Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

lessonlearned

Thanks Greenbee. I’ll try putting some bowls of water out.

moneyistooshorttomention

Wondering whether I should experiment with switching up the central heating overnight - I've currently got it set that the minimum during the night is 6C. Perhaps 15C might help.

My house is double-glazed, cavity-wall insulated, etc - but I've realised that the (local to this colder area than mine) firm that did much of the central heating when I bought this house chose too "weak" a radiator for the sitting room when I did the calculations myself (despite being a layperson - and they aren't). So that room is often colder than I've decided it will be. Currently I've been trying out having the house thermostat set at 23.5C and keeping the sitting room door shut all the time and that is helping and I'm having to turn down the 2 radiators another firm (from my warmer area) put in (ie a little over-powerful if anything).

I'd like my house thermostat back to 21C and that may be a more cost-efficient way to deal with this (unless and until I have a s*dding radiator replacement of that sitting room radiator with the one they should have chosen).

I do have a (gas) sitting room fire (chosen by me - from another firm) in the sitting room - but I've spent years only switching on the sitting room fire when it's not quite cold enough to put the central heating on yet. So I'm not inclined to switch it on on top of the central heating iyswim. I don't set up houses to be as "homey" as possible - I set them up to be as "time and motion conscious/efficient" as possible.

lessonlearned

I certainly never expected this house to be as cold as it is....built in 1935 construction wise I would have said it was on a par with my sons 1904 built house, single brick, no cavity, shallow foundations etc.

The energy certificate was in fact better for this house than my sons house........makes you wonder what value they are..

As far as construction goes the only real difference is my sons house was a mid terrace and this one is detached, so obviously more external walls. Also being a bungalow with the same square footage as a two storey house the roof void covers a much larger area. This again is very poorly insulated. Basically I'm heating up the sky and the street.........

Although having said that for a long time my sons house had an empty house next door so not much heat gain I would have thought from that side.

I think the orientation of the rooms makes a huge difference. The back of this house is south/south west and the rooms are noticeably warmer than the lounge and bedroom which are north/north east. My bedroom is the coldest of the lot on a north east corner. And of course wouldn't you just know the windows in those rooms are the only ones that are single glazed. :rotfl:

Still at least I am Learning where I need to concentrate my renovation works next year. My top priority will be To insulate as we go.

My plumber called round last night and bled the radiator in my bedroom and that has helped. We had a good chat about the programme of works next year. My first job in the new year is to contact building control and find out what I need to comply with building regs for that loft bedroom and then we can start pricing up. Hopefully we can start work around May time.

Re supplementary heat. I do have a gas fire in the living room. It is ancient and, whilst it's perfectly safe, it does waste a lot of heat. I have to use it though because the ch just isn't enough. That fire will definitely be replaced next year. The fireplace itself is huge and out of proportion to the room so that's the reason I haven't replaced the fire yet. The whole lot needs to come out, definitely a summer job.

I have an open fireplace in the 2nd reception room and I have bought some logs and coal. Going to practice lighting a fire today. :rotfl:

Oh well I'll get there. I do hate being cold though so it's a case of trying to keep warm enough whilst keeping an eye on the heating costs and not letting them spiral out of control. Easier said than done though, heating this place is like trying to fill a leaking sieve.

Never mind it will be worth it. It's a lovely house (or it will be).

Ps. When I think about the house I was brought up in, no ch, single glazed, frost on the inside Of the bedroom windows, damp running down the walls.......I must have been a tough kid. At least we had a proper bathroom and an inside loo. So many didn't.

But that's the way so many of our generation grew up. It did us no real harm.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've just checked for you LL - re the particular online calculator that I was recommended to use recently by a poster on other sub-forums here.

https://www.bestheating.com/btu-calculator

It's got quite detailed questions re what the house is like to work out what one needs and then makes suggestions.

My sitting room one is wrong - at 600 x 1200 (for this through lounge size room). It should be either:

600 x 1600

or, at least,

600 x 1400

(double panel in all cases).

As they knew I'm from a warmer part of the country too - then they should have chosen the 600 x 1600 one.

I was answering the questionnaire based on 12" thickness loft insulation too. At the time they were doing the job (and diving to and from my loft in the process) it only had quite a thin layer of loft insulation (ie the way my house was at the time meant they would have chosen an even more powerful one than the one the questionnaire told me it should have now).

As you know - I spent part of my childhood in much warmer countries than our own too. So - I spent much of my childhood being cold (modern houses - but my parents wouldnt use enough heating). To me - it wasnt "Oh well - I survived it". It was more "That mucked up my homework - a LOT - as I sat in the only warm room in the house (ie sitting room with tv always on) rather than freeze in my bedroom" and cold just makes me miserable and it's life-restricting imo. I promised myself that, when I grew up, I would be warm enough and eat a healthy diet - and I have...

Wednesday2000

I had a nice time out last night, but it was very cold!

I went to the £1 charity shop beforehand and bought a blue scarf, an emerald green jumper, a charcoal grey vest top and a black vest top.

I also bought 2 white French Connection tops to dye later.:)

I got some Lush bath bombs as a present that I'm going to use later. I need to do a face mask etc... as well as I didn't take off my makeup before bed last night. Naughty! I was too tired when I got in.:o

lessonlearned

Well if you had a nice time then it was worth it. Going to bed with your make up now and again won't kill you.::rotfl:

Great chazza shop bargains. You're really into this dye-ing thing now,
Very creative. What colour this time.

Well I have got moving - just had nice long soak in a magnesium bath. Works wonders for muscle stiffness. Time for some brunch and then cracking. Im really not in the mood for doing much. I hate these dark cold miserable days. They really seem to deplete my energy. All I want to do is curl up and hibernate. Does anyone else experience this. I just feel so tired.

Maybe I'll just decorate the big tree and leave it that for today. Can finish the rest tomorrow.

Wednesday2000

lessonlearned wrote: »

Great chazza shop bargains. You're really into this dye-ing thing now,
Very creative. What colour this time.

I'm probably going to use the red or purple dye next. That £1 shop is good, it has some clothes from the US. I could have bought a lot more stuff but I didn't want to lug it around London with me all night. I'm going to go there again next week to get some more things.

It's typical as I wanted a capsule wardrobe but I seem to be enlarging my wardrobe a lot!:D Oh well, better than being dressed in black, baggy clothes all the time.

The person I met last night said how well dressed I looked!

moneyistooshorttomention

Yes to the effect of cold dark days.

Willpower and a conscious decision to use the winters here for "catch up" purposes - so my paperwork is now all bang up-to-date, my house is "organised" to within an inch of its life for maximum efficiency. I'm now doing "springcleaning" throughout bit by bit.

Got a couple of FutureLearn courses starting up shortly - so that will help deal with winter.

Still getting the diet "over and done with" at the moment...

humptydumptybits

I like the rhythm of the seasons, so the dark nights are good with warm house and good food and then I welcome the spring and look forward to the summer which I enjoy but still look forward to autumn. My husband is the opposite, he would have summer weather and light nights all year round if he could.


I've had a busy morning, fed DH and GC, been shopping, cooked some meals to freeze for over Christmas, vacuumed the house and done a wash. Just having a break before doing lunch.

lessonlearned

Well my get up and go has well and truly got up and gone...:rotfl:

You guys are putting me to shame with all your shopping bargains and using the winter to get organised. I look at the mess and cutter and I seem to have lost the will to live. :rotfl:

Still you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. I think I will just get the place looking reasonable for Christmas and then the great Kondoing can begin in the new year.

This time I'm going to be ruthless.

I think going away whilst the bathroom was done was a great idea but realistically the timing wasn't great, it didn't give me much time before I needed to launch myself into Christmas.

Lesson learned....;)

My Youngest son has just asked what I want for Christmas. Other than a house cleaning fairy I really cant think of anything. So I have asked him if we can hold fire for a couple of months and then he can get me a couple of nice trees (using his discount of course).