Saving money in 2008. October review. Battling with the cold.
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Save Money | 24 comments
drying by the stove
“Have you got fingerless gloves too?”
I’d unearthed Danny’s thermal vests, inherited by proxy from my uncle. Also I’d located his beanie hat (stored on a shelf beside his computer when the weather warmed up in the Spring). Delving deep in his cupboards, I’d found a good cashmere scarf that he had enjoyed opening one Christmas and would now finally appreciate. It’s tough working in an unheated house, when the ground is frozen outside. Especially if you are a fresh air freak and sit below an open Velux window.
Consequently, the door to The Rat Room is sealed. Closed 24/7. It would make a great ‘suck it and see’ test for anyone who is considering holidaying in the Antarctic. The rest of the cottage is chilly but closeted in the kitchen with the wood burner, it’s fine when I return after dark. As long as I stay in the kitchen – a clever device that guarantees that I will volunteer to cook every supper.
We have had the oil fired central heating switched on for an hour a day for the last three days. After half an hour is the moment to take a shower. We waited until the first frosts before our fingers searched the back of the airing cupboard for the switch. It was a painful challenge. Suddenly I remembered the ten years sitting out in the cold in Covent Garden market winters. We used to wear ski suits but even the most deluxe garments allowed the cold to seep through eventually. The only remedy was a long hot bath at the end of the day. I didn’t wear fingerless gloves so had none stashed away for Danny’s chilled fingers.
For the past two days we have lit the wood burner at breakfast time. This is not one of those state of the art A rated £2,000 gizmo stoves that burn three logs in 24 hours and heat an entire six bedroom house. This is a rather eccentric stove with loads of gaps around the doors. So we sealed these with aluminium foil and, hey presto, we had a stove that ticked over so slowly that it was hard to discern that it was alight until we opened the door to the rest of the house.
Suddenly we realised that our stove can be efficient with a few Heath Robinson tweaks. The foil looks unusual but the effect is superb. D has a warm room to retire to, every now and then, and it runs on a small log or less and hour.
Back in my Covent Garden Market days there was a wood burning stove in the large toy making workshop. I’d spotted this stove discarded in my local wood yard. I bought it from them for 20 quid, took it to a guy who repaired iron (10 quid) and installed it in the chimney place. We used to light it using the off cuts from the dental plate repairers that worked out of a neighbouring workshop. The pink off cuts from the plates burned for ages and were perfect for getting the stove going. A half centimetre piece will burn for far longer than a conventional firelighter. Last night I remembered that the workshop stove ran efficiently on wooden toy off cuts covered with a thick layer of sawdust. It worked like a dream.
We have half a bale of woodchips that have got damp. I threw two large shovels of this onto a lively fire this evening and it damped the fire down but not as well as the sawdust. A trip to our local builder’s merchants might produce a bag of proper sawdust which would do the job much more efficiently.
We’re waiting for the oil price to drop before our tank is topped up and then we’ll treat it like gold. Our pal Tessa advises that the drop would take six weeks to filter through to the domestic oil suppliers. Only two more weeks to go!
Meanwhile our washing is usually dried on our radiators during the winter. So I slung a piece of old washing line under the mantle piece and we have clothes that dry far more quickly and have the extra bonus of the smell of wood smoke.
Our weekly shopping bill is now on average at least 50% lower than last year. We look for offers, base our weekly meals around these and we are eating better than we have for years.
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I don’t know if you allow links but I found one on amazon ( they also have on ebay) if you think it would be any good
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Briquette-Recycling-Newspaper-eko-mania-E-M1001/dp/B000OOCMB2
Hi I don’t know if this helps at all but I have seen a gizmo for making ‘bricks’ for wood burning stoves /bbq’s out of old news paper I know you probably use alot of newspaper for the chickens but I will find the link if I can just thought it would be something else to make out of free stuff and give your burner a boost now and then ..
In our cottage we don’t have central heating, but like you have a wood burning stove downstairs. We have one electric heater in the bedroom but can’t remember the last time we switched it on.
I’ve certainly begun to notice the cold over the last few weeks, but for us it just means grabbing another fleecy blanket and snuggling under it. I has made me quite hardy to the cold. We’ve been without heating for a few days in work and I certainly didn’t suffer as much as some people.
We live in a large victorian property which is now becoming a burden to heat. No heating upstairs and only a couple of the downstairs rooms with minimal heating on. I am worried about things getting damp and mildewed. Takes me back to my youth on an old country farm with Jack Frost patterns on the insides of the windows!
We may be frozen at the moment but your post and the comments so far make me feel a bit happier and less deprived. x
I suffer from Raynauds Syndrome (limbs feel cold most of the time) the best solution I have found is actually splashing out on some money on Merino Wool Longjohns – they are fantastic. The wool is very fine but extemely warm. Unfortunately our downsized house has no chimney flue so we are without a trusty woodburning stove which we miss.
I had frugal living thrust upon me when ill-health forced me to give up a full-time teaching job and I have come to realise how much money I wasted then. I have always cooked from scratch because I like to know what is in the food I am eating. But it is the heating situation which I find really challenging. Like you Fiona, I feel the cold terribly and a few days ago was forced to dig out my skiing clothes. I am now wearing thermal vest and longjohns and ski socks. I am also thinking of delving in my yarn stash to find something to knit a shawl with as I find I get cold across the top of my back, between my shoulder blades. I wish I still had a cast iron stove as they do throw out so much heat. I don’t miss the mess and heaving heavy fuel around though. I used to get the off-cuts from the technology department at school for burning. I also used to bank up my fire for the night using the ashes that had already dropped through the grate and closed all the air vents. It was very effective, and free, and only required a quick shake in the morning to let the ashes drop through again. My fire would be ticking over again nicely within minutes. I console myself with the thought that we need the cold to kill off the bugs, especially things like blue tongue.
Snap! we have no heating upstairs and I am loathe to put the two radiators we have on downstairs, being tucked up in one warm room doesn’t help when it comes to bedtime as it seems to make it all the colder. I have taken to wrapping a blanket around my knees and topping up the hot water bottles. Ignoring the do not use boiling water sign on the top. Roll on the weekend when we burn the fires downstairs which allows the heat to filter up the chimmney breasts into the bedroom. Nice to know we are not alone in these artic climates.
Hi Fi
Keep going, we need a bit of motivation so your blog is spurring us on to eat another night of the gammon joint we cooked to eat with Friends on Wednesday. Leftovers! reminds me of Christmas.
We now have the heating on in the morning when we get up as the cottage has become really damp in the bedrooms but we keep the wood stoves burning in the day and evening.
I empathise with the cold market problem as on Saturday when we did the farmers market in the cold wind. I decided I’m going to invest in thermal undies.
Rgds
Sam
I haven’t got a wood burner I’m afraid, but I have been very economical with the central heating so far too. So last night I ended up sitting on the sofa, with four layers, a hot water bottle and my woolen blanket.
I love the picture. we all have to do our bit now. And mostly, the offshot of being green is that you save money in the long run.
I wish we could have a stove… No chimney here.
I am going to start plotting what I spend and will put it on my blog so you will be able to follow it! Lets see, how my game goes…. “how little can I spend” this time! I am going to start by cataloguing all I have in my store cupboard and freezer, and then everyone can see how much I spend and what I take from the store.
I cant wait to map out what it really costs to live! I will be trying you recipes along the way!