front door last year but it still felt like Siberia when the wind was in the right (or would that be the wrong?) direction. I have a lovely full length lined curtain (charity shop buy) all ready to go up at the front door this year, and I have found a portiere on eBay which hopefully will arrive by the weekend.

I always have masses of candles in the house and we do have a couple of working Tilley lamps as well, with spare mantles. I bought energy saving bulbs from B & Q on Monday - including some Philips Dimmable ones. Result!!! We have dimmers in the lounge, dining room and on the landing and I had all but given up on being able to replace the "normal" bulbs!). The ones I have bought all seem to come on immediately, unlike the one I got last year for the bathroom which seems to take ages to get up to its full light potential.

Will start making soup which I can freeze in individual portions, ready for DH and me to take to work - the pressure cooker is great for this! The slow cooker will also see a lot of action too!

Can't think of anything else just now........ I'm still reading my way through all the other posts here, there are some great ideas!!