Getting ready for winter

[Chillypetal]

I’ve been having a read on other threads about the cost of gas and electricity going up in Winter.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get prepared?

My shopping list consists of:

1. heated throw (I wanted one anyway but now I actually need one!!)
2. lined exterior door curtain (local Dunelm have a sale)
3. Collating slow cooker recipes, microwave recipes and air fryer recipes.
4. Book chimney sweep for disused fire and start buying fire wood while it’s cheap in the summer

I started the same type of thread (different name!) back in 2013ish. And I can’t believe I’m asking again.

Air fryers and heated throws weren’t readily accessible back then (not in the same way they are today!) so I’m hoping to learn some more new tips.

I wear welly socks in the house when I’m working from home, really make a difference. Apparently wrist warmers are really good to raise body temp too

I bought a heated throw from Aldi last year. They don't have them on their website at the moment but may be worth checking later in the year?

I think fingerless gloves for working from home might be a good investment too.

Jesus Chris, what did we come up to. Wearing gloves. At home. I would never ever imagine this will happen. Always seemed like the thing of past.

I know but I'm hoping it will just be this winter. Needs must at the moment.

Is there a thread offering solutions that government could do? I don't just mean cash support I mean fixing the supply issues. I have a few ideas that I wanted to float.

Posting on mumsnet isn't going to influence the government. Why don't you contact them directly or write to your local MP?

We have fleece body warmers for in the house, we got a size bigger to go over jumpers, they really help and you can still move freely enough to get on with most things.
Slipper boots are great too.

We're also going to use a dehumidifier and airer for drying clothes rather than the tumble dryer.

Fake oodies are being washed as are winter coats and gilets ready for the weather change - good to get them dry outside now. Things that made a difference to me working from home last winter were slippers with a hard sole and fake sheepskin inner, fake oodie, hot water bottle, wristwamers. I did buy an electric heat pad but it set on fire the first time I used it (literally thick black smoke everywhere) so not too keen on that idea.

Definitely interested in better slow cooker recipes and I'm seriously considering an air fryer

Wolf, airfryer in lidl 25 pound next week if you want to try one out?...🙂

Do you have good dehumidifier that you can recommend?

@xogossipgirlxo
Ours is a Vonhaus, we've had it since 2019 and it still works well.

I’m nearly ready for winter. I have got flannelnette(sp?) bedding for us all. Slippers were on sale in tesco this week so we all have a new pair.
the door curtain was from eBay - a pair of marks and Spencer’s ones and I have made door excluders with the other one. Stuffed with old pillows.
I’ve also got myself some thermal underwear and fleece leggings. The woman I share an office with is menopausal so the window is always open.
Our snow shovel snapped last year so I need to get another one of those too.

i think we will manage with the rising costs but it’s a worry. I’m doing all I can to cut costs everywhere.

@5IsTheMagicNumber thank you 💐

What do you think about microfibre bedding, with it drying so fast?

May I join.

Am moving house in early October so can't do anything about fixing deals or even figure out how much our energy will cost at the new place. Before it rises. I did consider turning everything off. Whether eating cold food/ eating out, going to launderette, using swimming pool shower would be cheaper. However I WFH so need electricity for the WiFi without which would spend loads on fuel driving 2 hours every day. Unless I can find somewhere to work...

In terms of what we already do at current house:

1. Hoover only areas used a lot once a week, others less
2. No hot water on ever - we use electric shower, boil couple of kettles for dish washing
3. Iron only school clothes quickly before they are put on, and occasional other item like a work shirt, that's it
4. No tumble dryer. Though we don't use the noisy economic washing machine cycles
5. Loads of blankets, weighted blanket for bed in winter, my daughter sleeps in with me so extra body warmth
6. Blankets for sofa also
7. We don't have an air fryer yet so there's an opportunity
8. Thermal curtains in one area not all

So there are some things we can do. We're moving to a more energy efficient house according to the epc, however from one on an old meter (not smart meter) that currently uses less than £50 electric and about £10 gas per month, somehow we've got away with that

I'd add I got a fleecy poncho from Lidl for £10 in the Spring. Its amazingly warm and a gamechanger for WFH. Also good for the menopause as you can stick an arm out or waft some air if you get flushed. Worth keeping an eye out for.

I've also found thermal leggings good for WFH, and got some woolly peruvian slipper socks on ebay for £7.

Is an air fryer better than using an electric oven? There’s five of us so the amount of food needing to be cooked is a lot.

I'm mostly planning to deal with it by dealing with our finances as the energy saving techniques are just tiny in comparison to the insane predictions for the january price cap.

Set up a detailed budget spreadsheet (there is a good downloadable one on money saving expert) and gone through all my statements since April so that I can see where I am wasting money and can immediately cut back, and where I can cut back further if the s**t really hits the fan over winter.

Increasing my hours at work, this was always my plan for when DD started reception, but now aiming to increase them more than previously planned

Not restocking our tropical fish tank as fish naturally die, we have had power cuts the last 2 winters (planned one during winter lockdown 😡and a 20 hour outage in last autumns storms) where we lost fish, so we figure it is best to assume there will be some disruption to supply this winter with all the energy craziness going on.

Switching from all Tesco delivery, to monthly Aldi shop plus weekly tesco delivey for perishables, it helps that tesco haven't put up the minimum basket limit, and it's not hard to hit £40 now.

Hardest thing I may have to do is serve notice to my lovely, perfectly behaved tenants and sell my BTL.

We already have a well insulated house with a Air source heat pump and I got a faux fur electric throw for christmas a couple of years ago. We invested in a decent energy rated heat pump dryer as drying clothes on the radiators was excerbating damp in our old stone cottage. Might invest in some thick curtains for the kitchen as this gets affected by cold easterly winds and sucks the warmth out of the house.

So far we have bought high tog duvets for the teens and will be using their old ones on top of the mattress toppers.

Also got some electric blankets, regular blankets, selection of flasks/hot water bottles.

On the lookout for a chest freezer so I can up the bulk cook and freeze capacity.

Overpaying as much as we can afford into the energy account to soften the hit in October.

In case it's useful to anyone, I was looking at thermal curtains for a big patio door/window as what we have at the moment is very flimsy. On Wayfair, I got a really nice pair for £25 (228cm x 228cm each) in their clearance. They wouldn't have been my first choice but they are very nice and will keep the heat in better than the ones we have.

You have to hunt around a bit but might be worth looking if anyone needs warmer curtains for winter? Look for the red clearance prices.

Thank you so much! We've been hunting for this size for a while but they've always been too expensive!!

Loving the tips.

No worries, as an example, there's a set here, thermal and that size for £12.60...

www.wayfair.co.uk/home-decor/pdp/fairmont-park-myron-eyelet-room-darkening-thermal-curtains-u003764408.html?prkit=false&clearance=true

Or here for £16...

www.wayfair.co.uk/home-decor/pdp/rosdorf-park-warminster-pencil-pleat-room-darkening-thermal-curtains-u003705479.html?prkit=false&clearance=true

Thanks @ShesNotTheMessiah for the link. I’ve just ordered the plain beige ones. They wouldn’t have been my first choice either, but I will use them if the temperature really drops. Bargain!