I woke up to ice inside the windows this morning

[iceyniceyspicey]

Single glazed house with loads of windows. Freezing as can be. We don't even have central heating, just some archaic vent system and no fireplace or chimney.

I have electric blankets on 2 beds (so we are sleeping together for warmth) and I put sheets over the bottom bunk bed like a den for warmth. throws on every bed (thank you charity shop! I even asked around and got an extra quilt for the settee) we don't have carpet, only in one bedroom and we kept the cut offs for next to my bed (like a runner) and a small mat downstairs.
make shift draught excluders made from old clothes stuffed inside pillowcases.
I hang coats on the back door and lift the mat up to help the edges of the door stop being so draughty.
we bought an airfryer to jeep costs down but now we can't use the heat from the oven (with a broken door that has to be propped shut. but it cane with the house so it's good enough for now)

it's so cold and my toddler refuses socks and lately trousers too! I have a pair of fleece lined overalls for nursery kids to play in the mud. I forget what they are called and I tried to keep him in that but he is so upset pulling it off.
he pulls his socks off and it's freezing (his first proper words aww rolling eyes)

Every window has terrible condensation. Soaking water droplets all over every single one. it takes 3 towels to do upstairs and I have to open the windows to air it out.
Dehumidifiers are out of stock except 300 with I can't afford right now. I need a new oven more anyway!

i feel like a real failure.
Me and my dh spent the last almost 10 years saving up for this house. living in a tiny horrible flat to save on rent. no holidays or driving or luxuries and we managed it.
now the prices are going up and up I can't see us being able to replace the windows for years. I'm wary of debt too, his job isn't as secure as it was pre covid.

just here to rant really

Take the nets down, put a couple of jumpers on, open all windows in the house for 20minutes, and air the house. Then gradually close the windows leaving a small gap and try that

A dehumidifier will make a huge difference. We got ours for free from Marketplace a couple of years ago - there's really no need to pay hundreds for them. Ask around on social media, pop a post on local forums - someone will be happy to be help and loan theirs out for a week.

Amazon even have ones available right now for less than £50 - the figures of £200+ being quoted are nonsense - even if you can't get one for free, you really don't need to spend that much.

You're right that it won't heat her home - but it will get rid of the moisture and the damp and make living without heating much more bearable, and help prevent permanent structural damage to the house, which is what's happening at the moment.

There is a thread about dehumidifiers on at the moment, you need a desiccant dehumidifiers are the stronger ones

They're not out of stock now, though.

www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Breeze-Portable-Dehumidifier-Moisture/dp/B00NFRTVY6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=portable+dehumidifier&qid=1670756486&sr=8-4

Less than £50.

A whole new heating system isn't basic maintenance and would cost thousands of pounds! The problem is there is one system which blows warm air into the living room, the kitchen and the hallway upstairs. There's no heating in the bedrooms at all. Apart from electric blankets. And the kitchener is so draughty it still feels cold even with the heater running. And once you turn the heater off it cools down really quickly. But there is no damp on the walls and only wet windows with mould forming where it's really wet, so I'm pleased about that. A place we were renting before was so damp and mouldy and cold that we had to bin out sofa and other furniture because they were soaking and mouldy! including our drawers full of clothes. So renting is just as bad if not worse.

We planned to carry on saving for new windows, new heating system and big purchases at the same rate we were saving for a deposit BUT the price of food and electricity has sky rocketed. And even if proces go down it'll take a few years to save. We might have taken out a loan but it seems too risky at the moment.

I was looking on other threads for ideas and other websites too but decided to post myself because ice is forming and my tiny baby likes to be wild and free zing so I thought I'd ask the mums who probably have babies who hate socks and trousers too!
The older ones are fine. They keep their jumpers on and fluffy socks stay on. But the baby is absolutely crazy!

Get some plug in oil filled radiators for the bedrooms.

Aww bless you, sounds fucking awful. You have thought of lots of creative ways to maintain as much heat as you can in the house. We are lucky in that we live in a new build so well insulated. But still the heat is off for much of the day and when it is on is mostly on 18.

I find I can cope well without heat on in the house wearing my oodie (original brand is much warmer!) I don’t know if they have anything suitable for children🤔I know it’s not ideal but maybe putting warm clothes on toddler back to front so they can’t take the clothes off? (For example so cardigan/ coat zip is on the back instead of front… but the oodies are literally like wearing a duvet so if you can get the original ones. I have an electric throw for the couch which costs pennies to run and keeps DH and I warm when in the living room.

What are you like with a sewing machine? Might be worth finding the most hideous thick velvet material you can find and sewing up some warm curtains for every window and also door curtains to help keep out drafts (especially front and back door). Maybe double layer the velvet to make them really heavy and thick?

Check doors for drafts, you can get DIY draft excluder things to fit into any gaps. Check out eBay.

Try to save money this year and make double glazing the windows for next year a priority, this will make an enormous difference… Also check loft is insulated.

Its so shit that people are having to live like this in this day and age though isn’t it… Seriously, fuck the tories!

I leave my window open a crack all night and it still soaks the windows. I left the empty room open all night wide as can be and shut the door, the open window was clean but the one next to it looked like this.
and even though I put a towel at the bottom of the door to block the gaps in was so cold this morning!

This is the worst room it's got no carpet and is absolutely freezing.

The council insulated all of the houses round here but ours is one of the few bought before they did. I've been to my neighbours and their house is like an oven compared to ours.

I've also looked in the cupboard and put up an extra pair of curtains hidden behind the first pair, so that should double up.

the condensation probably isn't helped by washing but we need clothes and there's no laundrette in walking distance of here. Getting a taxi would cost more than putting the heating on for an hour or 2 so it's not worth it.

:-O my parents offered me ugly velvet curtains when I first moved out years ago. I can't believe I turned them down! the follies of youth!
I wonder if she still has them
and yeah someone said uptrend back to front baby clothes. I can't believe I didn't think of it before!

The thing is, apart from putting the heating on and using a dehumidifier, there just isn't a solution to damp and condensation. There's no free or cheap solution - they just don't exist, especially not in a country as damp as the UK.

I was thinking the same when I read the post about the tea lights. I'm sure we get more condensation on our windows when we light candles at this time of year .

When combustion takes place, you get carbon dioxide and water as the products.

So burning candles will generate moisture.

Thing is putting the heating on is pointless anyway as the heat will just go straight out the windows… And yes see if they have those curtains still, velvet is a good insulator.

Also could you get those little dehumidifier boxes to put on window sills, you can get them in the pound shop, my God parents use them in the caravan and they stop the condensation on the windows

Ok, the only thing that will stop this is heating and ventilation. This amount of condensation is happening because you are creating a lot of water vapour through activities like washing, drying clothes, cooking etc.. (we all do!) and then that is hitting very cold windows and walls and condensing in to water.

Obviously the long term solution is replacing the windows and heating system. In the meantime you need to heat the property as well as you can, open the windows everyday and air thoroughly, remove the condensation on the windows - a squeegee and a old towel will do it and get a dehumidifier to dun in rooms you are drying washing in (see if there are any available on freecycle or local sites of you cannot afford a new one.) It will be a daily chore but if you don't keep on top of it you will get more problems - mould and damage.

If your EPC is very low (E or lower) it may be worth seeing of there are any grants for some energy efficiency improvements.

Try to save money this year and make double glazing the windows for next year a priority, this will make an enormous difference… Also check loft is insulated

Double glazing is expensive.
We have secondary glazing. It's basically polycarbonate sheets which fix to the window frame by magnetic strips. It's made a difference to the condensation.

desiccant heaters

We use a refridgerant dehumidifier, an EBAC that is designed for the damp British climate.

Ours us mainly for laundry drying as we do not have the space for a separate tumble drier and the drier function on our washer/drier is worse than useless.

Our windows looked like this in the winter for years until we had double glazing done last year. I used to put towelling along the bottom to soak the drips up and then dry the windows each morning . But of course you do then have the wet towels. I remember growing up we had absorbent pads along all our window sills which my dad used to squeeze out every morning.

We have a few non-electric dehumidifiers which have a gel disc inside to soak up the moisture in the air .

Opening your windows for a short time each day will help - but will also make it colder. I can see you say you have some heating downstairs - would you be able to get a moveable heater for the upstairs rooms to use just for a short while before bed and in the morning after opening the windows?

The above scree was taken from Ebac site

Sorry - when I say to use the heater after opening windows I meant to open for 10 mins to air and then heat once closed again .

Also unleas you have good extractor fans you need to open the window every time you cook or shower.

Congratulations on getting onto the property ladder, @iceyniceyspicey
Great advice on here. I moved from a single glazed country cottage three years ago, it was beautiful but my God it was cold in winter. I had a woolly hat on at all times, fingerless gloves, & a dressing gown on top of my clothes, with a hot water bottle strapped inside... It all helps! I looked into all different ways of heating (we had old storage heaters, & MANY draughts!) but quickly realised that, despite manufacturer's claims, if it uses electric, you're paying for it. Nothing is warmer than anything else unless it's using more power.
Much warmer where we are now, but got up to SNOW this morning! :-0

Could you reconsider getting a job? Even if you're not earning much once childcare costs are deducted, that money could still be going towards your increased living costs and nake your home a bit more bearable.
Or even evenings/weekend work if this would mean you wouldn't have to pay childcare.

This is advertising blurb for a company that sells refrigerant dehumidifiers! Not to be taken without a large pinch of salt. 😂

Agreed compressors don't work well below around 20 degrees.