To suddenly be frightened of the coming winter?

[KathrynKampbell]

I think it's just hit me how hard winter is going to be. I'm sat downstairs now (watching a film tut tut get to bed) and its really cold. Today was cold too and we had to have the heating on and off all day. I thought we would manage with maybe once a day for a bit and make do with layers but I hadn't realised how much the house would leak heat and how cold laminate floor is. And the temperature is obviously going to get colder over the next few months.

AIBU to be scared about the next few months?

I totally agree with you. Im a full time working single mum with sod all money left at the end of each month. I worry about the heating, travelling to the school/work if it snows ( I dont get paid if i dont go to work). I worry about Christmas presents. The mould around my windows which i have to scrub off every two weeks as there is no double glazing in my flat and the condensation is dreadful also its freezing even with the heading up full blast. Im not trying to make people feel sorry for me because I am very lucky in so many other ways. But I fully understand where the OP is coming from

I wish you lot would bloody shut up about goats - before we know it they'll be a new government initiative for real. Never mind Victorian Values, let's go back to the simpler way of life enjoyed by Medieval peasants of yesteryear when it was commonplace to share your hovel with livestock. Not only can we benefit from their body warmth, we can use their dried dung as fuel (what energy crisis ?), drink their milk and when they die we can eat them and use their skins to make a nice extra layer for when it's cold. Every household should have one (or two, or three if you're rich).

I'm currently sat with the very fluffy cat warming my feet. It's about time the bugger started earning his keep.

But honestly, I am very worried about this winter. We are in temporary housing so I can't change much around the place. It's a gas card/electric key system so it's more expensive to start with. Being emergency housing means my rent is triple the normal LA rate so I've been screwed by the cap too.

I've dedicated one day next week to a charity shop treasure hunt for blankets and warm clothing for us all. On some of the colder days last year we all had a campout in the lounge. I turned all the radiators off in other rooms to justify keeping one heated noon - 10pm. We snuggled up and watched movies and the kids thought it was a huge treat bless them. It' not ideal but every now and then it was fun.

I'm also planning to start a box incase we get snowed in again. I can't ever remember feeling so worried about this type of thing though.

If you have damp beds, electric blankets are a great investment. They do only cost pence per hour to run and ( after the first switch on where you should leave it as long as possible to dry out moisture) you only need to have them on for an hour before bed!

When I was a student I lived in a house without central heating. I got an electric blanket for my bed, and switched it on for a few hours the first time. I'd chucked my post on the bed too which included a magazine in a plastic bag type envelope. When I picked it up, it was dripping with water ( not just misty condensation, but real water drops) where the water had been evaporated out of the bed and then re-condensed on the underside of the plastic!

10 people goats produce as much heat as one bar of an electric fire

Goats in or on the bed might also help to dry it out!! .

Keep the dung to burn for heating and cooking. Bottle the gas from their dung/farts to power the car.

They are very eco-friendly.

catsmother - are you saying it's goat to stop? [Sad]

I'll say it again - feather duvets and close fitting clothes.

Long sleeved stretchy T shirts and leggings with lycra tucked into your socks are great for trapping the warm air next to your skin and stopping the cold air getting in. It's been 16 degrees in the flat today and I was happy in just some thin leggings and a long sleeved T shirt for most of the day - I got a bit cold so put some tracky bottoms on over the leggings and was toasty warm.

Feather duvets are the same - they just flump around you so you don't get draughts like with normal duvets. They're a fair bit more expensive than standard hollow fibre duvets but worth the investment because they're so much warmer and last forever. If you can't stretch to feather duvets then a duvet one size bigger than the bed will work quite well too - a double duvet on a single bed, kingsize duvet on a double bed etc. That way you have a fair bit of overlap on each side of the bed which stops the draughts getting in.

It's the flow of air that makes you cold - you'll heat up the millimetre or so of air next to your skin with your body heat and if you can keep that air in the same place then you won't feel cold.

Completely agree about the long-sleeved lycra tops. They are about a pound each in Primark and work really well outdoors. Not sure that I could wear one with leggings at home without another top / bottoms over them without having to fend off DH every few minutes though.

Mind you, not fending him off is an excellent way to get warm

If your DH's anything like my DP then the fending off can also be quite warming (he's a tummy kisser which can end up with some quite vigorous fending).