Preparing for Winter V

Primrose · 6 November 2018 at 9:41AM

We all know how invigorated we can feel, even after a very short spell out in the fresh air in winter. No reason why we can't have the same feeling indoors by opening a few windows, even for a short time. I suspect some of us perhaps don't realise how much the lack of fresh air impacts our brains. People complain about the air being recycled in planes on long flights yet unless they open windows in their house, they're submitting their lungs to exactly the same process.

Living_proof · 6 November 2018 at 10:23PM

Primrose wrote: »

We all know how invigorated we can feel, even after a very short spell out in the fresh air in winter. No reason why we can't have the same feeling indoors by opening a few windows, even for a short time. I suspect some of us perhaps don't realise how much the lack of fresh air impacts our brains. People complain about the air being recycled in planes on long flights yet unless they open windows in their house, they're submitting their lungs to exactly the same process.

I open my shower room and bedroom window for most of the day. In summer other windows as long as I am in the room, otherwise all sorts of unwelcome visitors would enter! I very rarely see any of my neighbours doing the same, even in the height of summer. They seem to live in hermetically sealed homes.

Primrose · 7 November 2018 at 8:24AM

It's obviously counter intrusive for many people to do this in winter when heating is expensive and not to be wasted but we don't have our heating on at night so this is a good time to open all the upstairs bedroom window slightly to get a good draught of fresh air coursing through the house. Then as soon as we get up when the heating has come on we close them.

On milder autumn and winter days, our patio door will be left open for a while and the kitchen door is also left partly open.

fuddle · 7 November 2018 at 2:55PM

I won't be shovelling any snow this winter and DH works long hours so he won't be doing it either so that leaves a gap in my preps. Salt! I' m onnit.

MandM90 · 7 November 2018 at 4:05PM

House
- Get curtains up in the living room. Need to paint it first! Decorator starting in 1.5 weeks but need to chose paint colours, and start ord
[STRIKE]- Have chimney swept,
- get firewood delivery and firelighters[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]- Buy scented candles
- Plug Nest thermostat back in when heating comes on again [/STRIKE]
- Guttering repaired/clean - Coming thursday
[STRIKE]- Boiler service
[/STRIKE]
- Re-silicone shower and bath
- Scrub tiles and get rid of icky stuff - Did the tiles in shower at weekend
[STRIKE]- Put electric blankets and throws on beds[/STRIKE]
- Ideally, decorate dining room so we can enjoy it for the winter!! - Coming in 1.5 weeks!
[STRIKE]- Wash curtains
[/STRIKE] will give away once new ones up
Car
-[STRIKE] Look into winter tyres[/STRIKE]
- Check fluids
- [STRIKE]Clean (just because it desperately needs it!)[/STRIKE]

Self/Family
- Box up Summer/Autumn capsule wardrobe and choose items from what I already own.
[STRIKE]- Buy extra tights (only have two pairs)
- Buy cheapo cold/flu meds (otherwise DH will get sniffles and panic buy a load of branded stuff in London!)
- Get out winter coats and wash. Put light ones away (I barely wore my lovely mac this summer as was too warm for coats!)[/STRIKE]
- Mend any things that need mending, replenish moth repellent thingies
[STRIKE]- Sock inventory (DH and DD) - DH has done his[/STRIKE]
- Polish shoes and boots, send any to be repaired that need it
[STRIKE]- Reorganise Cupboard Of Shame[/STRIKE]

Garden - Autumn
- Do one huuuuge weed before winter
- Move plants we want to move
- Cut back/prune plants that need it then
- Plant spring bulbs
-[STRIKE] Turn off outdoor tap[/STRIKE]
- Cover up/put away furniture
- Change over window box plants to winter flowers
- Tidy shed

I wonder how much I can whizz through this weekend! The garden is top priority, as we are behind, but also hoping to make paint decisions and start some curtain measuring. Might as well drop by Halfords for free fluid check too!

Lucy5781 · 7 November 2018 at 5:07PM

Primrose wrote: »

It's obviously counter intrusive for many people to do this in winter when heating is expensive and not to be wasted but we don't have our heating on at night so this is a good time to open all the upstairs bedroom window slightly to get a good draught of fresh air coursing through the house. Then as soon as we get up when the heating has come on we close them.

On milder autumn and winter days, our patio door will be left open for a while and the kitchen door is also left partly open.

We lost our cat back in May. Now the weather has turned, I'm noticing how little the back door is being opened.

[Deleted User] · 9 November 2018 at 11:24AM

Woodstove in and functioning and toasty warm as a result when it's running! Solar lights live on the window sill and are kept fully charged, cupboard full of tinned and dried food, many tea lights and thermal base layers.....think we're ready!

Laura_Elsewhere · 9 November 2018 at 11:27AM

beenthere_donethat wrote: »

I like to have the windows open for a good part of the day - easier done, when I'm the only one here as everyone else thinks it's freezing, rather than crisp :rotfl:
(

My chap drops me off in town on his drive to work (gives me a good 1-2 mile walk to start my day plus I get all the reduced goods in supermarkets!), and when I get in, any time between 9.15 and 10.30, the first thing I do is open the windows, front and back, so there's a through-draught of fresh air. I pull the covers back to air the bed, and prop the pillows up along the foot of the bed to air.

Even in the bitterest cold weather, I do this for 2-3 minutes - even when my poor chap was off work ill, I bundled him up in bed with shawls round his head and extra blankets and opened the bedroom window wide for 3 minutes!

When we moved in, there was a black mould damp problem in the 1992 flat, and the letting agent was very clear we needed to heat the flat to get rid of it. We don't like hot rooms, and although we're quite happy to use the central heating if we need it, we simply haven't yet needed it (not even when downstairs was un-let and empty!) - but the mould has shrunk to a fraction of what was there, just by us airing the flat properly.
With the good double-glazing, once we do close the windows, the rooms become warmer quickly, even without heating. We use a Victorian ceramic 'stone pig' hot water bottle in bed, but also as a foot-warmer if I'm sitting still during the day working, or sometimes just placed on the table on a silicon mat to warm the air a little.

Other people's houses do distinctly tend to smell stuffy and fusty to us. Usually with other smells to cover it up, specially the overpowering air fresheners - but oh, nothing beats fresh air as an air-freshener!

Laura_Elsewhere · 9 November 2018 at 12:39PM

beenthere_donethat wrote: »

I've got a stone pig for the bottom of my bed but never thought about it's use for anything other than that :)

I think of it as a portable storage heater!

It loses its heat far faster when it's not covered, of course - but it definitely makes a difference to a chilly room, or makes an excellent footwarmer. I put it on a silicon mat to try to reduce how much heat just goes down into the floor.

Onebrokelady · 9 November 2018 at 11:10PM

I live in a 60s terraced house with double glazing,my duel fuel bills has just gone up to £134 a month,it was £116 because I wasn't paying enough last year,but they obviously think I'm still not paying enough if they've put it up again

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Preparing for Winter V

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