Preparing for winter 2022/23

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How is best to prepare for the next winter? I imagine energy prices will be huge, I can afford a bit of an increase but I'm worried it will reach my limit.

I'm trying to forward think and plan ahead. I've bought some hot water bottles (in the sales) to put away and I will try and get a good stock of cupboard type foods to ease the food shopping bills over the winter when the energy will be used more. Ideally I want to try and have less other outgoings in November, December and January to cover the increase in my energy bills for that time.

I may also start overpaying a little each month on my energy account, or into a savings account so I have a bit of a buffer.

Any other ideas please?

keep at floor level, if you have a stone floor. or tiles.

if it goes off make cheese. (drain through a muslin to make cottage cheese)

I use several insulating layers underneath the bed sheets, a fake lambs wool under sheet and a wool blanket underneath that.
I use a duvet on my armchair in the evening to sit on, and another on my lap.
I've got thick soled slippers as our floors are concrete. This year I'm going to make a sheepskin foot muff out of an old coat, and I'll make it big enough to hold a hot water bottle.

I am place marking

I can recommend rugs on top of carpet to make it feel a lot warmer.

We've put down rugs too. We rent and the carpets are crap and glued onto concrete to boot. The rugs make a huge difference and look nice too. Floor length curtains and a curtain between the door and hall. It does keep the heat in but there's a psychological effect too as it looks warm.

Other things that come to mind. Decent slippers with thick soles. Good socks and gloves - glove liners help when it's very cold. Fleece cowls, because if anywhere gets cold it's the back of my neck. Thermal underwear. Brushed cotton bedding and PJs. Hot water bottles. Lined trousers are a godsend - I work outside and splashed out on Seeland lined trousers one very cold winter and they're the warmest I've ever worn. Indoors, layers and lots of them. And a fleece waistcoat, just in case.

I have some lined trousers I picked up in Aldi. I think they were blokes ones.

I second a lovely merino wool or fleece

....snood

Can add wrist warmers to that too.

Washing up warms your fingers up nicely.

Aldi do reasonably priced merino base layers....I have one on now...mid fucking summer... You have to check the specials regularly though and they might not be available very early.

I found some cabbage seeds that are supposedly harvested in January.

I have a couple of pairs of lined trousers, bought for camping and outdoors things, but very useful WFH in winter to reduce the need for heating. I've noticed that there are some decent deals on some thermal layers at the moment on Cotswold clearance section etc - by "decent", I mean the good merino wool versions are only ££ and not ££££, but I have a few gathered over the years in sales (for Scouts activities, skiing etc) that I have used when we had heavy snowfalls and generally cold weather/broken heating etc. Also, I actually bought my ski jacket and trousers in a sale almost 10 years before we actually managed to get going (once ever - loved it but so expensive) - but they were already well broken in for the bad winters of 2009/10 and 10/11, which meant I was able to walk home when buses stopped etc. quite comfortably.

I also agree about good slippers with a good sole. You generally can wear thicker socks and they are warmer than shoes if you get the right ones.

Brocolli is another good winter veg, needs a long time growing but you might still have time to get it started for a spring crop. Or kale. Or leeks. Or parsnips.

I tend not to wear snoods, they annoy me - but I love a good turtle neck, or even better, a polo neck, in winter.

I was supposed to plant my leeks and parsnips last weekend but illness prevented us from travelling. I am going to give them a go asap.

Are heated gilets worth getting or is a snood better. I’ll be WFH this winter and don’t want to put the heating on (plus it actually doesn’t work on the floor I work on anyway - we need a plumber out)

bought fingerless gloves earlier this year. Need to get slippers

we have thermals from skiing years ago so will use those too I think

I was wondering about heated waistcoats.

Also been looking at wearable sleeping bags. Basically a quilted onesie, they look great.

I can't afford to do it right now but I've wondered about overpaying in e.g. Aug, Sept and Oct to make later bills easier?

maybe save in an account and get a little bit of interest on.

Isn't this what the direct debit aims to do? Spreads the cost over the year, and that's why some people's were put up so much, in anticipation for the October hike?

May be it could be a good idea to invest in electric heaters? Stock up on thermal socks and have candlelit dinners more often😉Just a thought

We have a small fan heater so we can heat one room if the boiler stops working. They cost a lot to run though, would use electric blanket first. We have warm clothing and blankets if no power.

I am actually contemplating a single (or maybe a double) ringed induction hob - just something to plug into the wall if there is a need. Because I am worried about the autumn and energy supplies, our hob and boiler are gas powered, (oven and grill are electric, and the immersion can heat hot water from electricity/solar panels). We can heat the house (downstairs well, upstairs take the chill off) from the wood burning stove if necessary. But I feel like not having a hob to cook anything in pots would be a challenge. (I know if I HAD to, I'd get around it, but if I didn't need to, that would be better).

Any recommendations for decent makes/models?

I bought a George Forman grill and 1 ring induction hob today. Dd has been asking for a GF or similar for a long time, she dry fries a lot (serious athlete) and it can do toastie sandwiches as well.

Dh is a bit bemused by it, he's accused me of "prepping again", but admitted that he doesn't exactly think I am daft as I was right about needing masks in spring 2020.

I hope it's €80 I never need to use, and I just keep cooking on my proper gas hob. But if the gas goes out, while I'll have the oven and the bbq in the garden, having a single ring to cook with a pot or pan would be useful. And I have a fear more for the gas than electricity next winter.

BiddyPop, good stuff, having alternatives to fall back on makes so much sense. I'm a big fan of fall-back positions.

Years ago now, I'd got dough ready to go into the oven to make bread, turned it on and it had stopped working. I thought for a moment, then lit the gas bbq, put a tray of water over the flames, put a cast iron pot in to heat and when the bbq was up to temperature, the dough went in for the usual time. The bread turned out the same as it does when oven cooked. That really encouraged me.

I’m not looking forward to this winter.

Those predicted prices are astronomical. For a high income household that would be noticeable but for lower income households it could be devastating. It’s appalling that as a country we are so short term in our outlook. We have massive amounts of untapped power in the form of wave, wind and solar but no, we keep making electricity out of gas!

I’ve just had a conversation with Dh about using some of our time off this week (staycation), filling the kindling bins and getting the log stores stocked. I’m also going to have a look at winter clothing in the sales.

Then I’m doing a massive stock take to see what our food supplies are like. We have a pantry and so have the space to store the things we use a lot of.

Not a fun week off but a useful one and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a plan to get ready for trickier times ahead is invaluable.

We have a log burner and DH has been stacking wood like a crazed beaver this last few months 😬
Also have a big gas bottle for camping that I got filled and then the kids went off camping after a disastrous trip where the tent blew away in June!! Anyway that will be useful with the stove just in case.
Have also been buying extra pasta and few tins each shop more to buffer for price rises. DD bought herself those Teddy duvet sets and it's so cosy will be looking to get us all one to reduce need for heating.
She also has a massive fleecy hoody slanket thing which she got off Amazon which looks snug.

I don't think we need to worry about power cuts but I will check my candles and maybe get a few more.
I also want a really good rechargeable torch as we only have crap little things.

I also need a decent torch. They all last for a few years and then pack up