the ice man cometh! (merged with keeping warm)

mary43

My mum used to 'top and tail' sheets as well.Do that myself not having a tumble dryer.Washing dries in the back room where the central heating boiler is.........can take two days though.
I can only work on what we did when I first got married and all we had was a coal fire and a paraffin heater. Used to leave the electric oven door open after I'd taken dinner out as it stayed warm for a while. Washing dried over a fireguard, one of the square sort........babies nappies etc.
Long johns and thermal vests underneath your clothes in the daytime..........even keep some to wear either as pj's or wear under pj's.
Hot water bottles were a godsend.............one at the top of the bed, one for my feet. Thick curtains (lined preferably) and one of those sausage type draft excluders for front and back door. Draft excluding round windows as well.
Sorry, can't think of anything else

Sassamac

Thanks for all your tips, some useful nuggest of info in there. I will try to answer a few comments.

We're skint so any savings will make a real difference. Our gas bill is £42 and elec £59 per month. we have just changed supplier who claim we will get a 20 - 25% saving.

The house is ours so we cant pass the buck on unfortunately. We moved in 18 months ago (was roasting hot in 'Flaming June', especially as I was 7 months pregnant so we never realised the heating problem).

Dont have an airing cupboard so that rules that out.
Not sure what happens with loft insulation because we have an attic bedroom. it gets very hot in summer and very cold in winter. will check out the link.
Dont have a slow cooker (would love one) but on really cold days I do cook just for the sake of it so the oven warms the house (usually rice pudding as thats very warming to eat to.)
I had thought about drying clothes in the kitchen but worried abouit food smells.
We have a huge thick blanket under our bed sheet on top of the matress. Cant do the same for the kids unfortunately as if they were sick etc in the night it would.
Love the 'its my own ming Im sleeping in' comment. The thing is its not warm enough to get sweaty so I guess it solves its own problem.
might look into a rad timer. Just thought actually we have a wall mounted elec rad in the hall with a timer. weve never used it because I consider it a waste of money heating a hallway / stairway. but it comes off the wall so may be able to use this in the kids room.
thicker curtains and draft excluder is something I am looking into. were yet to replace the curtains from when we moved in here. My Mum has promised to make some as she is good at things like that. unfortunately organisation isnt her strong point so it might be next winter before we get them.

will follow all the links in a mo.
Thanks again guys.

angelavdavis

Sassamac wrote: »

Dont have a slow cooker (would love one) but on really cold days I do cook just for the sake of it so the oven warms the house (usually rice pudding as thats very warming to eat to.)
thicker curtains and draft excluder is something I am looking into. were yet to replace the curtains from when we moved in here. My Mum has promised to make some as she is good at things like that. unfortunately organisation isnt her strong point so it might be next winter before we get them.

Advertise on freecycle and see if anyone has a slow cooker they no longer want, and measure the doors and ask for curtains too.

Apparently, you can make draft excluders from the leg of old trousers, stuffed with old newspapers or carrier bags and handsewn either end! I haven't tried it, but there are others on here that have.

MoaningMyrtle

We have a thick velvet curtain (very gothic eh?) on the back of our front door. The proper above door curtain rails are expensive, so we just got a normal rail and pull it across when we need it.

How about getting a Calor Gas portable heater? These are good to warm rooms, try Freecycle.

If you put the electric radiator on a trimer, try doing it for two hours on and two hours off to maintain the warmth.

Sharra

I would def say to check the loft insulation. We did ours last winter and it has really made a difference.

moanymoany

If it gets really cold what I would do is live in one room. Mattresses can be brought in at bedtime. It will mean the room can be kept warm through very cold nights.

When I was a kid the only time anyone left the fire was to run to the loo or make a cuppa. Nights were grim. I've always said that if I couldn't afford the heating I would do the one room thing. It makes so much sense.

JoJoB

I have one storage heater in my flat, in the living room, so that is where we spend all our time. If you can pick up a cheap second hand one I really recommend it as you switch it on at night when the leccy is cheaper, turn it off in the morning and the heat comes out of it all day. Our living room is toasty while the rest of the flat is an icebox. Luckily I am happy sleeping in a cold bedroom, really don't like getting too hot in my sleep. And I'm asthmatic too - I haven't had a problem with the icy air.

Just got rid of tumble dryer too, so tend to do a wash at night then hang up clothes etc on hangers hooked on door handles or on the stair bannisters. They tend to be dry in the morning so at least the unsightliness of drying clothes all over the place is just overnight rather than in the day.

Someone mentioned a heater that is only 2p an hour to run - can I have details please? I'm very confused about how to tell how expensive a heater is leccy-wise.

cheerfulness4

The other thing we did this year was put ventian blinds at every window - the difference it makes is incredible. When I open them I can feel the cold come in. We also put the 'cling film' style double glazing on each window. I do believe it makes a difference but the greatest benefit is that the windows don't steam up and condensate now, so no dripping windowsills. It's cheap as chips at around a fiver a pack in Wilcos.

whatatwit

Using electric at night is only cheaper if you are on economy 7, where a separate meter kicks in to use the cheaper rate....downside is that usually your daytime rates are higher than someone just on regular electric.

As is often said on the gas/elec boards.....it doesn't matter what type of electric heater it is....from Granny's 1 bar electric to one of the modern halogen ones....it will give out the same amount of heat/cost the same to run. They are rated in KwH....how many Kw (units) per hour.
So a 3KwH heater will cost 3 times as much to use per hour than a 1KwH heater.

Oil filled rads are a good idea, they do take longer to warm up, but they then stay warmer when turned off as they continue to release heat.....they could be on timers to come on an a bit before getting up.

mary43

OH just suggested this....................not sure whether its phsychological or whether they actually give out warmth but having no fireplace we group sets of candles together and light them in the evening. Gives off a nice glow, very cosy looking and does seem to make the room seem warmer (our lounge is 26ft long with just one radiator and front door straight onto the street)
Might be a case of 'mind over matter' but you never know..........could just help a bit.