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mardatha

Looking for advice re a portable fast heat for my daughter's new house. Thick stone walls and no heating just a coal fire, she is looking for instant heat in the mornings until the fire gets going. Any ideas ?

downshifter

mardatha wrote: »

Looking for advice re a portable fast heat for my daughter's new house. Thick stone walls and no heating just a coal fire, she is looking for instant heat in the mornings until the fire gets going. Any ideas ?

I have exactly the same problem, I have a cheap convector heater in the kitchen (Argos £20 ish) where the open fire is and where I spend most of my time, which heats the room up quickly. In the bedroom I have a fan heater which is on for 5 mins or so after I get out of the shower to warm it enough to get dressed.

In this day and age I'm so sick of being cold, stone houses seem to stay at the same temperature irrespective of what it's like outside, so when it's actually warmed up over the last couple of weeks, it's stayed the same as in midwinter here (way below my thermometer which only goes as far down as 12 degrees) Having said that snow is forecast for tonight!

Your daughter will need to watch the bills if using electricity a lot - fan heaters eat it up. But if only on for 5 mins in the morning the bill should be bearable.

Good luck. I'm sure others will come along to advise, quite a few of us seem to live in these old stone houses.

Edited to say, look in other places here for great ideas for insulation, curtains, sausages under door, roof etc etc, makes a world of difference

mardatha

That's next on my list DS, we tried door sausages but they werent a success. There is no insulation at all in the loft, but she got in touch with a place who will do that free for her. I think she too is chilled to the bone - it snowed here twice today :eek:
Her house is a bit awkward, as maybe yours is too . No door at all between the kitchen at the back (north) of the house, and the hallway, so the draught just howls in there. We need to get druaghtproofing on doors asap. Two coal fires one in each downstairs room, and thats all she has for heat. At least shes got the summer to get sorted..
Makes you understand why the Victorians wore so many clothes !

downshifter

Hi, I had the loft insulated for £99 a couple of years ago through some scheme or another and it has made so much difference - upstairs is wonderfully warm now. Yes ny house is awkward too, the kitchen is ok with open fire, but the door goes straight outside so need to remember to pull the curtain closed whenever dog wants a wee or all that coal/wood/electricity goes outside with her. The living room has the stairs off it, (no fire in there) and is consequently freezing, as all warmth races upstairs. I never use that room as its always cold and there's no way of closing it off due to the design.

The worst is the bathroom though, I hate cold towels and a cold toilet seat is just dire!

I've put that brush stuff you can get in B & Q under doors as well as a curtain over every possible door, however they still all billow out, god knows where the draft comes from.

My house (well not mine, it's rented) is around 250 yrs old, so pre-victorian.

There's a thread on here called something like keeping warm in winter, seek it out, it's wonderful!

DS

mardatha

ty pet, although I'm sorry you're freezing too, it's nice to have somebody who is in the same boat to talk to ! lol! Her hall opens into stairs, then one room either side, then at the back theres the kitchen, a pantry, and the back door . There is a door on the pantry (where it isnt needed!) and none on the kitchen. We want to hang a thick curtain to block off the back of the house and keep some heat in the hall/stairs. I think she maybe needs a curtain on the back door as well, and the draught under that is baltic. There is new double glazing thank god. But yes, the bathroom is purely for masochists..
We dont know how old this one is, it was orginally single storey but now has an upstairs and a back kitchen added on.

lostinrates

I like living rurally, but as we plan an imminent move I become increasingly aware how much our neighbours are part of that. Tonight super was asparagus from a neighbour's garden: they are away and don't want to see the crop wasted, and our friend is chain harrowing for us one morning this week. I'm a little nervous about moving somewhere where we have yet to build these connections, yet will need more help as we find our feet.

I've been googling to find out things like local markets (seems only one general market a week, some fancier but probably prohibitive farmer's markets on other days..)...but you need an actual person to tell you which butcher is best but cheap, or who to call for things like hedge cutting without having to pay a fortune.

We're less worried about things like heat, although we are a bit. Like the poster who said so long as one room is cosy they feel alright, that's how I feel too. There is a room with a woodburner and so long as I can keep that and any pipe work unfrozen I'm happy to walk around like a bag lady with all my layers on, a pig lamp n for the cats and dogs.

I'm not afraid of being alone or anything, I just know that our best bet to being comfortable, practically and financially, is to become part of the rural community....so I'm looking for strategies for that.

mardatha

I think the way to go is just to settle in LIR, and as the neighbours see that you're a country type person and that you will fit in, then they will gradually come forward a bit. That's how it happens up here anyway, it takes time.
We came here over 30 years ago, from Edinburgh - and moved in on the same day as a couple from the south of England. They joined committees, threw very frequent parties, organised this and set up that. The lady once said to me that I "would never make friends" because I didnt know how to go about it. Everybody drank their booze, ate their food, gossipped behind their backs, and then she ran off with the milkman. (this is true! ). They lasted about 6 years.. I stayed quiet and stayed put and am still here ! LOL

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm not afraid of being alone or anything, I just know that our best bet to being comfortable, practically and financially, is to become part of the rural community....so I'm looking for strategies for that.

Here, you join the ladies' pub skittles team.....or to be more accurate, you are press-ganged into it!
:rotfl:

lostinrates

Thinking about this here has made me focus and do some googling. I'm going to be between two villages...one doesn't have much info about stuff going on, the other does, and only that one has a pub. So I guess we start going in to the pub for a quiet drink every time we go over there to press our noses against the windows of our house to be

downshifter

Here (Pennines) I'm not part of a village, and houses are quite a way from each other. However after a few years the milkman and binman started waving, then occasionally locals did, but never more than that. However this awful winter there was a bad crisis at one of the hill farms, and suddenly, out of nowhere, tractors, snowploughs, neighbours, hay bales,bags of feed, men with toolkits, people who had trudged up the hill with shovels were gathered in the afflicted farmer's kitchen and the crisis was sorted out within a few days. Everyone then returned to their various firesides, and we are now back to the occasional waves and carlight flashes, as before.

I thought it was the most amazing coming together at a time of need, and I feel really proud to be part of the community, even as a newcomer (been here nearly 10 yrs now) that is like that. I don't for a moment believe that would ever have happened in a town. No 'Council' or other authorities were brought in - not that they could've got up here anyway - but people are self sufficient and don't feel the need to call in anyone like that. I couldn't help but wonder, however, if they'd taken the self sufficiency thing a bit too far when a salesman who had been hanging around a bit was seen off with a gun after outstaying his welcome! Cold comfort farm has nothing on life up here!