Preparing for Winter

Confuzzled

Bigsister wrote: »

Hi
I have layers and warm bedding etc but my house is old, about 100 yrs and the walls are solid so no chance of cavity insulation. We have the loft done now apart from one small bit (note to nag on this!)but I guess will old walls there is nothing to keep the cold out except heat the inside? The outside wall was freezing this morning.
Also with an old 1930's flat roof kitchen extension, anything there I can do-got double glazing and a radiator but like everyone else, after last years gas bill we could do with leaving it off until November, you would think the south was warm but its a damp cold we have and it gets into my bones

in a situation like this with the very thick stone walls you may want to try the approach of never allowing it to get truly cold inside the house. stone retains its thermal mass and releases it slowly, however it also takes it in slowly so if you allow it to get completely cold the house will feel cold for days unless you really pump out the heat

having lived in a few different crofters cottages over several years i found that leaving the radiators on at their lowest settings in the main rooms all the time then using a fireplace to top the heat up worked best to keep the house from being freezing cold.

in the last cottage i lived in the kitchen and bathroom were additions and weren't built the old way so i didn't worry about heating them (and just dealt with the cold) however we kept the main house closed off and tried to keep a low fire going at all times when at home. (this place had no other heating!) and we really noticed it if we didn't keep up with the fires, even the low fire that didn't seem to be doing much really kept the bite of winter out of the stone walls

Confuzzled

mardatha wrote: »

To the poor souls who have spiders moving in (EEEEEEK) - you can buy online a spider deterrant that you plug in. My daughter is getting one. I live right out in the wilds and yet we very rarely ever see a spider in here thanku god.. just one or two at this time of year.The husband hoovers them and I am scared to open the hall cupboard in case they all crawl back down the tube and are waiting for me one day.....

now you know why i don't flush them down the loo :eek::rotfl:

ifonlyitwaseasier

EEEKKKK i had a mutant visitor also, hubby said it took him three hits with the newspaper to kill it (i ran from the room so didn't see )

and i HATE and LOATHE them intensely,

must find my chestnut spray and do the windows/doors/cupboards/everywhere!!!!!!!!

kemo_2002

i guys, this is a very long threat so forgive me for not reading all the way through. We got hit by a very big gas/electric bill.

basically back ground story is last xmas i had a baby no i nievely had central heating on 24-7, bills have then been estimated wrong and they have now landed me with a huge bill, so ive had to put my DD up by £70 extra a month. Therefore i really dont want to use it if i can help it, any tips/advice? bearing in mind i still have 9month old to keep warm! thanks guys

Confuzzled

nykmedia wrote: »

Southwest Scotland is cold and wet today.

ooh i must say i don't miss those west of scotland gales and rainy winter days at all! though the cups of tea and getting into nice cozy comfy clothes after being soaked through were pleasant still i'll take my drier north east of scotland winters thank you very much!

could you just use some sort of double sided tape and some cling film to make secondary glazing? wd40 should remove any sticky residue when it's time to remove it

zarazara

nykmedia I have roller blinds at my kitchen windows,with blackout backing. they are rolled up during the day and at night i roll them down. they come down to just below the window sill. they make quite a difference,keeping heat in the room,and you dont have to move things off the window ledges or block out the view.

fedupandskint

I opend the curtains in the living room and a massive spider ran up the voile and gave me a right fright! It's still on the pole for now!!

Is it a spider day all round the country today? I'm in West Yorkshire

zarazara

spider,spider,spider,spider.

Savvy_sewing

kemo_2002 wrote: »

i guys, this is a very long threat so forgive me for not reading all the way through. We got hit by a very big gas/electric bill.

basically back ground story is last xmas i had a baby no i nievely had central heating on 24-7, bills have then been estimated wrong and they have now landed me with a huge bill, so ive had to put my DD up by £70 extra a month. Therefore i really dont want to use it if i can help it, any tips/advice? bearing in mind i still have 9month old to keep warm! thanks guys

Hi Kemo, I am not the best expert on here, as my bills were from my previous house, but the supplier has settled for a payment that I can afford (I hope) and the bill is now on an arrangement plan, so I pay them £15 a fortnight for each supply until its cleared. In some cases, they will let you pay for a certain amount of time, and then clear off the rest of the debt. Check out your suppliers, and see if there is anything your company will do to help.

If you read the whole of this thread, and others similar, they will tell you all the tricks that there are to keep warm, and then you can learn to keep the heating on a lower heat, that keeps the chill away, for you and baby, but will help to keep the bills down. Shutting the curtains at dusk and having them lined, keeping a low heat on in the babies room, and turning down the thermostats in the other rooms.
Anyway I am sure there will be die hard winter gurus along to help you. Good luck. Mooloo

mardatha

Confuzzled, my house is a bit like that, its 70 years old but its solid stone. We have a big multi fuel stove and it is NEVER off, even in summer. I find if we let it go out then the place takes tons of coal to heat up again. We can turn it down very low so that it keeps all the radiators from freezing and it gives tons of hot water. I love it.