Preparing for Winter

Katie-Kat-Kins

downshifter wrote: »

Depends whereabout in the Peak Park you're coming to, often neighbouring areas have their own microclimates. Tonight yes it's a tad nippy, but there's a clear starry sky, so bound to be colder. I'm about 1000 ft above sea level and very exposed. There's a slight breeze, which is unusual, generally it blows a gale from north south east and west all at the same time. It's lovely. Great camping weather, as long as you come prepared. Have a great time in this wonderful part of the world!

DS

Where in the peak are you??? I'm just down the road in the derwent valley! Not been too chilly just yet for us.

ifonlyitwaseasier

Rummer wrote: »

Sorry folks, I just found this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8273960.stm

that'll bethe story i turned over from before they got more than a sentence into it this morning

i'm going to buy http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=017721&cid=127&language=en-GB

pebbles88

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

that'll bethe story i turned over from before they got more than a sentence into it this morning

i'm going to buy http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=017721&cid=127&language=en-GB

ah ha! thats the stuff!!

Rummer

Fore warned is fore armed!

rhiwfield

downshifter wrote: »

Can you recommend a brand or type? I could do with a small one, they all seem huge and/or expensive. thanks

Stoves are not cheap but the installation is what puts the cost up, as installers normally insist on the chimney having a metal liner. When we bought our 5/6kw model last year the combined costs of stove/installation was about £1500, and I spent another £100 on building a log store.

Despite the cost we think its one of the best decisons we have ever made. The existing fireplace was rarely used, now the stove is our first choice of heating. We bought a Little Thurlow, ideal to fit in our fireplace without alteration, wideish firebox for a small stove and a large glass door so that the real fire impact stays. As its located in our main room, it makes it a lovely warm focal point of the house.

If you are interested why not post for advice on the LPG forum in Utilities

citroennut

For anyone thinking of having a stove installed, try getting the advice of a good chimney sweep before you go ahead. It's not always necessary to have a metal liner. Our chimney is not lined and we have no problems with it at all. This could mean a considerable saving of dosh!

rhiwfield

loobyloo0302 wrote: »

Hiya! I posted this on a thread where someone was having similar issues and got directed to this thread, any advice or help at all will be VERY much appreciated!

"Hiya all. Sorry to butt into the thread but I too have oil fuelled heating and hot water (which at the moment is broken down :rolleyes: ) I have a couple of issues.

Our house layout is a front porch, leading to a living room, then next to our living room, we have a large dining room/kitchen, then we have the back porch, in a small room in the back porch is our oil burner. (where we live, it is basically three houses that have been knocked into two, so we have half of the other house that used to be here if that makes sense)

Last winter, we only had the one little one, and he was 1(ish) at the time, so when the weather became cold, we could keep the living room door shut, have a draught excluder on each door and have an electric halogen heater on constantly in the living room. This was sufficient at the time, as our son had no urge to be in and out of the living room. Now, obviously, the cute little innocent baby turned into a monster that spends all day running in and out of the living room, lol, so keeping him tied to the one room will not work, especially now he has his nearly 1 year old sister as they are a pair together! When you open the door between the diner and living room, the cold is just incredible. I think alot of this stems from the fact that there is a large hole in the wall under the sink for the pipe for the water to drain through, and the back porch is also not double glazed (I think the same applies for our kitchen window, too) We also have vents at regular intervals that sit just above the skirting boards, but I have managed to cover most of these, and intend to cover the rest in due course. Now you all know that oil is not cheap, last year, it was costing us up to £75 a week to fill the tank, which we simply cannot keep doing. I really do not know what to do, as I know I will not be able to keep my children in the living room all winter like I could do last year, so a small halogen heater in the living room will not cut it HELP!!"

Loobyloo, when oil prices rocketed my first thought was that we'd have to move house. Then I looked at what we could do to reduce heat loss, without compromising on safety. Trouble is you have to be prepared to undertake a package of measures:

1. Ventilation, you do need a vent near a fossil fuel appliance, we had one put in the living room when we had our wood burner installed. Its very doubtful if you need the quantity of vents you have got and you could also look at window draught excluders/seals. We blocked off our draughty letter box and put a new box in the porch. You could also try lo-cost window film for your kitchen window and seal the hole in the wall
2. Curtains, thermal lining really works, cheap if you buy in bulk on the net
3. Try foil behind radiators
4. Insulate as much as possible, cavity wall and loft top-up

Overall we saw our fuel consumption halve on a like for like basis.

downshifter

citroennut wrote: »

For anyone thinking of having a stove installed, try getting the advice of a good chimney sweep before you go ahead. It's not always necessary to have a metal liner. Our chimney is not lined and we have no problems with it at all. This could mean a considerable saving of dosh!

Yes I asked the sweep about this too and he said I might well not need one. My problem is that I live in a rented house and don't want to spend too much on something that isn't removable.

Thanks

DS

Frugaldom

Downshifter, I'm interested in how you get on - I'm in a rented house with landlord who won't allow solid fuel heating to be installed, but I don't think he'd object to a log burner as long as it was fully removeable if/when we leave here and if it didn't affect the chimney or fireplace.

Got my fleece blankets today for the window and friend said they had dropped price to £1 each in Pr!mark as they were about to change over stock. They're ideal, can't wait to get my velcro and get them fitted.

bluebag

loobyloo0302 wrote: »

Thanks, I never thought about this until someone else mentioned it, thank you! The oil burner is technically outside, but never thought about it. I'm getting desperate now, and looking at good portable heaters for large rooms as its very chilly in here right now, and the little uns are layered up The vents are in every room, including the living room, what would be sensible for me to do with regards to these? I would say that there are roughly around 12 vents in the living room but these are generally not the ones that you can feel the draught through. Its the ones n the kitchen and dining room where you feel the breeze around your feet. Whoever lived here before us used cellotape along the top, bottom and side of the living room door as this too blows a gale on a very cold day. (same situation of the front porch not being double glazed)

I've used an electric oil filled radiator in the past in my big draughty victorian terrace. I have one with a thermostat so it just clicks on and off.
I found it heated the room quite quickly and soon brought the room back to temperature when the doors were opened letting all the bloomin' heat out! I used it when my gas heating was being replaced last feb about -5 in the day brrrr. It's not cheap to run, but the thermostat helps and I worked out heating the one room for ten hours constantly cost about £2.50 a day with electric @8.5 p a unit ,the heater was 3kw.
I tried a calor gas heater first but he condensation was horrid. Hope this helps. bb.