hi
 

Hi to keep my house warm I make sure all the blinds are pulled. and the back door and front door put up a nice curtain to pull across it helps to keep the draights out and a door draght at the bottom of the door. heated blackets are great to even if the room cold you wont be in bed. put the heat on a half hr be4 you get and befour you come home at night. I bought an old gas heater that works on the bottle gas I put it on as needed it realy heats the house they are called FLOGAS gas heaters I got mine in power city for 94 eoros and the gas bottle each month is 30 euros good luck

heat
 

Hi, I can really recommend hot water bottles, I have the normal rubber ones and also one of the old ceramic ones I got from Jt from Sabrinabray. It is marvelous! I love to fill them and put them behind me on the couch so I am cosy even if the room is a bit chilly.

Definately pull the curtains and line them if not already,

make draught excluders from jeans legs (cut off leg, (jean's not yer' own), turn inside out, secure with elastic band, turn right side out, stuff with old clothes and secure end as before and stuff this bit inside.) Voila! one eco draught excluder...or you could teach your dog to lie along the bottom of the door!..even better get your dog to cuddle up with you on couch as there's great heat in a dog!

Also put draught excluder on all doors, pull down blinds, light your favourite candle (doesn't give much heat but makes you feel warm)
in fact do all the little things and it will make a big difference. Good luck...Unapam

I am sitting in front of my PC, legs crossed on office chair, one hotwater bottle on each leg, one behind my back, one handwarmer in the sock on the foot that isn't cosy, a fleece blankie over my lap and a really hot cup of tea (still fighting my eldest for my other handwarmer for my other sock - she is stubborn :~[ and strong). The shutters are open to let in the sun which is lovely when it reaches. I've NEVER lived in a colder house but I thank God that we have it. Am definitely going to be cutting off legs (don't care if they're still being walked on) for draught excluders now. And have to try hang curtains on ALL the doors in the house.

Does anyone have any idea where I could find one of those little stove things that you put in the fire place or on the hearth and how much one can expect to pay. The house is around 200 years old and apparently they didn't know about flues in those days because we don't have one and unless you're sitting almost IN it, our fire is really only decorative. My fingers are so cold right now they're sore - BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Most of the people who sell normal heating boilers also do the stoves for burning logs, The pot belly type is the most popular.

I love Unapams idea for the trouser legs, i am going to try it with an old pillow for stuffing, just roll it up really tight like when you get the new ones wrapped in the shop, (Experience rolling sleeping bags away after camping finally become a practical skill!) and I have finally found a lifecycle for pillows

Our house was built in the early '60's & not a lot has been done to it since, by the looks!

We moved in last September, so it's our first winter here... during the summer we are planning on making sure the loft is insulated...properly! New radiators all round, as ours have been painted with emulsion, several times... and double glazing.

We have a stanley stove which provides all of our heating & hot water, & I cook with it too, I can't see the sense in wasting it by using the leccy oven & gas hob....

We've heavy lined curtains at all windows, & they are closed at dusk... curtains at the front door to stop draughts.

A friend of mine pops her hot water bottle inside a pillowcase, on top of a pillow for her feet while she's at the PC - keeps her feet warm & toasty & up just high enough to be out of the draughts.
Also, for all of you who suffer with cold hands at the PC, try knitting or buying fingerless gloves or long wristwarmers.... and wearing lots of thinner layers will keep you warmer than 1 or 2 bulky knits....

If you're outside in your wellies & suffer from cold feet, try pulling on 2 pairs of socks with a small plastic bag between... and if wearing garden gloves, try pulling on a pair of tight vinyl gloves first - this stops the wind & cold getting in too!

Can you tell I don't like being cold? Haha!

Hi there. I don't know what windows you have, I have sash windows in my place and as you can imagine the heat goes out the window. A tip is too make INSULATED SHUTTERS. This is a twin layered shutter with insulation between the shutters. It's an easy thing to make if your handy with a hammer and nail.

cold chilly houses help
 

I have a two story 4 bed house out in countryside and it is cold here. So this nov 2008 got roller blinds for all windows already have curtains fitted helped loads. Gap between window board & window on inside do fray do a breeze test. Can be filled with silicone tidily. tip I have regular shandelier 10 ev friendly bulbs : now put one bedside lamp upstairs & one downstairs loads of light and using only 2 bulbs.

Feeling the cold too
 

I am in desparate need of advice about my heating. My ex in his ultimate wisdom(I think he must have been on something at the time) took out a perfectly good fire,back boiler etc a few years ago. He replaced this with a gas combi boiler which uses gas bottles at 111euro a pop. I am lucky to get 2 weeks out of these at the moment and the house is instantly cold as soon as heat is turned off. Can anyone suggest a solution? I would ideally like to get the fire back in but heard it is quite expensive. I am now a single parent and the wonderful ex has washed his hands of any financial resposibility to his family. I know that some free websites sometimes have some of the parts that would be needed. Any ideas anyone as you jters seem to be a pretty resourceful bunch.

National Insulation Programme (NIP ?!) for economic recovery
 

Dept of the Environment Press Release (09/02/09)
"Government announces national insulation programme for economic recovery"

· €100 million for insulation schemes in 2009
· 4,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created
· 50,000 homes to be upgraded
· €700 savings for householders in their heating bills

Details here:

http://www.environ.ie/en/Development...y,19454,en.htm

Home Energy Saving scheme
 

The Home Energy Saving (HES) scheme provides assistance to homeowners who are interested in improving the energy efficiency of their home in order to reduce energy use and costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It is a national scheme and thus open to all owners of existing houses. The scheme is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland and its agents.

Details here:
http://www.sei.ie/Grants/Pilot_Home_...Saving_Scheme/

Thanks Chris for those links

keeping houses warm
 

A few years ago, we were able to just get the glass in our windows replaced with double glazed units, rather than get the whole windows replaced. It made a huge difference to the warmth in the house, and was about half the cost of replacing the windows. :) And although the attic was insulated when we bought the house, we put at least as much insulation again up there, and that helped a lot too. Our heating thermostat is always set as low as it will go, it never needs to be turned up.

Heating/Insulating Info
 

Lots of info on Home Heating Systems, Insulating Your Home, the BER (Building Energy Rating) and more can be found in the "General Information" section at the bottom of the page in the following link:

http://www.sei.ie/Your_Home/

hi there
In your situation i would definitely consider putting back the fire and back boiler - but in the meantime if you could get your hands on a little stove - you can just literally put in front of where the fire would normally go - just push it as far back as it goes and then the only thing you will need is a metal plate with a hole in it for the fumes from the fire to go up the chimney - very easy to do - i went to a blacksmith and he did it for me - cost about 20 euro.
The stove we got for about 500 euro but it is the best investment - we use less coal and wood etc. They say with an open fire 80% of the heat is lost up the chimney and only 20% comes out - with the stove 80% of the heat is given off into the house and 20% up the chimney - it heats our whole house - ive only turned the oil on twice this winter and that was cos we ran out of coal - pm if you want to know more!!

Stoves
 

I had thought of putting in one of these stoves eventually. How do they heat the whole house though? And how do you clean your chimney? I usually clean my chimney myself, but I don't fancy gettng up on the roof to do it from above! I have a Grant triple-pass back boiler, which is very efficient, but unfortunately because (I'm told) of the lie of the land where I live, the air currents have to be just right, or the smoke goes up one chimney and back down the other, which is right beside it, smoking out the sitting room!