Preparing for Winter

Quasar

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Watch out for Halogen heaters folks. I learned to my cost that although theoretically cheaper to run that's because they give off less heat than other heaters so you need to crank them up and then you're using 1200 watts and you still have to sit very close to it to get any heat.
Just a warning if you were going to donate them to an elderly neighbour as they may not end up thanking you when they get their bill.

I did buy one but ditched it very quickly.

Confuzzled

hello all, i was hoping someone here would have an idea what i can do about my frozen bin lids

my bin collection is tomorrow, should be the recycling whcih i am desperately in need of collection so here's hoping they can get to us

anyway i know how i can get the bin lids open, hot water from the kettle will work, however this is not the best idea really as it will then make them freeze over even worse and for the recyling bin i really don't want the stuff inside getting wet

i don't have a car and thus no deicer and i really wouldn't want to walk into town to get any anyway so if anyone has any tips about another way to get it open that doesn't involve water which will make it worse next time that would be great

my big question though is, how do i keep it from freezing again? obviously if i can't get it open how will the bin men, i doubt the force from torn up cardboard will be sufficient to break the ice when the bin lorry flips it upside down. i had thought of propping it up but the damned drivers won't check to see that it's not actually overful, that i've propped it intentionally so they can get into it so they'll just not empty it (i have 3 HUGE boxes from approved foods full of reyclying, i really am desperate to get rid of as much as possible)

i thought maybe if i coated the rim and just inside and outside of it with veg oil that might keep it from freezing over but i really don't know. does anyone else have any tips on that front? i can't really just leave the lid open, the recycling will blow away and i'm sure there's some assinine rule about that too :rolleyes:

any help you can give me will be much appreciated... also if i can find a way of solving this i bet i can talk my neighbours into letting me use their unused space in their recycling bins too as they'll be having the same problems as me and would probably appreciate me unfreezing their bins!

Olliebeak

Not sure about your local authority, but at the moment ours are accepting extra recycling and rubbish in black bin bags/boxes as long as the recycling is labelled as being recycling. They are being a bit more obliging than usual - check your local authority website - there could be some info on there .

Not sure how you can keep it from freezing up again though - what about spreading some margarine/lard or other form of grease around the edge of the lid - would that work .

Confuzzled

ceridwen wrote: »

well...I've been wondering whether to throw "exhausted" compost from my foodgrowing containers over the pavement or no....

would it actually help to keep the pavement a bit easier to walk on on the one hand - or would it make it harder and people might slip and fall and I'd be wondering whether my insurance cover might "take a hit" on the other hand?

Does anyone know?

if it's a dirt like consistency then it should be fine, if it has a lot of half rotten veg matter then i'd say no. ash, kitty litter, sand etc are all being advised if you can't get salt so i don't see the harm in dirt, and anyone that has any wee pebbles this would be a good time to get them out

personally i asked the neighbour that keeps shoveling my walk to stop (after thanking him profusely for doing so all thsi week) quite frankly at this point it's safer for us to walk through the snow than it is to walk on the pavements as the black ice builds up so quickly!

Confuzzled

Olliebeak wrote: »

Not sure about your local authority, but at the moment ours are accepting extra recycling and rubbish in black bin bags/boxes as long as the recycling is labelled as being recycling. They are being a bit more obliging than usual - check your local authority website - there could be some info on there .

Not sure how you can keep it from freezing up again though - what about spreading some margarine/lard or other form of grease around the edge of the lid - would that work .

thanks for that tip olliebeak, i'd forgotten about the council website! i just checked and there isn't any mention about what to do about recycling, there is a mention that as of friday (they put the 7th, wow they're confused!) there are no collections for rubbish due to unsafe conditions and they are asking us to put our excess in the brown bins then put those out next time they do come for a collection of the grey rubbish bins..whenever that is. they did also mention that we could also sit rubbish bags next to the bins if desperate.

looks like i'll be doing what i did a while back when i moved in, not only did the previous tennents leave me a bin nearly full of rubbish, i moved in the day after the rubbish collection AND missed it the next time around! i had to put all my 'dry' stuff in one bag, 'wet' stuff in another and keep the wet stuff outside, dry stuff backed up in the house. on bin night the next time around i put my bin out then went out at midnite and put all my leftover 'dry' rubbish in all the other bins that were out since i figured they weren't going to be using the leftover space at that point!

i'm assuming since there is no mention of recycling that it is def out of the picture! i don't mind it sitting in the house now as it's tucked away in a cupboard though that does mean i can't put the hoover away and the cupboard is getting harder to close :rotfl:

i think the lard would be easier to use than my idea of veg oil so thanks for that, i actually have some that i bought for some strange reason months ago, i think i will sacrafice it for the cause! but i'm still welcoming any other ideas from anyone else just in case the lard doesn't work!

i really wish i had WD40 right now, i swear that stuff works on everything, bet it would work on this

DdraigGoch

we have about 6" solid snow and ice on our yard at the moment and have made a pathway from wood and coal ash - it'll be messy when it thaws, but it's better than a broken ankle and the rain will eventually, with a little help from a brush, wash it away.

It suits my situation.

Confuzzled

valk_scot wrote: »

I keep a few old newspapers in the back of the car, together with two 2ft x 4ft pieces of sacking, though old carpet or even these cheap cotton rugs at 99p each would be fine. These are for slipping under the tyres to get some traction when I'm out in muddy situations and they work just as well for snowy conditions.

i remember when i lived in the states many moons ago, the norm then was to put a few big bags of kitty litter in the boot of your car

not only was that good for giving you a bit of weight to help your traction but if you did get stuck you could get into the bags and shove the litter under the tyres for traction!

i like your idea too as it's reusable and most cars these days don't need the extra weight in the boot so no need to pay the extra petrol to carry the bags around anywhere..

though listen to me, i gave up the car 8 years ago :rotfl: still very good idea, thanks for sharing :T

Confuzzled

ceridwen wrote: »

Oh yes...I HUGELY recommend duvets...got 'em on my bed and got a cheapie single duvet amongst my stock of throws.....WELL worth it...I was totally astonished at JUST how cheaply I could get a cheapie single duvet from Arg*s some months back. I couldnt believe my luck basically - and duly bought one:D Ooh....it just feels SO comforting to wrap oneself up in a duvet and hotwater bottle or two - bliss....

i stay very toasty warm in bed by storing all my unused duvets and blankets beneath me! i put the blankets down first then the duvets and all but the top one to cover me gets tucked in as best as possible. they do shift so i have to drag them back into place about once a week but it's soooo soft, soooo warm, i need no heat in my bedroom at all with this even with temps in the negative numbers for weeks now and it solves a storage issue!

mind you this spring i'll have to wash them ALL but for now i just change the duvet covers on the two i'm in bodily contact with once a week and i wash the actual duvets once a month, one at a time so i can just use another duvet from underneath to replace the one i've washed until it's dry (bit hard to do indoors with no dryer but i manage!)

if you warm them up about 15 minutes before bed with a hot water bottle it's even nicer!

ceridwen

AHHHHHH!!!! YOu've just given me a good idea here....:D. I'm a bit "nervous" about spare blankets, etc being in a cupboard and maybe adding to the stock of things I find end up with a bit of mould on them and I have to wash the darn things AGAIN...though they're perfectly clean basically...:mad:

I think I'll put them on the spare bed - and they should stay okay and stay clean as well....YAY!

coldstreamalways

I lined my curtains this year, it took me ages as I wasn't very good at cutting straight. I got the "bump" from an angel MSE'er and have been toastie in our sitting room. OH, at first sceptical, now wants me to do the whole house!!!

I broke down at the side of the motorway (-6 here) on Monday, then got stuck in the snow on Wed. A very harsh lesson on being prepared in any weather. I have never been so cold as I was on Monday, I travel to work in "running gear" as I go for a run when I get there, I only had a fleece in the boot, the highways people gave me a space blanket but I was FREEZING. The speed of the cars and lorries going past made me scared to get in the car, and you are strongly advised not to when you are on the hard shoulder. Oh my word, if I had been 70 years old, I think it would have been incredibly serious.

With my three year old car, I was complacent that it would never happen to me. Never ever again.