Warm enough?

We've rain and clouds in Suffolk, 7 degrees outside and 20 inside - cosy imo. Parts haven't yet been sourced, so wood and heaters proving to be answer to 'warm enough' and will see us through.

This thread does make one think about how we will manage when we are using only one source of domestic fuel - electricity.

Up til now, if the electricity went then most people could rely on their gas supply to provide some form of heat.

When we were without gas for a fortnight one winter, as well as electric heaters we had a wood stove set in a huge brick fireplace in the centre of the house. After a few days, the chimney stack heated up like a storgae radiator and heated most of the house.

The majority of houses are not suitable for solid fuel burners, so in the future, when the electricity goes, we will just have to sit thee and freeze.

I’m very warm here in my little house, bluebelle you are an absolute star with slightly bonkers tendencies, am in awe of you!

It's been a week, no repair in sight, apparently our heating equipment is quite old and parts are hard to procure. Good job wood abounds and our fireplaces work well. I pulled old heaters, best described as vintage, from storage - maybe this combination of heaters and fireplaces will see us out

At 5 degrees our after dinner dog walk was cold - house seems cold as well. I prefer cosy warm, something is amiss, we hope for an easy repair man. But, fireplaces are soon to be pouring heat.

DrWatson, I had my boiler condensate pipe plumbed in to the internal basin pipes - to avoid being another poor soul venturing outside with a hairdryer to defrost it.

bluebelle my friend stays in bed with a cup of tea and a book whilst her DH swims in the sea on the NNorfolk coast.
Good on both you and him. Not for me though.
We’ve got oil central heating and we keep it at just warm enough during the day then turn it up a bit in the evening. I’ve had my shower and am now cosy in my dressing gown with a throw over my knees.
Thank goodness the days of putting a coat on to go to the loo are over for us.

It isn't particularly cold down here on the south coast, just wet..

Lovely and warm here, central heating and wood stove on.

I refuse to save on heating, as I would not be able to move if I did, so garden can go to pot, if necessary and no holidays.

Snow and frost outside, so the air is dry, which is all to the good.

I am mean with electricity, so don't have an electric throw, or use my electric blanket and only have one light on at a time.

You have to save somewhere, don't you?

We have one, just been serviced. Apparently the older ones such as ours have a lifespan of 10-15 years but newer ones are better.

Our air source heat pump stopped working on Saturday, so no heating or hot water since then. Luckily we have a wood burning stove which heats the living room and an electric radiator, but some parts of the house are now under 17c. Engineer comes tomorrow, hope he turns up with the required parts!

Good for you madeleine, Sutton Bank both ways in icy conditions. Driffield to Hull was bad enough in snowy conditions. I once had to do the bank out of Scarborough forgotten its name . Fine going in the morning returning south late afternoon there was a thunder and lightning storm and rain so hard you could not see. I had to let the passenger out at the car park halfway for the toilet. They never asked for a lift again.

I went on saturday to Malton. am used to the weather and have done hospital ambulance car service for 10 years. But the temperature was -6 when I left and rose to the dizzying height of -2 in the middle of the day!! so long as you drove sensibly and didnt use your brakes it was ok on the road with care. The fields looked lovey but the trees even more. They were all frosted all over with hanging icicles on some. an amazing sight, and a christmas card view of a field full of sheep looking quite comfortable in the frozen field. A great food weekend and lovely chestnut man with lovely hot chestnuts that I loved. Went on to Scarborough and looked out over the sea and then went for a short walk through the shopping centre and got a top I needed but more than that got a bit warmer! Got home safely especially considering I went up and down Sutton Bank both ways. Damp here today, monday, but much of the snow has gone

HelterSkelter1 and Tink75 I also have a Dreamland heated throw, Teal coloured velvet , bought 2 years ago and used very regularly . John Lewis and Lakeland are also good.

I walked in the park with DS and our dogs yesterday, and saw spider webs encrusted with ice. We were absolutely amazed at how many there were, across shrubs and bushes, park benches, the wrought iron gates. Normally we wouldn't have been able to see them, but there must be spiders everywhere. The ducks and swans were walking about on the partly frozen lake, and every so often you would hear the ice crack and a duck would 'plop' onto the surface of the water. Boy, it was cold, but we and the dogs were well wrapped up, and it was so enjoyable. Even the thought of throwing myself into the lake for a swim would have induced a coronary; respect, Bluebell.

For Baggs (& any others with a similar gas boiler problem). Your "leak affecting pump" may be something different, but a subset of boilers get affected by severe cold if the outflow pipe (taking away the water produced by the burning process) freezes.

One solution is have that outflow run into a much wider pipe - so water finds it harder to freeze and completely block it. Another - if it freezes on the inside???! - is to have a frost heater device to cut in at extremely low temps. Your expert should know all about it!

It's Eskimo {inuit} Nell up here but a slight thaw is taking place. M6 closed yesterday and Saturday with jackknifed lorries and people stuck in their cars for 19 hours.
My DD swims off the Suffolk Coast with a group of ladies often on New Year's Day. Their DH sat in the cars with flasks of soup for them. maybe not this year.
We're tough with lots of Viking DNA as well and some of their words are still in use. Roast pork with apple and prune sauce yesterday, but I don't know what to do with it today

Love my heated throw, bought it off amazon

Yes we're warm enough.

Layers and layers, leave thermostat alone, and wood fires.

I bought an electric heat pad from Amazon 4 years ago - it’s still going strong 🤞🤞. I love it too.

www.amazon.co.uk/Bedsure-Electric-Heat-Pad-Fleece/dp/B0BYNFTMQW/ref=asc_df_B0BYNFTMQW/?hvlocphy=1006524&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&hvnetw=g&mcid=4e5dfdb9d9a53509a7e8906b4260ed53&hvadid=658767855789&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=gransnetforum-21&hvtargid=pla-2197223489475&hvrand=11634608481291632031

We're in the process of having 9 large sash windows renovated/replaced it's freezing! These guys work in all weathers and don't seem to notice the cold and rain.

Oldbat1

teabagwoman

Commiserations Baggs. I’m tucked up under an electric throw. I looked like Nanuke of the North when I ventured into the garage to get tomorrow’s lunch out of the freezer.

I use Nanuke of the North but i have no idea where it originated. Do you? I am Scottish.

I bought my electric throw in the Lake***d sale in October. I just love it. Recommend them. I bought from there because of sale at the time plus i had another £10 voucher plus they give you 3yr guarantee. It is made by Dream***d.

Nanook of the North was a 1922 silent predecessor to the modern documentary, and in it film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.

Yup, miserable wet day today here too. At least the frost and snow looked pretty yesterday.

Yes, GSM, freezing fog rolling in here too. Absolutely no wind at all, nothing to move it on. That was yesterday, today is a lot warmer, but a grotty wet Sunday, turning all the leaves on the ground to slippery mush.

teabagwoman

Commiserations Baggs. I’m tucked up under an electric throw. I looked like Nanuke of the North when I ventured into the garage to get tomorrow’s lunch out of the freezer.

I use Nanuke of the North but i have no idea where it originated. Do you? I am Scottish.

I bought my electric throw in the Lake***d sale in October. I just love it. Recommend them. I bought from there because of sale at the time plus i had another £10 voucher plus they give you 3yr guarantee. It is made by Dream***d.