Hi.. I am a single mumma of 4 kids ranging from 5 to 16.. I have full time care of my kids , thanks to an intervention order (my ex sexually abused my eldest daughter) . I am currently renting a house in the perfect position. Close to school and kinder. Only problem is, its cooold. The only form of heating is a wood fire. the wood fire keeps the lounge and kitchen toasty warm, but the bedrooms are freezing. I have never heated my bedrooms, even when i lived in a place that had ducted heating, I dont think i have ever had a house so cold. I moved 9 months ago , thanks to my old neighbours threatening to hurt my kids.. So i basically took the first place i could.. I am now regretting it.. Its only just started winter and night time is horribly cold. Does anyone have any suggestions to make a place warmer ?? Or is there anyway i can check what kind of insulation, if any, a place has..
I really dont want to move from where I am as its the perfect position, but i dont think i could put up with this coldness..
Ideas to warm up a house...
Ideas to warm up a house...
Posted in:
Life Lessons, Parenthood Guilt, Health & Wellbeing
9 Replies
Do you have carpet? Getting rugs will stop the cold from coming up through the floors.
Wool rugs on the floor
I cover my windows with boards and close of open rooms with room dividers to contain the heat
Single mum of 5 in a very cold place (temps usually in the minus morning and night) and my house is freeeeezing, you can see under the house through the floorboards
Lots of blankets, jackets, socks and slippers
Do you have a ceiling fan where the wood fire is? If so check if it has a winter/summer switch this will help push the heat out to the other rooms of the house. Also thick curtains in the bedrooms and rugs if there is no carpet
Have you seen what looks like aluminium foil in people's windows? It's insulation foil night workers use to keep out the light/noise/heat when they sleep during the day. It would work well in reverse. Use it between glass and curtains and it will keep the warmth in (once you've warmed the room) Glass releases the heat really fast so finding a way cover the glass is important. 'Curtains' don't have to be real ones. Get some flannelette sheets and pin them into the window frames.
The other thing we used to do as kids when it was really cold was sleep together. Mum would put an electric blanket on one bed and two of us would get into that bed wearing our 'flannos' under plenty of blankets (doonas these days). Toasty :) I think mum could only afford 1 electric blanket but sharing worked really well anyway :)
Make sure the windows in the bedrooms are well sealed, maybe look at adding some heavier curtains to them to keep the heat in, then maybe look at some heating options. Oil column heaters are cheap from Kmart, safe for kids' rooms and quite efficient (they won't add a stack to your power bill). I understand how you feel - I lived in a couple of freezing cold places when I was younger and it was soooo hard to get them warm and keep them warm.
Yep - good curtains (or cheap blankets) over the windows.
And if you can afford - the cheapest way to heat electrically is electric blankets.
Otherwise, just wear thise 'snuggies' blankets ??
We lived in an old cottage on the Darling Downs while we saved for a house and it was cold. Gaps in the walls, gaps in the floorboards cold. We hung flags/sheets/block out curtains in every window and doorway of the living area so the potbelly kept the lounge room toasty. For the bedrooms we used good quality sleeping bags rated for bullshit cold and my son had snow suits for pj's. We could never have afforded to heat something that was barely more than basic shelter but the sleeping bags and warm clothes did the trick when it was needed. Even now our new house has reverse cycle in the living area but the bedrooms still get stupidly cold and sometimes we pull out the sleeping bags again.
This is our rental! And the last 3 rentals we have had! I swear I could have saved a deposit for a house with the amount of money I have spent to try and warm all of the houses..... I'm still trying to figure out how to warm/keep warm my current house which is freezing with our -6 and -8 mornings with winter only just arriving seems impossible :-( we could freeze to death :-/
5 winter dressing gowns and 5 hot water bottles, very cheap investment and will keep you and your babies warm & toasty.