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?

I saw someone up thread was worried about hot water bottles and young kids with the possibility they could leak. I have Raynauds and DH bought me the microwaveable pet pads once as a joke. They are actually fab! Rigid so not as cuddly as a hot water bottle, but last ages- much longer than the microwaveable bean bags. I would actually recommend them as an alternative. Under my father duvet they can often still be warm by the morning.

These kind:

www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/microwaveable-heat-pad?go_faster_notification=1?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&cm_mmc=Google--CPC--%20google_shopping-_-google_shopping&ita=1976&ito=google_shopping&istCompanyId=7255ccad-a1fc-4729-af31-478f79e5071c&istFeedId=385e6b9a-8b03-4076-a8bb-e4737df8549c&istItemId=itxmximpl&istBid=t&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=8964966848&cq_term=&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_plt=gp&gclid=CjwKCAjwmJeYBhAwEiwAXlg0AcOLpe6YX7IJkfZmFi9xEem7TIO78OjgLnyyWPPHwKjS8xqRmP8d9RoCLysQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

*feather

Bloody autocorrect.

@StillMedusa as a cheaper alternative to heavy curtains, if you can get a couple of cheap duvets, Asda for example has king size duvets for 9.50 each. then sew strips of material onto one side of them to make tabs to run through the curtain pole, so you have thick and heavy curtains to keep the heat contained but also can slide aside when needed. Can also be co-ordinated if you want by using duvet covers

@KangarooKenny I do find that it does dry faster with the dry towel in the load

I went in Dunelm yesterday. First time in ages. The place was covered in what they call 'teddy bear fleece' I broke out into a sweat just looking at it but price wise it's not too bad. Very cute dressing gowns for the DC and cushion for aging cat 30 quid in total. Those things will make a difference to them but I have a mid terrace victorian house too and I wasn't cold at all last winter.

My kids have a teddy bear fleece mattress cover and it does make a difference.

Gosh hangings up duvets now!
I would but our curtains are very fragile,soft walls! They come out all the time as it is!

@BobBobBobbing I've just bought 2 of those pad things today to warm the cats beds up so pleased to hear your review. They love to lie in their sofa by the radiator so hoping these will help under their mattress.

From my freezing cold student days with just gas fires for heating...
Electric blanket to warm the bed up before you got in
Blankets or extra duvets on top
Insulation wherever possible (but that's quite common nowadays)
Thermal underwear
Real wool not acrylic jumpers
Lots of layers

These days I prefer fleeces to wool jumpers and the heat holder socks and I have a DH to keep me warm in bed which helps a lot (except in summer when it's like having a fire going, the heat he gives out)

Love the idea of going on a quick riot to warm up 🤣

Love the idea of going for a quick riot to warm up! 🤣

Yes it absolutely does, my Mum always used to recommend it if something needed drying more quickly and it does reduce the time needed

I did a lot of draught proofing on our front door ready for last winter and it made a big difference. I used to have a thick door curtain too, but took this away when I redecorated. I may well reinstate it.

I have one window which was pretty draughty - got some heavy duty insulation for that - big difference.

excellent that you have it sorted! Many don't

If I was worried I'd buy a white heated blanket and put it on my bed & tell them they're not allowed on it.

@loopylindi

Explain to me someone, how is an electric throw better at saving energy than a blanket and hottie bottie when watching TV?

point out where anyone said this??

it's energy saving over having the heating on.

they're easier to use when sitting at a desk when WFH.

different suggestions for different people/activities.

sneery attitudes not welcome

@RatherBeRiding that all sounds lovely.

however, this confused me...

Central heating will stay off till November and will only be on a frost-free setting when I do use it

why not have it on the frost free setting now? It'll only come on if necessary and it doesn't matter if it's Oct or Dec if the pipes freeze!?!?!

Ooo thank you for the dry towel in the dryer trick I'll try that

I'm in Jersey but I do find in my house that as we don't use heating upstairs (bloody panel heaters) thst it gets cold enough to really feel it and be cold.

So we have blankets I've made, fleeces, fake oodies, slipper and slipper socks

Wouldn't they be a fire hazard? If they're cheap, they have that polyester filling which is very combustible.

@ShesNotTheMessiah It's confusing! But it looks as though the intensive dry cycle uses 2.82 kw per hour and he cycle is 3.25 hours? so the total electricity used is nearly 9 KW which is a lot more than the heated airer.

But 3.25 hours sounds very long doesn't it?

Bloody hell @WinterDeWinter - if that's the case I'll be first in the queue for an airer

I don't think it can be, though, as on the John Lewis website it quotes 4.76kwh as being the average usage for an average wash and dry cycle. That's more in line with the 60/80c wash + intensive dry numbers. And more in line with averages, I think.

Marks electrical quotes 372kwh for 100 cycles of wash + dry. Again, more in line with the 60/80c wash + intensive dry numbers.

Which leads me to think the 2.82kwh is the total cycle usage.

but why do they state in kw per hour in that case? It doesn't make sense! Gah.

I prefer to wear fleece pj's rather than a onsie. It can get very cold stripping the onsie down to use the loo, even with another layer below. Though I do admit I am a very cold person.

We all are lucky enough to already own dryrobes. These are amazing at holding in heat. I plan on wearing mine all winter when DS is at school. DS and I are disabled so I don't know just how low I can keep the heating but we will see. Before he was born I was able to manage on 900L of oil for 18months but we are up to 1800 per year now, though admittedly our finances have improved and we hadn't been watching when putting it on.

For those with extra washing with disabled children. If it is for wet beds, I really recommend "kylie sheets" you can buy them from amazon for about £10. They will usually catch a whole 2L spill from a catheter bag without going on the sheets and mostly save the duvet too. So its only a sheet and a kylie sheet to wash.
I Sandwich them on the bed too, so I don't have to totally remake a bed in the middle of the night. Kylie/sheet/kylie/sheet.
They say not to tumble dry but I do. I haven't looked into buying a dryer for home but have also dryer them on my parents dribuddy.

Here's the consumption values for my Serie 8

Are people just not planning on putting their heating on all winter?

I’m trying to think what we did last winter - all of us prefer to be slightly cooler so it wasn’t on all the time. Maybe one or two hours in the day and then the same in evening. Never had it on over night.

Some of the things on the this thread feel quite extreme. Do a lot of people generally have the heating on a lot or am I vastly underestimating things? I did buy a heated blanket to have on in the day working from home but that’s about it really.

I’m really not trying to be goady. Just trying to work things out - generally speaking, everything being equal (and therefore not thinking about specific circumstances like being disabled), are you just used to having heating on a lot historically and therefore planning for no heat at all?