How to keep warm this winter-please share your tips

[AlternativelyWired]

I'm not sure about oodies-are they good or are they too heavy and/or too warm?
We have gas central heating, crap double glazing with those vent things that let in a draught. I'm in a rented house so I can't do anything about the windows. I've bought thermal curtains for the draughty patio door and front door. I close all the doors to keep heat in rooms. Lights get switched off. I've bought a ninja foodi to reduce the use of the oven.

What else can I do? Please share your tips.

No idea why the word "never" appeared above. Phones eh?

Please do be careful to not fill hot water bottles up with boiling hot water, like I did.

I went to bed with it and the rubber must have melted, cos the fucking thing burst during the night. Felt like I'd wet the bed!

Sorry

😂

Kept getting a server error message

My mum always told us to make sure we put the lid down on the loo...it's amazing how much cold air comes up through there.(plus, germs, obviously)

@howdoesatoastermaketoast it costs 60p to boil the kettle????! Wtf!

If a kettle is rated at 3kw, that means it draws 3kw per hour.

If it takes two minutes to boil half a kettle (typical usage) , then that will take two sixtieths of 3kw =100 watts.

If a kwh of electricity costs eg 50 pence come October 1st, it will cost 5p to boil half a kettle. The fuller the kettle, the more it will cost.

No it definitely doesn't. The average power of a kettle is 2-3kW, not kWh. If you had it on for an hour, it would use 2kWh (60p).
Average time to boil a kettle would be about 3 minutes? So about 3p.
Microwave power is about 900W so would use about half to 1/3rd of the energy of a kettle if used for the same amount of time.

Warm head and feet helps the rest of you stay warm, so nice thick socks and a cosy hat.

Rug or bath towel at the bottom of the door to reduce draughts.

In the 70s 'draftt excluders' were made to look like snakes - imagine a fat soft toy snake that goes across the bottom of the door.

Get dressed and undressed under the covers.

Slippers, I only discovered the use of slippers in the last few years - we were always a bare feet family.

If you are really struggling just heat one room. And if that isn't working put a tent up in that room if you have one.

Take a flask of hot water or a hot drink to bed so you can have a warm drink in the morning before getting out of bed.

If you have open plan then if you have cooked something in the oven open the door to let the heat out.

Wear a hat in bed.

Have layers that can trap heat, so joggers over leggings, a chunky jumper with holes in the pattern with a another layer on top.

A very old fashioned way to keep hands warm used to be to put cooked, still hot jacket potatoes in your pockets.

Layer up with things like thermal vests, tops and cardigans rather than one big jumper on top.

Hot drinks and eating things like stews or porridge.

Wool socks and wearing slippers.

Natural fibres are your friend. Wool jumpers, wool slippers, wool rugs. I have wool filled duvets which are amazing.

Try to reduce draughts especially at ground level.

wrist warmers are fab, I like turtle doves but they aren’t cheap

wool socks in wool slippers kept my feet toast all last year.

move, sitting still makes you cold. Even doing a bunch of jumping Jacks will warm you up for a bit.

It's just occurred to me whether it might be worthwhile filling the freezer with stews etc now before energy prices go up again? Helps to keep the freezer full (more energy efficient) and users energy to cook while it's cheaper. Of course they will still need reheating so overall it might be cheaper to cook when wanted using the slow cooker. Anyone have any thoughts? We Jane a 3 month old and I'm really worried about keeping the house warm enough as won't be using the (much hated on mn) wood burner.

Hot water bottle wrapped in a towel put under your sock covered feet. Keeps you warm.

Make a tent in the living room.

Boil a full kettle when you make your first cuppa. Use the rest of the water for a hot water bottle on your lap or feet - and put a blanket over your knees!

My son has had an Oodie style hoodie for a number of years before they became popular. I think it's from ebay. It washes brilliantly and still looks like new. Really soft velvet feel. I can't remember how much it cost, maybe around £20. An absolute bargain. For those wanting to invest in something similar there are much better value and cheaper options than actual Oodies.

Get some Bubblewrap. I bought a very large roll from Amazon as we have a lot of windows. Cut pieces to fit any of your windows that have ugly views or you want to stop outsiders looking in and all those which already have opaque glass.

Spray the pane with water, place the cut-to-size wrap against it, smooth side out bubbles against the glass.

Amazingly it will stay put throughout the winter and easy just to peel, off with no marks so ideal for rentals.

I stuck another layer on some windows as extra insulation.,

Very cheap and very effective.

Keep curtains closed when it's dark, curtains keep warmth in.
Probably cheaper to use outside light to illuminate your rooms during daylight, though.

wrist -to-ankle thermal underwear.

A pure silk scarf wrapped round the neck (I've done this for years, highly effective). Available from charity shops via dead old ladies.

Indoors, wear thicker "house socks" over thinner socks.

Those vents in your double glazing should be closeable; they might be jammed with years of gunk. ( in this house, ours were full of spider poo; we unscrewed them, took them out , brushed and vacuumed the solid blockage and replaced them. Now working perfectly and can be open or closed)

A kettle heats water up from approx 10(?) Degrees to 100 degrees.

So if we think about 1L, it takes 4200 joules to heat it by 1 degree. So 90 degrees would be 378kJ.

A kJ is 1000 watt-seconds - so 378kJ is 378kWs - there are 3600 seconds in an hour. So 378/3600 converts it into kWh. So 0.1kWh. so 6p to boil a kettle with a litre of water at 60p per kWh.

Definitely not 60p!

Slankets are great as well.

When we were in a rental with very draughty windows (Victorian house with crumbling wooden sashes) we used plastic insulation film on them. It required taping around the window frame but that was it, so we didn't need to tell the landlord - removed it in spring with no issues. It is inexpensive and easy to install, downside is once it is on you can't open the window but it was worth it for us.

Electric throw. I live on my own and last year I just put the heating on for a bit in the morning but I won't be doing that this winter.

We batch book to save energy costs (I'm lazy so quick cheap dinners) and we usually save making the big pot for a very cold day to warm the kitchen up.
We used to have a small kitchen with no space for table and chairs but now we have a larger kitchen and can fit a table in there so we spend a lot of the winter in there because it's the warmest room in the house due to cooking. Hot porridge for breakfast on the stove top. The few mins of having the hob on helps take the edge off the house in the morning and because it's an electric hob the hot plate stays warm on top for ages.
(we rarely put the heating on for money reasons anyway, also good for the environment)

We did invest in electric blankets for some of the beds, children all share a bed in winter to keep warm. Sometimes I come in too if DH is working away from home. We took one off the bed and put it on the sofa instead of buying a heated throw which are way too expensive. That keeps us from going to bed at 5pm every night.

Children have a bunk bed so we tuck blankets in the top bunk to make a den that's so warm in there. It's sort of like Ebenezers bed in the Disney Christmas Carol. 4 poster beds with curtains were to keep warm. It works well.

For children, I keep a pop up tent with blankets and pillows and a hot water bottle. it's the option if a nice heated area for them. I wish I could fit. We used to use lots of hot water bottles and if you keep them wrapped up in a blanket they stay warm for ages.

What we couldn't afford before but can recently is curtains. We got loads second hand and this winter is going to be so warm.
I was looking at thermal lining but I think plastic insulates really well so I'll be looking at shower curtain lining, you know the plastic white sheets you can get to go behind the pretty curtains? if that's too expensive I'll just pin up spare duvet covers to thicken up the curtains.

In times old we just nailed up blankets to cover window.

Also keep the oven door and grill open after cooking.

fluffy socks for kids, slippers for adults. House coats on always. We have some thick pyjamas too which we basically live in all winter. only get dressed to go out.

I read a book when I was a child about a boy who's mother gave him a hot jacket potato wrapped in tin foil for his lunch and to help his warm while it's in his pocket. Ingenious!