Things that worked or didn't work last winter

Well we managed to survive the winter and with £200 credit on our dual fuel.
We live in an old,late 1800s house,solid walls so no cavity insulation but we do have realy thick loft insulation and all windows and external doors are double glazed.
The rooms are rather large with high ceilings so it's hard to heat anyway,but we had a very easy winter realy.
I bought an electric mattress cover as although we do heat our bedroom and air our bed,the bed always felt so cold,it almost felt damp.Hot water bottles did'nt seem to help but this has been the best purchase ever.Would'nt want to do without this now and so cheap to run.
I also bought a heated sofa throw,fantastic too,as it meant I could turn the heating off so much earlier when just sitting around.Also some little fleece throws for whenever we needed them.Thermal underwear,draught excluders,fleece dressing gown and socks all helped.
The other extra I had to buy was a dehumidifyer,we had a bit of condensation in the kitchen,first time since we moved here.It was a bit of an outlay but I'm glad I got one as I'm shocked at the amount of water it collects.You can't expect anything else though with the cold temperatures we've had though,can you realy.
All in all a good result,but to be honest one of the things that kept me going was coming on here in those cold days and being able to have a good natter with like minded people.I thank you all for that.

I kept my knitted blanket by the side of my chair and once over my knees saved me often from trailing upstairs to put the heating on .I also found that although my water heating is on for two hours a day (more than enough to heat a tankful, I wash up the dishes once a day) I only put the heating on for an hour at a time to take the chill off.I never have my heating on a timer as sometimes if I have a lay-in I may not need it if I'm tucked up in bed. My winter central heating bill was only just over 100.00 which I thought quite good as I expected it to be more.Small things like putting the remaining hot water in a flask in the morning means I don't need to keep boiling up the kettle all the time .I have kept an eye on the utilities this winter more than usual and have found lots of small savings seem to add up over a period of time. An extra jumper and a bit more physical movement keeps you warm as well. My SC has been put on overnight with soups,stews ect and my kitchen is always warm in the morning. Thick curtains at the windows, and an old thin summer duvet under your sheet in bed seems to generate warmth as well. I am always on the look out for tips to keep the heat in my house, why warm the outside up. Its been a very long winter this year and I will be pleased when the spring and summer arrive. I also treated myself to a Remoska, and have rarely used my oven since they are brilliant

OK, for me this winter I have done nothing radicaal, but the following worked/had the following acheivements.
- arranged to get cavity wall insulation, for free.
- had boiler/CH serviced
- fleecy clothes for us all, including babygrows for toddler
- making warm pans of stew/soup with left over veggies
My winter bill was only £62 despite having the CH on what i considered loads, so very pleased with myself. Fortunately, I am the sort of person who likes to feel a breeze and dont like been too hot. I might now start a preparing for summer thread in opposed as the winter one we had last autumn, no huge bills but expenses in other areas!

Barneysmom wrote: »

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painted lady a 'preparing for summer' thread would be good.

Any thing warmer than 17 degrees would be tropical:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

We noticed a difference when our loft was insulated properly too, although we only had it done a couple of weeks ago.

Slippers were also a good idea.