Winter is coming.

[Robson Valley]

Cold bed!
The first couple of years that I owned this place, it was really a weekender.
Set the thermostat to 15C but drive 220km to get out here to escape the city and the job on weekends.

Get out here and "turn up the heat." Reset the thermostat for 22C and let it chug along as needed. The first few winter trips, I forgot to open up the bed. I'm all set to hop in, the house is cozy and the damn bed was still 15C inside. The cure is not to bother to make the bed.

 

[Wayland]

Crikey, I consider 15°c to be quite comfortable.
I used to have to heat the dishes in my darkroom to reach 20°c.

 

[TeeDee]

Are the Four Yorkshiremen due on next??


I don't think making or taking sensible preparations for an annual occurrence that can create issue is 'worrying' about something , its just taking some proactive action to reduce that margin of probability.


But what do I know , I used to live in an ice cube and suck the the ice laden windows like a guppy fish just to absorb the ambient difference of heat from outside.

 

[Robson Valley]

Wayland, 15C is OK fully dressed and moving. Sitting in this house is another thing. Plus, I have really rotten circulation so being "cold" is terribly uncomfortable to me now. I like to see 21C or 22C and an extra blanket on the bed does me no harm.

 

[Broch]

In my youth, whilst at Uni, I bought a house! Consequently, despite being a salaried student I was probably one of the poorest students at the place. I couldn't afford heating on top of all the other expenses so I was studying for my exams in 14C. Ah, those were the days, taking the empties to the offy to get enough money to by a bag of chips - a night out was walking back from the chip shop!

 

[TeeDee]

In my youth, whilst at Uni, I bought a house! Consequently, despite being a salaried student I was probably one of the poorest students at the place. I couldn't afford heating on top of all the other expenses so I was studying for my exams in 14C. Ah, those were the days, taking the empties to the offy to get enough money to by a bag of chips - a night out was walking back from the chip shop!

Wouldn't that have been Ye Chip Shop?

 

[Broch]

Wouldn't that have been Ye Chip Shop?

Neh, t'chippy

edit - Ah, see what you did there, no, not quite that old!

 

[John Fenna]

Winter preps? All I do is change up my clothing selection and bedding - the rest is all in place all year

 

[Wayland]

Wayland, 15C is OK fully dressed and moving. Sitting in this house is another thing. Plus, I have really rotten circulation so being "cold" is terribly uncomfortable to me now. I like to see 21C or 22C and an extra blanket on the bed does me no harm.

Fair enough Robson, I was just genuinely surprised as I start to get uncomfortable above 18°c.

Perhaps that is why I like to head for the Arctic for my holidays. A sun washed beach is my idea of hell.

 

[Paul_B]

When I lived alone in my mid terrace house my only heating was electric storage heaters, economy 7, and two gas fires I didn't trust. The winter heat died at 9pm or 7pm on a really cold day that's with only having the heat on for an hour in the morning and from when I got home in the late afternoon or evening. I got used to sitting there watching TV with a mug of coffee that went cold in minutes. All while wearing three wool socks, longhorns under my jeans and numerous woollie jumpers. On a cold evening I wore a down coat, hat and scarf. That house got colder than outside once the heat had gone I swear!

The last straw was one cold winter 2010 I think when it was a really bad winter. I was hiking in the lakes a lot and would drop down a little cold and warm up in the drive home. Getting out of a nice, hot car into a house that had no heat left in the storage heaters at 4pm did it for me. I borrowed the money for central heating from a relative and ended up saving money one heating plus having a house that went from icy to warm in 10 minutes then the radiators only came on if needed. That was very little. Later on my partner moved in and double glazing A+10 windows meant the house got very heat efficient. Never looked back.

As to winter prep. That's getting warmer clothes out as and when needed. I've only just tidied them away after the march move to this house. They're in vacuum bags in the loft right now.

I do not see much need round here for full on winter survival prepping. Rarely get snow and ice. I can get places by train which is a couple of minutes walk to the station. There's local shops for food if I can't get anywhere because of the weather. We don't go far these days and if the weather's dodgy we'll stay put. We are in the position of doing that.

 

[Kadushu]

I keep a stock of enough food for about a week in case of snow but it helped during lockdown last year and if I'm feeling ill or lazy it's something to fall back on. Nothing fancy, mostly tinned food and bags of rice.

 

[billycoen]

Winter prep. Jumper on.Summer prep.Jumper off.

 

[Paul_B]

Winter prep buy more gear, summer prep buy more gear!

Actually stopped doing that but I do tend to buy something else every ski trip and summer cycle tour. Its about learning with each trip and finding out you haven't got things right yet. Mind you I think I have now.

I only need a new set of goggles for skiing because I scratched my photochromic, OTG, high spec goggles turning around in the bus with them on my head.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

No concerns house wise but I am little paranoid about being caught out in a sudden snow storm on the motorways with a young family. I am sure we have all seen the news about motorways getting blocked and having to spend the night in the car in situ.

To that end I normally make sure we have:

* Over 1/2 tank of fuel if traveling on the motorways, heard enough stories of those stuck running out of fuel trying to keep warm
* Enough water to see us through
* Enough blankets / Sleeping bags to keep warm if we have to sleep in the car
* Some basic food - Biscuits / Chocolate / Porridge / Noodles / Baby Milk
* A small stove and some fire gel to warm water for the Porridge / Noodles / Baby Milk

I really should get a 12V kettle to save having to leave the car to warm water. Im quite fortunate to have an estate car so can always put the rear seats down so the family can lie down to sleep.

 

[Wayland]

When the "Beast from the East" hit and the motorways up here got fouled up I had a booking on the other side of the country. 86 miles away.

I left the motorways and headed for the back roads, following my GPS. Unsurprisingly the snow was much deeper there but at least they were clear of idiots with no idea how to drive their SUVs.

On three occasions I had to stop and fit my Autosocks to get up or safely down a slope, usually past a few stuck vehicles in the process.

In the end, I arrived at the school just before 8am.

The head arrived, after a three mile drive, at 8:30. No sign of the caretaker who should have opened the school at 8. The teacher, who's class I was working with, lived just five miles away and did not arrive until after first break (Around 10:30).

Autosocks have been one of the best investments I ever made for Winter driving.

I should add that I was driving a standard Merc Vito van. Front wheel drive.

 

[rich d2]

Winter prep buy more gear, summer prep buy more gear!

Actually stopped doing that but I do tend to buy something else every ski trip and summer cycle tour. Its about learning with each trip and finding out you haven't got things right yet. Mind you I think I have now.

I only need a new set of goggles for skiing because I scratched my photochromic, OTG, high spec goggles turning around in the bus with them on my head.

My prep has been to get the ski stuff out of the loft, and realise the kids don't fit into any of theirs anymore.
Paul they've got Smith IO's with 2 lenses on sale at https://www.absolute-snow.co.uk/V/S..._SnowboardSki_Goggles_ML_White_Vapor-(236691) best low lens light I've used, there's loads of sales on at the moment for ski gear.
PS I got some gogglesocs to pop on/over my goggles for when they were on the helmet but not in use, have stopped them getting scratched up so far.

 

[Robson Valley]

Robins and Starlings sucked off my entire grape crop yesterday and this morning. A sure sign that summer is over. I was hoping to beat the ******** to it.

Vehicle: Law here says genuine Alpine-rated tires from October 01 to April 30. Done (serious fines, vehicle storage, new tires & new wheels.)
Engine lube is jet engine synthetic. Full to the line as usual.
4X4 solenoids for shift-on-the-fly functioning below 70 kph.
All 3 radiators up behind the grille are clean.
Best buy a new pair of wiper blades and have them put on. Winter highway salt spray driving is a fantastic mess. About 2 liters washer per 100km.
All door locks washed out with original WD-40 and lubed with foaming Fluid Film. They are $200 + labor to replace.

House: All double windows shut securely. New weather stripping around the basement door to the back yard. Quilts and extra blankets found and pulled out. 745 liters of central furnace fuel delivered Oct.01. I'll need 2 more loads to see April. New air filter on the return plenum. Fresh air/cold air intake is clean.

Me: All summer stuff (shorts, short-sleeve shirts, etc) all washed and put away.
Lots of 1 yr old fresh Carhartt flannel shirts and flannel- lined jeans ready to wear. Found my favorite sweaters. Inventoried the box of chullo, lined gloves, mitts and scarves.

Found all the trigger lock keys for the shotguns. Need a new bird license. Several flats of trap loads, several boxes of clays for company entertainment.
I'll assume that the clay thrower is working OK. I'd like to try to toss Mom's china plates, cups and saucers with it.

 

[FerlasDave]

I tend to spend a lot of time around the wood shed checking the moisture content of my firewood around now…

 

[Robson Valley]

For more than 10 years, I ran my winters with a Harman P38++ wood pellet stove. Really nice clean, quiet, even heat, buying pellets in 40 lb bags on a pallet a ton (50) at a time. Then the day came when I'm advised never to try to lift anything heavy again, (in case I spring a fatal leak.) Oil heat is 2X, I can afford it.

House is not small. 2 x 1200 sqft/112 m^2 each floor, fully finished. Bunch of bedrooms and bathrooms, couple of living rooms and a couple of big kitchens.
Walk in cold room, wine cellar, work shop and so on.

I was never prepared for serious round wood heat. Here, that's at least 4, maybe 5, true cords per winter. Messy bark and crap all over the room. Wet wood is heat energy as steam up the chimney and the % MC in what I could buy is extremely variable. I'd have to bring 2 cords indoors at a time to get serious.

 

[MikeLA]

True enough. Often used to wake up with frost inside the windows, and getting into a cold bed involved gritted teeth and a lot of wriggling about to get warm. The outdoor bog wasn't marvellous in winter either.

Totally agree with you both grow up the sixties early seventies. Coal fire, cold beds and frosted windows inside. Different times.