General Chat

Names - It's a council house, so I 'redirected' them.
And yes, the insulation is of the 'old' variety - but very thick.
When I stuck my head into the loft the other day, I was met with a cold blast, so it appears to be working.

It's not a concrete house - it has brick walls - even the interior walls, it just has a concrete floor:-D
The walls are 30cm thick (yes, I've just measured them), and as my previous council house had cavity insulation put in about 20 years ago, I expect this one has, as well.

You're probably right about it getting very cold without heating - hence it was so cold when I moved in - workmen leaving doors open etc. doesn't help, either

The other reason it was so cold, is the HUGE air vent in the living room that a howling gale blew through.
Probably necessary when there was a coal fire, followed by a gas fire, but now there's only a radiator, a chimney breast in the bedroom, and a load of lumps & bumps on the wall,
I took the vent off, and 2 thirds was blocked off, the rest was a mass of insect remains. The whole thing is cunningly blocked with cardboard hidden behind the vent, at the moment..
I've bought a smaller, closable vent (but currently have no idea where it is), that I intend mounting on a piece of wood, to replace the huge, ugly vent that is there at the moment.

Maggie. I've never lived in a conctrete house, but I bet it gets cold when the heating has been left off for a while and takes a long time to warm up the walls. 16 seems so low.

I'm sure the last loft insulation call told me my loft insulation was bought on the green scheme and needed re doing. Mind you, they were still speaking wehen i pointed out that I was not on a govt. list ( that was the other calls)and that no one knew what insulation i had or who paid for it or who installed it.

We replaced our wall insulation front and back when we had new cladding installed at our own cost and goodness knows what roof insulation we have as it is fully boarded. Some years ago a work colleague had to shoot down to their elderly mother's ( about 100 miles each way) as the free loft insulation was going to be put ON TOP of the loft boards.

There is NO Way would we use anyone who phoned us or even knocked on the door.

Names, this place was freezing when I first moved in (end of January :-( )
However, I believe concrete absorbs and retains heat.
I've only been using the heating for about 2 weeks, this year, and occasionally turn it up (to about 20) for a quick blast, but then it gets too hot, so it's back to 16, and it stays at 16 day and night.
I've realised, it also stops condensation forming on the windows at night.

It may go up when Winter comes - but probably not by much.

Also, according to the 'energy saving' company that phoned me 6 times on Wednesdsy and Thursday, my roof insulation is 'out of date'.
However, after the second caller, those poor cold callers' ears were probably burning a bit . :-|

JL - I expect your OH is dressed sensibly and not wearing T-shirt & shorts. Phew Maggie, is that your night time temp or do you keep it that low all day?

I have just checked our thermostat and it is just over 21 without the heating on. OH is due back this afternoon so I wouldn’t be surprised if the heating is put up this evening. I have to admit he is not one to go snd get a thicker jumper to replace the lighter one he wears. But at least he does wear one, unlike the people on tv.

I'm still working out the heating 'logistics' of this place.
It has a concrete floor with old, breaking tiles.
As it's not very flat, I can't lay lamnate, so will have to put lino down - I don't fancy carpet throughout.
What pattern lino, I'm still pondering.
I have a huge rug in the living room, which has made it warmer.

So far, I've found that keeping the heating constantly at 16 degrees is fine.

I wouldn't potter around in the nude - or a dressing gown.
That's what I have comfy clothes for :-D

We keep our house warm all the year round, names, because my OH feels the cold badly due to his medication.

It is probably warm enough to potter in the nuddy like our neighbour but neither of us would do that. Anyway, you can bet your bottom dollar that if we did so, one of us would forget and answer the door bare-… faced! :-D ;-)

This has moved on to a whole new area :-0 ;-)

In the context of the OP do you keep your house warm enough to potter around in the nuddy or do you put a dressing gown asap?

I wore pyjamas when the children were small, and probably until they left home - the loo in the last house was downstairs, and, like you, I didn't want to shock anyone!

I move around a lot in my sleep, and find myself 'strangled' by bed clothing - pyjamas are bad enough - nighties even worse, so once the children left home, I 'did my own thing'. :-D
Now I live in a bungalow, with the bathroom right next to my bedroom, it's like an en-suite :-)

I used to do that, Maggie, but never anywhere else but in my own home.

This was when the kids were small, but at that time we all shared a bathroom so as they grew I thought I ought to cover up in case one of them suddenly appeared on the landing.

Eventually we extended but even when OH and I got our own bathroom, I never got back into the habit of sleeping in the altogether. We moved into what we laughingly called the new wing just before I was off my feet for around six weeks due to an injury so I had to wear something to greet my visitors. :-D

Gawd, that seems like yesterday, I am defo getting old! :-0

A long cardigan behind the door ought to do the job, by the way. :-D

Ooo-er, I sleep in the nude (unless I'm at someone elses place, or camping), I really must put a hook on the back of my bedroom door for my dressing gown :-S

I’ve never asked him Gwyn … and hubby fell about laughing when he told me about it.

I am not the one to ask though as when our daughter was involved in an accident and the police knocked on our door at around 1 am to tell us that she was in hospital while OH fumed and ranted about her forgetting her key I knew I’d left the door unlocked for her so I rushed to the door in only a short nightie and opened it displaying a lot but not quite all. :-D

I’ve only ever bought two fleeces on their own and one of those was dirt cheap and the other was emblazoned with the logo for the dance class I do. The other two fleeces I have are thicker and were originally zipped into waterproof jackets - one I tore.

I tend to wear them to garden or when I visit our daughter and, in the past, when I’ve walked her dog.

I probably have far too many clothes as I hate parting with things but I am pleased to say that the oldest item of clothing that I can still wear is an M & S plain black t-shirt (miraculously unfaded and not the usual t-shirt material) that I bought well over fifty years ago.

JoyLouise
Why would anyone answer the door like that ?? :-S

What he does within the privacy of his home is one thing, but why open the door ?

As long as none of us is caught in the nuddy! It happened several years ago when my OH was walking to get his morning paper. A delivery man was knocking on the door of a nearby neighbour and when the door opened there stood the guy completely starkers. My husband got an eyeful but the delivery guy had a front row seat. :-D

Florence, I regard myself as very lucky - I only need to wear a bra for 'modesty' reasons.

Kathleen, I also have that fear!

I'm not saying my 'indoor' clothes are really scruffy - but I changed the other day, to do some gardening in the front garden :-S
I don't want my newish neighbours (and the lovely bloke over the road with 2 golden retrievers) to think I have no 'class' :-D :-D :-D

There are three of us at home - me, hubby and 45 year old son and we all have what we call "house clothes" that we wouldn't be seen dead in outside. I just hope none of us ever drops down dead at home! I really, really wouldn't want to be seen dead in them :-0

Kath. x

:-D :-D :-D@Maggie Crikey if i went braless that would be a disaster! I am rather on the large size and need all the support i can get now lol

I have several black cardigans. They mostly cover my behind and a bit longer. I keep 2 for going out and the others I wear in the house. I have never walked around in a tshirt on its own as I like the pockets for putting a hanky or my glasses in.

I would only put the heating on if it was really cold outside and i felt the whole house chilly. In the evenings, i sometimes put a blanket over my legs whilst sitting on the sofa as its quite cosy.

Florence in the hebrides

I stayed with my sister last week - she had a 'simple' operation that didn't go as planned :-(

I arrived, all 'dolled up', then went upstairs to put on my 'indoor' clothes - a T shirt, old baggy jumper, comfy baggy trousers and crocs - after, of course, removing the bra!

My daughter has a day off work today, ie.she was downstairs rather than working in her room upstairs and she remarked on the comment.
She was shocked that anyone wouldn't automatically reach for a cardigan, rather than put the heating on.

I have a thin fleece on today. It's so old that is probably thinner than many cardigans, but is just right for these 'in-between' seasons, when a T shirt is not quite warm enough.
The gathered cuff means it doesn't dangle in the water, if I'm busy at the sink, so although old, it is still useful.......indoors only !

Oooh - Names, I only wear a fleece outside if it's the one that goes with the jacket! :-)

Likewise, my crocs (slippers) go no further than the garden!