Winter "Wake & up save the pennies"

comeandgo

One question I do have is about foil behind radiators. All of radiators are positioned underneath the windows (not sure who thought that was a good idea!). .[/QUOTE]

Radiators are under windows to leave you with virgin walls to put furniture against.

PipneyJane

lessonlearned wrote: »

You can take this a stage further and line the fabric, tapestry or whatever with Mylar, the stuff emergency space blankets are made from. It's pretty cheap. You can also put it on the back of large canvas artworks to hang on cold spots.

I am currently decorating my bedroom - north east facing, single brick, no cavity wall. It's a very cold room. I am putting up Walrock insulating paper to the two outside walls. Never used it before so can't really vouch for it yet but it does seem to make the wall feel warmer to the touch. Cork has the same insulating property. Both can be painted or papered over.

There are several types of thermal paper, Walrock is the most expensive but it had the best reviews. And although it isn't cheap it's permanent (well until you remove it) and, if it does the job as well as they say it does, it should also help keep the room cooler in summer, as well as warmer in winter.

I think I will try cork too in one room, see which is best and then will work my way through the house, insulating each room as I decorate.

I know it won't be as energy efficient as stripping off the plaster and putting in insulation and then replastering but that would be a huge and very expensive job and I just can't afford it at the moment so I'm just trying some quick relatively inexpensive diy fixes for now.

Determined to be both cosy and try and tame the energy bills.

Have you considered insulated plasterboard? While there are probably several varieties, the one we have in our dining area is plasterboard with a 1-inch backing of fibreglass insulation. It is affixed to battens attached to the existing, external wall. The joins of the plasterboard need to be skimmed/smoothed over to become invisible - or you could use lining paper - but, otherwise, no additional plaster is needed. You will need to add cornices, etc, though.

We're in a 1930's semi which does not have cavity walls. There is now a significant temperature difference between the wall that was insulated and the one in the hall that wasn't (one is the continuation of the other).

HTH

Pip

PipneyJane

Brilliant thread Primrose.

I've spent the last three winters working in an uninsulated portacabin in the middle of a field. Yes, even during the Beast From The East. While the portacabin had heating, the vents were at desk height so anything close to the floor would remain cold. No point putting my lunch in the fridge - the fridge was warmer.

We'd put the heating on when we arrived at 8.30am and my top half would be warm enough for me to remove my coat about an hour later but my legs would still be cold. My top tip is to wear thermal leggings under your regular trousers. If you can afford them, buy silk thermals from a ski shop; if you can't, then Lidl's thermal leggings/tights are fine for keeping warm SO LONG AS YOU STAY OUT OF THE WIND. I'm shouting because any kind of breeze will strip away whatever-it-is that keeps the Lidl leggings warm, leaving you feeling like you've had icy water sprayed on your legs - painfully cold.

(Yes, I have road tested them a lot. I have 20-year-old silk thermals that I wear to the football in winter. Never feel cold. Wore the Lidl ones to the football once. Ouch! The Lidl ones are fine for the portacabin, though. They're toasty for indoor wear.)

My second tip are hand-knitted, alpaca-fibre or possum-fibre socks. They're my footwear of choice for the portacabin and my feet have never felt particularly cold while wearing them.

My third tip is wear a down coat when out and about. They don't have to be massively expensive to be toasty warm. I wrap mine around my legs once the portacabin's heat drops to desk level. (It gets to knee high around 11am). Mine is a lightweight one similar to this from Uniqlo, which cost £95 three winters ago.

HTH

Pip


PS: Don't forget wristwarmers/fingerless mitts for keeping your hands warm when you're sitting at a cold desk. Having been cursed with a desk under the air-conditioning vent - it blew directly onto my mouse hand - I've been known to wear one in the middle of summer, while sitting at my desk in a t-shirt. Without it, my right hand would go blue with cold.

[Deleted User]

Today we finally found sacks of this years potatoes for sale in the farm shop so bought a 25 kilo sack of whites 'Wilja' which look to be nice sized and suitable for jackets as well as everything else for £9.95p. The cheapest potatoes at the supermarket come in at £1 a kilo so this makes quite a saving and gives the convenience of not having to carry heavy bags of potatoes back in my rucksack.

jackrabbit123

Lots of wonderful helpful hints and tips, Thank you!

Thank you for the very helpful tip of the eco fan, we stay in an old stone house with a wood burner so heating the rooms more efficiently would be a good idea! When lit we open the door so the heat goes through and takes the chill of the bedrooms, we also use before going to bed we back the burner up with ovoids - you don't need many ( slow burning coal) even by morning it's still alight so all you have to do is put wood on to get it going again.
In a very draughty house we also couldn't do with out our sausage dogs, very easy to make and at a push an old stocking/pair of tights would do with stuffing in! we have them at the bottom of both outside doors and they really keep the rooms toasty warm!x
I always think it's better to be in winter than Summer....at least in Winter you can add more clothing to keep warm, in Summer there's only soo much you can take off without causing a scene !!!:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Today we had a full load of logs delivered, both the log stores are full to overflowing and there was quite a lot of what looked like general debris left on the drive but we swept it all into a heap and then went through it and got two sacks full of small odd shaped bits of perfectly burnable wood that we can use as kindling to start the stove. All that was left after that was a couple of scoopfuls of wet bark and dust. We paid for it so we'll use it!

Wednesday2000

I have to wear fluffy socks to warm up, especially in bed. I bought some new socks this year made from bamboo that are very soft but I will see if they keep the warmth in when it gets cold.

I have a favourite grey jumper that always keeps me warm. It is my go to top if I'm home during the day and feel cold. It is a fisherman style.

I did buy a portable halogen heater (I do believe it was recommended on this forum) and it really chucks out the heat!:)

I'm not sure if it costs that much to run but we changed our energy supplier to a cheaper one this year anyway.

Hot drinks work very well especially if you have just got in from the cold. I gave up coffee and tea this year but I will still drink herbal tea or cocoa!

[Deleted User]

A hot water bottle to cuddle on your lap under a throw is fab if you have to sit and do a non strenuous job or the heated throw that takes so little to run in terms of electricity, a gentle warmth which keeps you nicely snug without making you over hot, lovely across your shoulders on those damp and cold days that we often get in winter.

YorksLass

Snowy_Owl wrote: »

Had the idea of making breadcrumbs myself and freezing for use in the future!!!!

One of the things I did at the weekend was make an extra loaf of bread currently in the fridge in a sealed bag..

I don't freeze mine, I keep them in a lidded airtight jar (clean jam jar would do) in the cupboard. I also make an extra loaf now and again for freezing. If you slice it all before putting in a bag/freezing then you can just take out and defrost a few slices at a time. And it will toast from frozen.

jackrabbit123 wrote: »

In a very draughty house we also couldn't do with out our sausage dogs, very easy to make and at a push an old stocking/pair of tights would do with stuffing in! we have them at the bottom of both outside doors and they really keep the rooms toasty warm!x

Good idea. Old towels rolled up and tied at each end are another easy way to make them. Combined with a curtain over the door even the most persistent of draughts should be kept at bay.

A few more thoughts -

Keep a dressing gown and slippers near to your bed in case you need to visit the loo during the night. It's much easier to get back to sleep if you're not cold.

A few handy food substitutes:
Long life or dried powdered milk in place of fresh
Tomato ketchup in place of tomato puree
Garlic puree or paste in place of fresh
Fresh lemons might be unavailable or expensive in the winter months so a bottle of concentrated lemon juice is always handy
Fresh soft berry fruits tend to be expensive too but can be replaced by frozen ones to add to porridge/cereal/rice pudding etc
Instead of branded fruit yogurts try a tub of plain and add your own fruit, nuts etc

If you're unlucky enough to catch a cold and run out of medicated hot lemon drinks make your own with hot water and lemon juice. You could add a bit of honey too. That and a couple of paracetamol should do the trick.

Toonie

Really useful tips, thank you to everyone. I'm currently stuck at home off work injured and likely to be so for at least six more weeks. My partner and I moved house a couple of months ago so I'm assessing the house for drafts and thinking up solutions as a way to contribute to reducing bills/saving money.


My current conundrum is the conservatory. Having never had one before I've already started noticing the chill it has in the morning. I'm thinking about putting down a rug we have on the wooden floor to take a little of the chill off. Thankfully it's only really one wall which is made of glass (as it's a terraced house).


I'm also looking out soup recipes for myself for during the day. This week it's butternut squash and carrot (frozen butternut squash from Aldi...very handy when you're in a sling).