Preparing for Winter

Confuzzled

hob wrote: »

i hate going out in winter if i dont have to and i dont drive. im thinking of doing a big stock up of things like pasta and tins i have a very local co op for fresh things.

i'd def recommend an extra packet of toilet paper, uht milk (if you don't like drinking it you can use it in tea and cooking), butter (can go in the freezer), a spare bag of sugar a spare loaf of bread in the freezer and some frozen veg and tinned fruit even if you don't normally each much of them, this way you have all very basics you need

Olliebeak

Don't forget that most cheeses and milk can go in the freezer too.

I'd be wary of getting too much flour in your stock as it can go out of date and give lousy results. But maybe a some packs of bread mix would be useful along with a couple of bags of flour.

Some packets of pasta in sauces, savoury rices, cous cous, dried veggies and packet soups are also useful - don't take up much space and very lightweight to carry home. Plus some porridge oats - couldn't get through winter hibernation without a regular supply of 'Twinks' .

shaz_mum_of__2

Mr T have some lovely new bright coloured fleeces for £2 got a lime green one for ds bed

Rummer

I have dug out the huge furry bed blanket, still a bit too warm to put it on but I know it is there when I need it! Looked out the hot water bottles too.

Frugaldom

RESULTS! After making & fitting the fleece curtains/blinds for the bedroom windows, last night was first night of them being in use and it HAS made a difference. This morning, my hall had held enough heat to maintain 16 degrees - unheard of for us. Of course, it wasn't that cold last night but it's still the warmest the hall has been so far. Next up is the big livingroom window but I'll need help to complete that task. I'm also trying to devise a fireproof cover for across the fireguard to reduce the heat being sucked up the chimney when fire isn't lit during the night. (No, I can't get a woodburning stove, landlord won't allow it.)

In summary:

Bubblewrap over loft hatch + draught excluders & curtains at main doors + fleece covers over windows = warm energy savings. :T My rolls of stickyback foam draught excluder for the doors haven't arrived yet, expecting them before weekend.

Thanks for all the great tips on here. I'm using as many of them as I can.

Winged_one

We finally got our thermostat installed last week. And it's made a huge difference already! The heat was starting to be needed and it happened to be the night DH had already gone around turning on rads (we use the boiler for hot water also all summer). Our only problem now is that we've almost no hot water as it is regulating the boiler so well - but the house is kept comfortable without us having to turn heat on and off all the time.

And I reckon it will really help on the days when the oven is in use, as that tends to really heat up the house, but the heat would go on as well - no longer!!!

Confuzzled

well i've been in the new flat for 2 weeks now and i've not needed the heat too much. i did give in a little when my tendonitis was at it's worse because the cold just made it feel so much worse so i was having one heater on every other night but i've had it off for several days now and i've been warm enough, maybe the neighbour downstairs has hers on now

the back bedroom was positively baltic even after me stuffing the gaps in the warped frame to keep the air from blowing through so i dug out some rather ugly old curtains that had been given to me via freecycle. the current curtains are thing summery things on a rod with the big rings with a small ring protruding from the bottom of each

took me a bit of fiddling around but what i did was to take the longer curtains off (the ones that were there to begin with) and put the ugly ones on, then i managed to shoogle things around so i could fit the hooks from the first pair of curtains in too

i'm fairly certain this would only work if you either have both sets on the metal hooks or one set on metal and one set on the plastic like i had. personally i wish both had been metal as it really made my arms hurt and was quite fiddly but eventually i got both sets up there. from the outside you can't tell a thing. from inside you can sorta see the print through the curtains in the front but it's not hideous or anything so i think we'll manage

the difference has been huge! it's warmer and at night it's much nicer to sleep in as it blocks out the streelight coming through the window. the set of curtains came with something that is like a bed throw and is lined in black so i think i may cut that down the middle and pin that up behind my curtains. again it will block out the light from outside and keep the cold at bay

jcr16

shaz thanks for that i'm gonna hopefully get to tesco tomoz. want to find my daughter a bright pink fleece.

have to say down on island it is freezing at night time. i am loving it tho.

aless02

dumb question for those doing the fleeces-on-curtains thing: where can I buy the sticky velcro tabs to stick it on with? not sure where to get that sort of thing. Ta!

Frugaldom

aless02 wrote: »

dumb question for those doing the fleeces-on-curtains thing: where can I buy the sticky velcro tabs to stick it on with? not sure where to get that sort of thing. Ta!

Any haberdashery, fabric store or maybe even a pound type store should have them or if, like me, you don't live near any shops... €Bay. Mine are all stuck on using the sticky back variety, so no sewing needed. Also got my sticky back foam draught excluder tape from there, so the front door has now been done and we are definitely reaping the benefits as it's 16 degrees in here with no heating. :j

Next up is dealing with the open fireplace - I need to devise a non-flammable screen of some sort to cut down on warmth being dragged out via the chimney when the fire's not lit. (Rented house, I can't do any actual alterations , maybe I can make some sort of draughtproof screen for temporary use. There's no damper on the chimney.)