Keeping Warm this Winter

Jellybaby1 · 02-11-2018 9:50pm #1

Any O & O's around? I'm already freezin' tonight and its only the 2nd November. Even though we have gas central heating, its so expensive we try not to put it on too much until Christmas. Then we have it on non stop Jan/Feb and we dread the bills coming in. How are you all keeping your homes warm? Any advice on good value heating systems?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-11-2018 10:13pm

We never had gas but friends tell me it's expensive. We have oil fired central heating and a coal fire with a back boiler. The oil was on this week for about three hours a day and the fire is lit at about half three. I find the fire very economical when slacked up and it heats the whole house.

We're not particularly cold yet but it's a comfort to know we can just turn on the heat or put a match to a fire. We certainly would not hesitate to put heat on if either of us is feeling any way cold.

I like that both fuels are paid for before use rather than getting bills afterwards.

Kevin Finnerty · 02-11-2018 10:22pm

We have piped gas central heating here as well alongside a 4Kw stove OP. If gas is the only source of heating I could imagine it getting expensive alright. We tend to time the zones to the time of day( morning upstairs with an hour boost at bedtime, late afternoon downstairs) and would only be on for 3 hours max at a stint.

The stove is the saviour, stocked up with good Columbian stove coal we had last year again this winter. A bucket every 2 days, lighting from about 4.30 til bedtime, just fixed it there now for the rest of the night.

Jellybaby1 · 03-11-2018 1:06am

Kevin Finnerty wrote: »

We have piped gas central heating here as well alongside a 4Kw stove OP. If gas is the only source of heating I could imagine it getting expensive alright. We tend to time the zones to the time of day( morning upstairs with an hour boost at bedtime, late afternoon downstairs) and would only be on for 3 hours max at a stint.

The stove is the saviour, stocked up with good Columbian stove coal we had last year again this winter. A bucket every 2 days, lighting from about 4.30 til bedtime, just fixed it there now for the rest of the night.

Oooh, that sounds so cosy!

New Home · 03-11-2018 8:17pm

I know it may sound ridiculous, but if you're on a tight budget, a Thinsulate hat like this would help a lot, even indoors. My grandparents used to wear cotton caps my granny made made out of flannel (not the washcloth, the actual fabric) when going to bed every winter, but then again they used to get frost on the inside of the window panes - not the most flattering, I'll admit, but very effective. Also, I find that hugging a hot water bottle (or having one on my stomach and one under my feet) when I'm sitting down watching TV, reading, etc makes a big difference, as does a large fleecy scarf that I use as a shawl.

Other than that, the stove is brilliant (that reminds me, I must get the chimney sweep to take a look, before I light it again). I know I sounds weird, but the heating from a stove feels different to me from the heat from the rads.

Otherwise, if you're really stuck, the trick of the tealights and the terracotta flowerpots does help a bit.

looksee · 03-11-2018 9:04pm

If you have one of those grain bags - a cotton bag filled with rice or similar, pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes its lovely under your feet!

New Home · 03-11-2018 9:11pm

looksee wrote: »

If you have one of those grain bags - a cotton bag filled with rice or similar, pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes its lovely under your feet!

Oooh, yes!! Or around your neck while you're doing the washing-up (which also warms your hands).

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 03-11-2018 10:22pm

New Home wrote: »

Oooh, yes!! Or around your neck while you're doing the washing-up (which also warms your hands).

It's recommended to let the dish water go cold before emptying the sink, as the heat in the water dissipates into the room.

Jellybaby1 · 04-11-2018 12:49am

This is turning into a frugal-way-to-stay-warm thread.

Just wondered what way you all heat your homes. I'd love to have the open fire back again but at our age we don't want to hawk buckets of coal around. I'm warm enough until around 7pm onwards and then the cold just creeps up from my toes. We're considering wrapping the house which is expensive but we're told it's very effective. We had an appointment for a chap to look at the house but he never turned up, another of life's frustrations.

New Home · 04-11-2018 1:12am

Sorry, that was my fault.

I'm renting, and the main source of heat is oil-fuelled. There's also a fireplace, but the chimney is way too big or badly-constructed, and I'd say a good 75% of the heat from the fire goes up, so I seldom use it. The hallway is as warm as the shed (!), both the front door and the little bay window beside it have single pane windows, and there's no draft excluders or other forms of insulation in that part of the house. The tile floor feels like permafrost, so I put down a large rug that covers most of the floor of the hall (but not the actual corridor that brings to the kitchen), and it's made a bit of a difference. I think I'll put up a plexiglass sheet in front of the little bay window to see if it blocks some of the cold out.

In my family home there's gas fire and a stove, too.

Jellybaby1 · 04-11-2018 1:14am

New Home wrote: »

Sorry, that was my fault.

I'm renting, and the main source of heat is oil-fuelled. There's also a fireplace, but the chimney is way too big or badly-constructed, and I'd say a good 75% of the heat from the fire goes up, so I seldom use it. In my family home there's gas fire and a stove, too.

You've no option really when you're renting.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 04-11-2018 9:44am

I don't mind taking a single bucket of coal and one of slack in every day. I'm mid 70s and it's hardly a chore. The open fire is cosy and comforting and still works out the cheapest way to heat the entire house.

looksee · 04-11-2018 12:41pm

I invested in a stove in my previous house and found it infinitely better than an open fire. Now I am building (I hope!) and there will be an air to water system that sucks up warmth out of the outside air (even when it is quite cold) and somehow by a kind of reverse refrigeration process turns it into hot water. It needs electricity to work though so I shall still have a stove, even though I have been assured I won't need it - I remember the power cuts of the 70's/80's and would never have an entirely electric house.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 04-11-2018 1:16pm

looksee wrote: »

I invested in a stove in my previous house and found it infinitely better than an open fire. Now I am building (I hope!) and there will be an air to water system that sucks up warmth out of the outside air (even when it is quite cold) and somehow by a kind of reverse refrigeration process turns it into hot water. It needs electricity to work though so I shall still have a stove, even though I have been assured I won't need it - I remember the power cuts of the 70's/80's and would never have an entirely electric house.

My son put in that geothermal heat pump type system but it requires more or less constant electricity use and worked out more expensive than they had been led to believe. It's work doing a comprehensive independent assessment of all the costs - initial installation, running costs, and maintenance - versus energy or heat delivered. How easily or quickly it adapts to your heating requirements is also a factor - like underfloor heating that takes a day to get to full temperature and is only 'efficient' if left on continuously for instance.

New Home · 04-11-2018 1:30pm

I wonder, would a photovoltaic/solar panel help towards the costs of running those pumps (I mean, installing one with a battery just for running those heating systems)?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 04-11-2018 1:49pm

New Home wrote: »

I wonder, would a photovoltaic/solar panel help towards the costs of running those pumps (I mean, installing one with a battery just for running those heating systems)?

I've no idea but it's another option to enquire about.

fineso.mom · 04-11-2018 2:02pm

New Home wrote: »

Sorry, that was my fault.

I'm renting, and the main source of heat is oil-fuelled. There's also a fireplace, but the chimney is way too big or badly-constructed, and I'd say a good 75% of the heat from the fire goes up, so I seldom use it. The hallway is as warm as the shed (!), both the front door and the little bay window beside it have single pane windows, and there's no draft excluders or other forms of insulation in that part of the house. The tile floor feels like permafrost, so I put down a large rug that covers most of the floor of the hall (but not the actual corridor that brings to the kitchen), and it's made a bit of a difference. I think I'll put up a plexiglass sheet in front of the little bay window to see if it blocks some of the cold out.

In my family home there's gas fire and a stove, too.

I used to live in a place with a hall like that. We got a big heavy curtain (from a charity shop) and hung it accross the doir and window. It went from above the door right to the floor. We used a really strong curtain pole and big rings so pulling it accross to open the door was no hassle. It made a huge difference to the heat that was being lost out the door and window.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 04-11-2018 2:04pm

Half the battle seems to be keeping the heat in and the cold out.

New Home · 04-11-2018 2:18pm

fineso.mom wrote: »

I used to live in a place with a hall like that. We got a big heavy curtain (from a charity shop) and hung it accross the doir and window. It went from above the door right to the floor. We used a really strong curtain pole and big rings so pulling it accross to open the door was no hassle. It made a huge difference to the heat that was being lost out the door and window.

I have a thermal curtain, too, but it only covers the door - I think it's time for an upgrade.

It doesn't help that the local brats keep stealing the external flap of the letterbox.

Spanish Eyes · 04-11-2018 2:25pm

Heated throws are great when sitting watching TV etc. without the heat on. I have one and it is brilliant. It is like this one. Very cheap to run too.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7395189/Trail/searchtext%3EHEATED+THROW.htm

Jellybaby1 · 04-11-2018 3:48pm

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Heated throws are great when sitting watching TV etc. without the heat on. I have one and it is brilliant. It is like this one. Very cheap to run too.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7395189/Trail/searchtext%3EHEATED+THROW.htm

Just like an electric blanket isn't it? Had an electric blanket years ago but it almost set the bed on fire! :eek: We were lucky, just going to bed and we could smell burning, after a few minutes searching throughout the house we discovered the scorch marks on the bed clothes. Never again!

Spanish Eyes · 04-11-2018 7:58pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Just like an electric blanket isn't it? Had an electric blanket years ago but it almost set the bed on fire! :eek: We were lucky, just going to bed and we could smell burning, after a few minutes searching throughout the house we discovered the scorch marks on the bed clothes. Never again!

Years ago? Ah well, all electrical equipment such as this now have auto cut outs and are perfectly safe under EU regulations.

But maybe you would prefer to be freezing! I've had mine four or five years now and it is just amazingly warm when sitting watching the Telly in the afternoon before needing to put the heat on at night. Very cheap to run too.

You should try it out. Seriously.

Jellybaby1 · 05-11-2018 12:36am

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Years ago? Ah well, all electrical equipment such as this now have auto cut outs and are perfectly safe under EU regulations.

But maybe you would prefer to be freezing! I've had mine four or five years now and it is just amazingly warm when sitting watching the Telly in the afternoon before needing to put the heat on at night. Very cheap to run too.

You should try it out. Seriously.

You're right, it was long ago and I doubt there was any cut-out on it. Might consider it for the after Christmas sales.

Graces7 · 07-11-2018 5:23pm

What a wonderful thread! Clearly folk after my own heart!

I am currently abed, with a very large cat under the bedclothes... HWB at my back..

This is a very small dwelling; easy to heat. There is a wonderful solid fuel stove in the kitchen with a backboiler. I use island turf, with a little sapphire coal 2s. Heats the water and there are rads but not connected and the stove is quite effective. Else no e.g. electric or oil heating and I prefer it this way as well as cost wise.

Clothes help, and I knit hats too... best hints? I cut the sleeves off an old jersey and use them as wrist covers so they cover the backs of my hands. Warms well if you cover extremities. I do knit dozens of pairs of fingerless gloves for sale too..

Thick socks too..

Jellybaby1 · 07-11-2018 10:08pm

We have a large house and we rattle round it now being empty nesters, its expensive to heat although we only heat the rooms we use most, its still expensive. I'm beginning to dream of a little bungalow but I doubt we'd move now at our age. Did it twice before and it was very stressful.

Graces7 · 15-11-2018 4:34pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Just like an electric blanket isn't it? Had an electric blanket years ago but it almost set the bed on fire! :eek: We were lucky, just going to b ed and we could smell burning, after a few minutes searching throughout the house we discovered the scorch marks on the bed clothes. Never again!

When electric blankets first came out, my mother bought one for MY bed rather than hers... Lest a disaster happen...Then for hers...

I never took to them somehow after a few years, and, yes one scorching. Restless sleeper and they get runkled. Small hot water bottle at my back and a cat or two, and thick socks.

Prominent_Dawg · 15-11-2018 4:49pm

Is it a dressing gown or a house coat? Either way I’m living in it morning, noon and night

Graces7 · 17-11-2018 3:58pm

Prominent_Dawg wrote: »

Is it a dressing gown or a house coat? Either way I’m living in it morning, noon and night

I just put a thick jersey over my long nightie..

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 17-11-2018 4:21pm

We had a new oil boiler installed yesterday. The tank is full and there's a couple of tons of coal in the garage, so we're set. Thankfully it has been extremely mild so far and looks reasonable for the next week or so at least.

Graces7 · 26-11-2018 4:03pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

This is turning into a frugal-way-to-stay-warm thread. Just wondered what way you all heat your homes. I'd love to have the open fire back again but at our age we don't want to hawk buckets of coal around. I'm warm enough until around 7pm onwards and then the cold just creeps up from my toes. We're considering wrapping the house which is expensive but we're told it's very effective. We had an appointment for a chap to look at the house but he never turned up, another of life's frustrations.

My demountable dwelling is well insulated and I rely totally on island turf now for heating. A solid fuel stove heats the water ( back boiler) and the radiators. Turf is wonderfully clean to handle and light to carry and clean up after.

The cost of coal is way beyond a small pension so the local turf is a godsend. A life saver.

I am abed much of each day now and close for the night late afternoon;l this is the worst time of the year for the M.E and raynauds and my feet are always dangerously cold so socks and other warmers are vital.

Jellybaby1 · 26-11-2018 11:33pm

Even though I know that you suffer with health issues Graces, you do paint a cosy picture!

Keeping Warm this Winter

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