Preparing for Winter

elona

Foil behind the radiators reflects the heat back into the room.

There are special kits you can buy but a lot of people just fold the foil over big bits of cardboard and place behind the radiator.

annie123

3 of our radiators are on out side walls so we
stick bubblewrap onto hardboard
then baking foil onto that
then DH screws it into the wall
you can feel the difference on our single brick outside walls in the winter, we tested it a couple of years ago, one rad with one without.
not heating up outside any more.

only reason I'm re doing it is because last winter where I put clothes on the rads to dry I have taken some of the foil off and it looks tatty.

savemoney

I had a delivery of seasoned logs for log burner ready for heating the home.

bertiebots

Hi folks...I havent been here for ages as I seem to have lost my way a little over the summer(???) hols.
But the kids are back at school and I got my scales out and have baked up a storm this morning.
Just wanted to ask how long or how cold are you going to get before you will finally give in and switch the heating on. I have spent the whole day in my kitchen keeping warm this morning from the cooking and opening the oven door to eek out the last little bit of heat when I had finished.
The rest of the house is pretty chilly to say the least even with my fleece top on.
We have been sat under fleecey blankets watching tv some evenings .We dont have any other heating source other than GSH so cant even warm the room through.
Thanks for the tips on foil/rads as I am going to go hunting for some cardboard.....I never figured out thats how you do it! doh!

searching_me

thanks i also didnt realise that it made that much of a difference but im all up for saving the pennies moneys a little (understatment of the year) tight at the mo so i'll start searching for cardboard... its things like this that remind me just how much i love this site xxx

bertiebots

Does anyone have thermal blinds and do they work ,
wondering if its worth the investment! I also wonder if it would be considered odd to have one in your lounge....? We live in quit a modern (built mid 90s) house and have a large wide window at the front in our lounge with a radiator underneath. The window sill is very close to the radiator so any heat goes behind the curtains and there isnt a big enough gap to tuck curtains behind the radiator iykwim!

Triggles

Thank you so much for the info about the foil behind the radiator - we will definitely have to do this as a number of our radiators are on outside walls. And DH used to do paper logs years ago, and we have tons of paperwork ready to shred - I'm thinking this will come in handy for those paper logs. :j

Lots of good suggestions on here - I have so much to do!

Boodle

bertiebots wrote: »

Does anyone have thermal blinds and do they work ,
wondering if its worth the investment! I also wonder if it would be considered odd to have one in your lounge....? We live in quit a modern (built mid 90s) house and have a large wide window at the front in our lounge with a radiator underneath. The window sill is very close to the radiator so any heat goes behind the curtains and there isnt a big enough gap to tuck curtains behind the radiator iykwim!

I have been wondering if black-out-blinds would do the same thing? At our living room window, because it is a bay window, the curtains leave a gap at the edges where we have the sofa. Wondered if black-out-blinds rather than our current crappy Ikea ones would help keep us warm...

Am currently knitting a blanket and plan on making a patchwork quilt with scraps anyway in preparation for the colder evenings!

oldMcDonald

Boodle wrote: »

I have been wondering if black-out-blinds would do the same thing? At our living room window, because it is a bay window, the curtains leave a gap at the edges where we have the sofa. Wondered if black-out-blinds rather than our current crappy Ikea ones would help keep us warm...

Am currently knitting a blanket and plan on making a patchwork quilt with scraps anyway in preparation for the colder evenings!

I have blackout blinds in my upstairs bathroom, and it's flippin' freezing in the winter! The blind feels quite cold, so I don't think it is keeping the heat in. I'm about to try to see if there is a way I can get a pair of curtains up in there instead, but it is tiled floor to ceiling all around the window and DH won't drill into the tiles. Not sure quite how to go about getting some curtains up there.

[Deleted User]

Dh and I sit in the lounge upstairs with the door shut now. tv or radio on and 2 x 25w biobulbs on. I am crocheting a stripey blanket from odds and ends of acrylic from my left over yarn stash. The bigger it gets, the warmer it is keeping my knees. Closing the door has made a big difference and I get the feeling that winter is definitely close because the air vents over the window are open and I could feel the fresh air last night.

The weather outlook for sept is wet and for winter is colder than usual. So far I have had no inclination to put any heating on, I think I have acclimatised