Preparing for Winter

Frugaldom

Don't know about spiders but they DO seem to be getting bigger and bigger these days. However, I also hate the slaters and earwigs that seem to be around at the moment - YUK! And I can't kill any of these creepy crawlies because I'm such a woose! IF I manage to get them from the house to the garden to release them, the hens go for them!

Confuzzled, we have only got storage heaters and one open fire, so warm dry clothes are often difficult - no tumble drier either. Funny your going from here to there, I came here from there in a roundabout way - other family members still on north east coast.

Zarazara, I've thought about roller blinds and then mock curtains either side, but am not sure how I would fit the blinds to pvc unless... I could always just screw them in and leave them if I need to move from here, then it would be an improvement to the property rather than damage to window frames. :rotfl:

I like the velcro idea but it's a bit precarious trying to reach the top of the kitchen window to fix and unfix the curtain. Still thinking... sticky back velcro could be the answer elsewhere, thanks for the reminder about that. :T

Keeping babies warm - we never had proper heating when I had mine, just an open fire in livingroom, but I never had any trouble keeping them warm, just wrap them up in several light layers and tuck the duvet in around the sides using a shawl or baby blanket. The fleecy all in one suits with feet in them are great too, like giant fleecy baby gro suits with zippers, I'd wear one of them now if they made them adult sizes in furry fleece with padded feet! You could even use one of those baby sleeping bags, DD had one for my DGD who STILL tries to climb inside it to play at camping (she's 5! :rotfl:)

charlysez

anguk wrote: »

I was thinking of getting some Asda smartprice fleece throws (about £2) and making them into curtain linings. My curtains have hooks shaped like ] with little rings on the bottom so I figure if I cut the fleece to size and stitch some heading tape along the top I can just hang them from the little rings behind the curtains using spiral type hooks?

have you considered using wonderweb or sticky velcro instead? might be alot easier

Bigsister

Confuzzled wrote: »

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

Thank you Confuzzled-we only have central heating so I think once I notice that the house is noticably cold on a regular basis the heating will have to go on, we tried setting the heating for morning and afternoon last year, but still used as much gas-I think the constant low setting might be better but still going to try and hold out until October at least! We were damp-proofed back and front in the last 2-5 years and I still worry even though it was a professional company with years of good service etc, I always feel better when the heating is on and then worry about the bill! Mad! But the tips on this site are brilliant, I have been reading it each lunch time and then emailing the hubbie to add to his list of jobs, he isn't so keen on this site! Going to see where we can save money elsewhere to balance the heating cost, at least the electric is low with only the 2 of us and only lights where we are and everything else turned off where possible.

Its weird but its nice to know others are in the same situation, everyone I know at work are in new houses with not much maintenance and we seem to do nothing but......put up a curtain rail and fix the plaster that has blown first, decide to fit a new door and discover the door frame is off....add a carpet and realise the floor slopes (natural movement over the years-in a terrace so if we go the others do too!!!) but its never ending and its so nice to read how others manage-all so brilliant yet straighforward it makes me wonder why I didn't think of them first (I don't think I will answer that one!)

I bet if the posters here ran the country we would be in less of a mess than we seem to be some days!

jcr16

we get loads of spidars. but luckily i've got a cat who loves to catch them ( well 3 cats really but one cat will only get it if they walk past him, the other has to be in the mood. but the other anytime is playtime if a spidar about)

It so warm down here today. warmer than some summer day's . and while it is nice to see washing on line etc. i am in great need of grey skies and heavy rain.

Reverbe

Feels like winter is coming here... sunny outside the window but cold even with a sweatshirt, jeans and thick socks on..

ktpie

For the non cavity walls I seem to remember our old council did an offer on some sort of insulation that you put on like wallpaper, trying to find a link now but they don't seem to do it anymore. If we had been planning on staying in our old house which didn't have cavity walls I might have tried it. Maybe putting batons on the wall then a layer of insulation then plaster board would work as well but it would be a big job and would eat into your room a little. This has some info about solid wall insulation, warm-a-wall seems similar to what I had in mind (you need to scroll down the page and click on warm-a-wall).

Bigsister - I know what you mean about old houses, our last house was like that, there wasn't a straight wall in the house and all the floors were wonky, made DIY jobs a lot harder but gave it character!

daska

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

as a previous poster advised, use lots of layers, if it's really cold add a hat as you lose a lot of body heat through your scalp. Grobags are fabulous for babies as they can't kick them off. Keep the heating down and warm beds using a hot water bottle, put a couple of fleece blankets between the sheet and the mattress to make it warmer. Because babies can't control their body temperatures in the way adults can it's not appropriate to use heated blankets with them, but there's no reason why you couldn't, a few minutes and you're toasty on the sofa even if the room is chilly.

zarazara

nykmedia mine arnt fixed to the window frames. they are fixed to the wall, just drill 2 holes, insert rawl plugs. screw a baton [peice of wood] to wall via the rawl plugs. fix the roller blind fixings to this wood [ my wood is about 1cm x 4cm x however length] you can paint the wood to match the wall. the blinds come down to below the window ledge . my curtain rails in the sitting room are fixed the same way.

xx_Jo_xx

Oh my god - this is such a long thread......Im only on Pg 6 and your up to pg 78.

I may have read this thread in time for next winter!! :rotfl:

IS there a summary page anywhere of tips, or are there too many of them even for that?? xx

ifonlyitwaseasier

lol it just takes time jo, and a notepad and pen to keep track of all the good ideas (no seriously!!)