======= Date Modified 27 Sep 2010 12:10:28 =======
======= Date Modified 27 Sep 2010 12:09:48 =======
Hiya, I feel the same way about putting the heating, I'm trying not to until November, although I'm not sure how realistic this is.

Primark are doing fleecey sleep suits for £8, rather like the ones they make for babies - all in one with feet and a big zip up the front. I got two and find they keep me very warm and are loose enough to pop over a normal outfit - also have a fleecy thermal blanket, but I can't see myself working with this round me as it feel too much like going to bed etc. I know Primark is skanky, and I do feel a bit guilty about buying from there; when I have money I'll buy from decent places.

Those silver thermal blankets look good - I'd really like a tin foil sleep-suit with a hood on it, that'd keep me warm I bet. And it would groovy and space-like so I could feel at one with Bowie. I may try to make one by cutting a pattern from the Primark thingy. I think the silver blankets are really cheap.

======= Date Modified 27 Sep 2010 12:17:36 =======
stressed - if it burns through wood too quickly then the air-flow may need adjusting. I grew up in a house with 1 aga and wood burners to keep warm, it sounds exactly like your place! Always cold and damp and had to sleep with hot waterbottles and blankets - a bit like a period drama!

My advice would be to get a dehumidifier as this will help with the damp AND make the room warmer :-)

and yes, coal, rather than wood if you want it to burn hotter. You can get it bulk delivered if you don't already, that will save you some cash.

I'm thinking of getting a slanket this year. Not looking forward to another cold winter in my house, but reading some of the posts it appears I need to HTFU as we have central heating and water has never frozen in a glass anywhere inside near me!

My methods are tea, hot water bottle and working outside the home where possible (as in somewhere warm - library/uni/cafe/Mum's house! not literally outside). I am wondering whether I can write my thesis on a laptop in the pub so as to use their heating instead!!

my uni is a £50 trip away, so wouldn't work out cheaper to sit there. I'd probably buy about £20 of coffee if I as in a cafe/coffe shop.

I'm wondering - is it cheaper to just heat one radiator's worth? i.e turn off all the radiators exept the one in my room? or will that blow up the system or something?

yeah sneaks, you can do that, or at least I can. Sometimes there is a central radiotor through which all the hot water must flow, and this one has to be on too - mine's in the bathroom.

Or you could make baked potatoes or roast chicken for dinner and sit in the kitchen.

Ah please don't use coal, think sustainability folks! I'm sure you can get grants and stuff to insulate your home if it's a certain age, all the eco-grants might still be around if David Cameron hasn't got his grubby mitts on them yet...

For heat, I'd say fingerless mittens, with hand warmers inside them to keep your hands warm when you are working, typing with cold hands is a nightmare. Clothing wise, I do a bit of scuba diving, and the undersuits for underneath drysuits are amazing. Like sleeping bags with arms and legs. I have several diving friends who have been known to wear theirs inside for heat when the gas/oil runs out. The undersuits are great with some thermal longjohns as a bottom layer, a thin fleece top or two, and fleecy/warm leggings, then the undersuit on top. I wear thick hiking socks to keep my feel warm, and that combined with a hat and fingerless mittens should have you sweating! You can buy one on ebay for cheap enough, get a big enough size to allow layering underneath though!

How lovely to have more than one radiator ;-) Actually I've got 2 lmao;-)

That's a good idea Sneaks - i do have a dehumidifier somewhere - in the old house the only place I could work was at the table and it was so noisy I couldn't concentrate so we brought an old caravan and turned it into an office - nice and warm with the heater but damp so we brought a dehumidifier - not sure how much they cost to run though? We get our coal delivered in bulk, but its like £70 a fortnight but so much cheaper than those piddly 25kg bags you get at service stations! we get small coal and the really large stuff - a lump of that keeps the fire going most of the night with the vents shut. My mum sussed quite quickly that if she rang and said she'd made soup and had the fire on and did I want a coffee I was there as quickly as it took me to take a couple of layers off lmao. It is an experience - not one that I'd recommend mind - these old places look amazing but are so hard to live in - so cold, so damp and you're always wondering where the next ensuite is going to be when it rains hard - I'm all for multi-tasking but washing up at the kitchen sink and enjoying a cold shower at the same time isn't my idea of comfortable living ;-) I just sooooo miss being able to walk in out of the cold and taking my coat off rather than putting another on, and pressing a button and having warmth :-( sigh......

I have three suggestions:

1) Wear a fluffy dressing gown over your normal clothes and wear leggings under your jeans or pants.

2) You could buy a low wattage (so cheap to run) heating fan. You have to be careful not to sit too near it though because it can dry your eyes out and make you feel like a frog who's been sat out in the sun for too long.

3) You can buy a low wattage heating mat and sit on it: http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/homedics-massaging-heating-pad_1_156891.html

And that's it for all my good ideas. I'm running low on inspiration in general at the moment.

And Algaequeen - all though I'm all for being eco friendly - I draw the line at clinical hypothermia at least 4 times a week... literally, your body temp drops into the 34C margin pretty quick ;-) Not only is it rather uncomfortable but when you begin to slur words and lose the ability to create a coherent sentence your productivity drops ;-) Plus, it is really that much worse to run one fire than 8 or 9 rads with gas?

There are schemes to help with insulating your house, but we don't come under any of them as we're tenants and we're timber framed and listed. There is a bit of insulation in the roof but we were told there is little point as most of the heat in these houses goes through the walls - we aren't legally allowed double glazing (grade 2 listing) and for obvious reasons there are no cavities to fill and we would be allowed to even if there were as the foam damages the timbers... so, in short, we're buggered lol. We have that film stuff on the windows in the winter which helps a little but the drafts come through the gaps in the timbers mainly lol!

i do find that my halogen desk lamp gets toasty - so might reposition that over my hands, although it may cost more to run than the heating??

Never underestimate the power of the Slanket!

Yes it IS the most hideous item of clothing ever but it saves lives. It's long enough to cover your feet too so 'you don't have to shift around pulling one end or another.

Also water bottles, lots of tea and hovering over the stove whilst cooking. Also going for walks outside. Massive thick socks and tights/leggings under jeans. I also have fleece pyjamas which are a godsend.

Glad to know I'm not the only one slowly turning blue...

======= Date Modified 27 Sep 2010 17:07:05 =======
I like the idea of the primark thing, although I foresee a massive panic and possible fatal fall down the stairs as I try desparately to take it off before answering the door to the postman :$

the only thing i can see with the slanket is that it doesn't do up round the back - maybe i could sew some velcrow on it so it did up?

lmao, what's wrong with answering to door in a sleepsuit? especially a nice fleecy one? ;-) I always envied the babies for having them!!! Oooh, didn't know primark sold adult sized ones - must get one - ok, so hubby might not be overly impressed but hey, warmth is ALL that matters ;-)

I've got a slanket too - its a god awful thing lol, I always get tied in knots and the bit at the back is a pain lol, but its warm(er)

Yeah, I'd have absolutely no problem answering the door to the postman in my sleepsuits, I think they're quite cosy and sweet looking - I have one in black and white leopard print and one with purple and pink stars on it.

Sneaks, you could do some decorating - I'm boiling and I've got the window open. Or what about your cycle machine thingy? They say 20 mins of that warms you up for ages.

Re the warming properties of decorating or exersize...

whenever I clear or particularly do the vacuuming I always end up boiling and think "next winter I'll clean the house whenever I'm cold, i can think about my work while doing it (instead of web based procrastination) so I'll work hard, have a nice clean house, and be warm" Has never happened mind! I still live in a skanky mess hole!