Planning for a colder winter at home.

[Florencenotflo]

Like a lot of people, we're not going to be able to have the heating on as much this winter. What should I be buying now to make it as comfortable as possible? More for our 2 DD's (6 and 3). I don't have much extra money but I can buy things gradually over the next couple of months.

So far I have on my list:
Fleecy onesies to go over pyjamas
Warmer/thermal socks
Hot water bottle each

I'm thinking of killing 2 birds with one stone and putting a heated airer in their rooms. MIL has just given me her old one so I have 2 now, they might just take the chill off. I'm still going to need to dry clothes.

I wfh so I'm planning on asking a couple of family members to club together for my Christmas present and get me a heated throw. I already have fluffy slippers from last year.

Is there anything else I could do to make it easier/comfier?

If anything, it would remove moisture.
The problem is that we shouldn't be drying clothes in bedrooms. On their own, on radiator s or with an air dryer or dehumidifier. The best wash in the world will not remove all detergent/softener residues and they are not the best things to be breathing in.

Good thermal curtain liners. You can get ones that fit your existing curtains in Dunelm they aren't expensive and help keep the house cool in summer too.

slumbersacs are amazing. they do adult ones too. I have a 2.5 tog one and wore it last winter to wfh and it kept me so cosy in a cold house.

If you’ve got a sleeping bag you can sit in it, or open it out and use it as a layer on the bed.
Im going to try a fleece under our bottom sheets when it gets really cold.

I’d cycle a 14 mile round trip to work, is that practical for you? The exercise would warm you up too.

You can pick up some real bargains on places like Depop - look for things like wool jumpers. I just got a brand new 100% merino wool sweater for £13.75 on there, from someone who sells on dead stock. Mountain Warehouse do good, thin thermal base layers, I tend to live in those all winter. I also have 2 big wool coat cardigan / wrap things which I sling on over the top of whatever I’m wearing in the house - they’re not the most beautiful piece of clothing but it is very warm. I have one which I got in a Joules Big sale at Newmarket racecourse years ago, and one from Woolovers.

Also, wrist warmers are good, they’re super easy to knit or look at somewhere like Turtledoves which sells recycled cashmere ones. They help keep the chill out, together with a scarf.

I find it shocking that people are having to do all the above when…..
The UK’s Big Six energy companies raked in more than a billion pounds of profit ahead of this year’s record hike in bills.

The highest earner, SSE, made £600m alone in profit before taxes, according to annual accounts published by the energy regulator Ofgem. Last month, the Scottish energy company was forced to apologise for advising customers to “do star jumps” to keep their energy bills down.

Ah crap, maybe i need to re-think the airer situation then. I don't have anywhere else but a bedroom to put them. Our landing/hallway would be blocked completely.

@Spudlet I don't have a bike. I could use the cycle to work scheme. I need to be there by 9am really. It's 7 miles each way roughly 6 miles of that is duel carriageway. I couldn't cycle down there, to go the back way would probably take me (rather unfit) about 50 mins? So id then need to get the DC into breakfast club. I don't think the costs on that one work out for me unfortunately.

@Sally090807 I know, it's disgusting. I'm just grateful I have some spare money now to buy some extra bits to help. There will be plenty of people out there unable to buy extra blankets, thermal layers etc. inexcusable in 2022 that people will be going cold and hungry.

Electric blanket! Keep you resllt warm without hearing house.

Yes, we always had a blanket under the bottom sheet when I was a kid as apparently it made the bed warmer. Plus a hot water bottle of course.

There’s no mould in my room and I’ve been doing it years. It’s a Victorian house though so high ceilings if that makes any difference.

@Florencenotflo Ah, that’s a shame.

@Sally090807 You’re not wrong, it’s absolutely disgusting.

Big bubble bubble wrap on the windows and tin foil behind the radiators. Heating on a couple hours a day in the afternoon to take the chill off and help prevent damp. I do loads of exercise/weights in the house to warm up. Run around doing housework while I'm hot and then blankets and whatnot the rest of the time. In addition to what's been mentioned.

I do this every winter. Heating on all day Christmas day though as a treat.

We out our electric dryer in the bathroom, with the door closed (mostly - we run an extension cable in to power it and a small dehumidifiers) and the window open a bit. It makes the bathroom a lot warmer which is nice when you go to have a shower (obviously we turn it off at that point!). We have a stupidly big bathroom though as a previous owner converted it from a bedroom, and not even the smallest bedroom.

Absolutely and a damp house is harder and more expensive to heat. A dehumidifier actually puts out heat as a by product.
i would do dehumidifier and electric throw blanket

We thought that until we moved out the big furniture along outside rooms. Was grim.

Fingerless gloves are a godsend if doing a sedentary job using a laptop.

I’ve also got a solar powered wind up radio with leads to recharge mobiles and a torch. It’s not to save power use especially more in case of power cuts.

If you have an open fire consider building up a stash of logs, kindling, matches and fire lighters - do get your chimney swept first though.

Following for ideas we really need to get our usage especially gas down.. annual usage is 4000 electric and 22,000 gas. Gas heating / hot water where you have to put it on before you need it.

Cutting down on baths to save heating up the tank and instead having (electric) showers but I'm not sure if this will be any cheaper

We already try to keep the heating off until October but think we will push that back to November now. It normally goes back off again in march, thinking of bringing it forward to Feb.

We have recently bought an air fryer and have seen a drop in gas since we bought it (we have a gas oven) eg in July we used the oven once.

Already have a boot room as a laundry room with a dehumidifier in for drying washing.

Trying to cut down on tumble dryer use.

We have a summer duvet and a winter duvet. Debating putting them both on together.

Already have lots of throws, onesies for DC, thick dressing gowns for DH and I.

When I'm at home in the day I'm going to try not to put the heating on and just have it on when dc home from school.

Bought more draught excluders.

We have gym membership already so using that as much as possible and using their showers / dryers.

Debating using the tumble dryer at launderette but I'm not sure if it would work out any cheaper and there's the cost of my time to factor in..but it would be good for bed linen I tumble dry all linen as it takes up so much space on the line then we get a backlog.

I also have a slow cooker. Uses same energy as a light bulb and it’s a big one so always make up a big batch and freeze the left overs which just need heated up in a microwave.

My sheepskin house boots (from Celtic Sheepskin, several years old now*) plus a jumper and a padded gilet, keep me toasty warm on cold days. As a bonus, the house boots are made in Cornwall, not China or anywhere else far flung. And they’re washable.
*a Christmas present from dh - to save him racking brains I put a printout on his desk with size and style clearly marked!

Ditto to a dehumidifier if clothes need to be dried indoors.

I have a fleece gilet from Next which I often wear in the winter as an extra layer. Doesn’t feel bulky to wear.

Our granddaughters bedroom in their new home (rented) is cold in winter unlike her old bedroom. We filled a gap in the floor were the skirting meets the carpet and let's a draft in. It doesn't get much sun either. She has a mid sleeper bed so is off the ground at least. She has thermal curtains. I've bought teddy fleece bedding in the sale and this week picked up teddy fitted sheets from Dunelm. Fake oodies and slipper boots bought and warmer pjs for bed. For school I've bought thermal tights and thermal vests, the energy bill for schools is going to be phenomenal so I imagine it will be cold. Goodness knows what care homes and hospitals will be like. Thank you for the tip for boys joggers being warmer.

ANy ideas for a living room that opens into a conservatory? There is no divide and it gets really cold in the winter evenings!

I also started wearing knee high socks instead of ankle socks last winter. I don’t like tights under trousers/leggings, and they did make a difference.

Run a curtain pole across and get good thick curtains with thermal linings. Shut them as soon as it starts to go dark.