Preparing for Winter

homeaway

Are you sure it is efficient to just run the heating for a couple of hours?Years ago we ran an experiment with our gas central heating, we had the timer coming on in the morning and then again for a few hours in the eve and we costed it and then we put the thermostat on a lowish setting but left the heating on all day and costed that . For us the cheapest option was to leave the heating on all day but on a low setting so that the house never really got freezing. Houses lose a lot of heat from windows, doors and the roof. Insulating your roof is something that you can do yourselves. Cavity wall insulation helps as well. HTH

Kay_Peel

I agree with homeaway. It takes more energy to heat a cold house twice a day - and it never really gets warm enough either. I didn't believe the person who advised me to keep it turned on 24/7 on the lowest possible setting (when the snows and ice came) - but it worked out cheaper for my house.

I also got my roof insulated - there are loads of good deals around - which made a huge difference in the bedrooms. I have door curtains and draught-excluders too.

A handknitted aran wool jumper, real wool socks and hat, ugg boots, and thin layers of clothing also help.

twiglet98

I think mine are 130cm x 150cm, so about 4'3 by 5 feet, give or take an inch - there is a slight variation between the four I got last weekend, I'll get a few more this week if they haven't sold out, I'm really thrilled with the cream ones with blanket-stitched edging, which are so easy to use as curtain liners.

Glamazon

really need to do something in the front room and 2 bedrooms

not sure whether to velcro fleeces straight onto the window frame or attempt to attach fleece to curtains - I am so not good at this!

B&M had some chunky draught excluders 2 for £7 - got one for the front door and one for MIL who needed one more after spending £8 on one from Amazon!

That reminds me MIL supposed to be checking her attic for lined curtains for me :rolleyes:

timmmers

DianaMattos wrote: »

Our front door opens right into our lounge. We have no porch or hallway, but to the right hand side of the front door is 18ins of leftover wall from when there was a hallway (that was about as wide as the door) and on the left-hand side is a wall with a door in it.

What can I do to stop my front door from letting out all the warm air? Our lounge is the coldest room in the house, and while the front door is relatively new and UPVC, I am not convinced that it isn't airtight. There is no room for a curtain pole over the door, and nowhere for hypothetical curtain to live once it is drawn back. Obviously I can't seal around the door as we use it all the time.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

An idea if there's room .
http://www.tracksandpoles.com/rod_portiere.shtml

a porch outside probably would be best but maybe not practical for you?
t

Psykicpup

My mum used to leave a gas ring on on the cooker after she made her morning cuppa, just on low - it gives a surprising amount of heat & costs pennies to run & its always ready for the next cuppa lol. I did it too when I was home all day with the littlies before it got cold enough th light the fire & even then first thing in the morning until the fire started to take effect, or if we had been out at all.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Psykicpup wrote: »

My mum used to leave a gas ring on on the cooker after she made her morning cuppa, just on low - it gives a surprising amount of heat & costs pennies to run & its always ready for the next cuppa lol. I did it too when I was home all day with the littlies before it got cold enough th light the fire & even then first thing in the morning until the fire started to take effect, or if we had been out at all.

I remember my gran doing this and have to agree it did make a difference to those cold and frosty mornings.
Must'nt have cost much because she would never have done iit otherwise.

DianaMattos

homeaway wrote: »

Are you sure it is efficient to just run the heating for a couple of hours?Years ago we ran an experiment with our gas central heating, we had the timer coming on in the morning and then again for a few hours in the eve and we costed it and then we put the thermostat on a lowish setting but left the heating on all day and costed that . For us the cheapest option was to leave the heating on all day but on a low setting so that the house never really got freezing. Houses lose a lot of heat from windows, doors and the roof. Insulating your roof is something that you can do yourselves. Cavity wall insulation helps as well. HTH

How low do you keep the thermostat? Now I am at home with our little girl, we have the heating on for 3 periods during the day (6am-8.30am, 12noon -2pm and 4.30pm-9.30pm) and the thermostat is at 20 degrees. Which oddly feels warm enough when the heating is on, but as an ambient temperature makes me feel chilly!:rolleyes:

Thanks x

23rdspiral

well, the last few nights have been rather chilly and getting to sleep even with socks on has taken longer than usual. so i dug out the winter half of the duvet and attached it to the summer half, swapped to the thicker fleecy matress protector and changed the sheets for that soft flannel. oh boy, what a difference! i perhaps should have made the transition slower and earlier, but wow! i couldnt get out of bed this morning it was so lovely and snuggly!

InfamyInfamy

poshm wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, I will look at those threads - sorry didn't see them!

Unfortunately we have very old wood, sash windows and they let a lot of cold in so I think I'm going to cover the front and back door with curtains as we have some old ones in the loft, maybe make some of those sausage dog things too!

What we did with our old wooden windows is get some thick clear plastic from B&Q like they use for cloches etc. We then got some wooden beading and nailed that and the plastic to the frames thus having a sort of double glazing. It really stopped the draughts & is easy to remove in the summer & reinstall in winter. Very cheap aswell!

Yesterday I pickled the left over beetroot from the polytunnel & strung up the hundreds of chillis!!! Also tried to make tomato ketchup with the left over tomatos but it all went horribly wrong & house reeked!!!
The Sloe Gin is made and we are stockpiling wood. Roll on Yule!!
:T