swt_passenger
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 7 Apr 2010
- Messages
- 31,520
I’ve lived in Hampshire over 45 years now, I doubt I’d be able to survive winter up there now…That’s proper up north. I grew up in the leaf Home Counties!
I’ve lived in Hampshire over 45 years now, I doubt I’d be able to survive winter up there now…That’s proper up north. I grew up in the leaf Home Counties!
The sea froze at Margate that winter, and my part of London, which was hilly, didn't get a proper bus service back for weeks, so no school!That’s proper up north. I grew up in the leaf Home Counties!
I can see a three (four?) Yorkshiremen type sketch starting soon…The sea froze at Margate that winter, and my part of London, which was hilly, didn't get a proper bus service back for weeks, so no school!
I remember going into a mates parents farm house in the 90s & being very confused as to why they had curtains on the back of the lounge doors. Turned out they where to keep the heat in. I’d never seen anything like that. On cold days all rooms but the lounge in his house where absolutely freezing.
I can see a three (four?) Yorkshiremen type sketch starting soon…
“We built an igloo in the front garden in 1963…”
I’m not sure apart from stopping draughts. Thankfully I’ve never had to suffer living like that. The rest of the house had a temperature akin to what my garage is, brrrr!!To what extent is it better to heat both sides of the door? Instead of heating a room with a cold hallway (or whatever) on the other side of the wall, which would cool the room down, you would have a wall which was warm on both sides, thereby keeping the lounge warmer.
In a similar vein, I've always thought that it was better to heat a house in winter on a lower temperature if you went away for a few days, rather than have no heating on. It takes forever to warm an unheated house in winter, and I'm sure the difference in heating costs would be marginal. (I've ignored the aspect of keeping heating on to avoid frozen pipes.)
You had to turn the heating on though lolIce on the inside of windows was commonplace in the house I grew up in, as recently as the 1990s. Even with central heating.
The increase is cost would be enormous. With the heating off while you are away the cost is zero. With the heating on, your just losing energy to the outside for absolutely zero benefit.In a similar vein, I've always thought that it was better to heat a house in winter on a lower temperature if you went away for a few days, rather than have no heating on. It takes forever to warm an unheated house in winter, and I'm sure the difference in heating costs would be marginal. (I've ignored the aspect of keeping heating on to avoid frozen pipes.)
That equation, naturally, changes significantly if the house is well insulated. Though on the flip side, a well-insulated house shouldn't get that cold over the course of a few days.The increase is cost would be enormous. With the heating off while you are away the cost is zero. With the heating on, your just losing energy to the outside for absolutely zero benefit.
I married someone from Lancashire in 1969, and she couldn't remember ever seeing snow lying on the ground for more than a few hours in Preston. Just don't like the myth that the Northern English are all necessarily incredibly hardy while Southern English are all effete. In my house, in Cornwall, it's always me that's turning the heating down, or off, and it's not for money reasons. Don't get me on the subject of Yorkshiremen....I can see a three (four?) Yorkshiremen type sketch starting soon…
“We built an igloo in the front garden in 1963…”
Well, there's actually sound science behind that - the Pennines largely block warmer wet air from the Atlantic getting to Yorkshire and block cold dry air from the continent getting to Lancashire.I married someone from Lancashire in 1969, and she couldn't remember ever seeing snow lying on the ground for more than a few hours in Preston. Just don't like the myth that the Northern English are all necessarily incredibly hardy while Southern English are all effete.
In my house there is a very large radiator (which can no longer be turned off because the thermostat has been removed) on the other side of the lounge wall, while there are only very small radiators in there on either side of a bay window. The large radiator is however next to the front door, meaning hot air is lost when it is opened, but I suspect the wall itself remains warm and that heat radiates through into the lounge on the other side.To what extent is it better to heat both sides of the door? Instead of heating a room with a cold hallway (or whatever) on the other side of the wall, which would cool the room down, you would have a wall which was warm on both sides, thereby keeping the lounge warmer.
In a similar vein, I've always thought that it was better to heat a house in winter on a lower temperature if you went away for a few days, rather than have no heating on. It takes forever to warm an unheated house in winter, and I'm sure the difference in heating costs would be marginal. (I've ignored the aspect of keeping heating on to avoid frozen pipes.)
I'm getting a vision of No1's being directed into the cistern instead of the bowl in an attempt to thaw it outOne morning the only toilet couldn’t be flushed because the cistern contents had frozen solid...
I think that might be what they call “TMI”…I'm getting a vision of No1's being directed into the cistern instead of the bowl in an attempt to thaw it out
Doesn't matter how well insulated the property is, heating an empty property is a complete waste of fuel and money.That equation, naturally, changes significantly if the house is well insulated. Though on the flip side, a well-insulated house shouldn't get that cold over the course of a few days.
Modern boilers and heating systems have an automatic frost protection function that will kick in should the temperature in the house drop below a threshold (usually 5 degrees).It is supposed to be cheaper to retain low level heating in an empty house in winter than repair damage caused by the average failure rate of frozen pipes.
I didn't say it flips, just that it changes. If the house is very well insulated then the waste might be perceived as worth it.Doesn't matter how well insulated the property is, heating an empty property is a complete waste of fuel and money.
Oh yes! My grandparents had one.Tin openers attached to the wall - operated by turning a handle.
That reminds me of when we first moved to the village where I live. Many people had curtains behind their front doors, and actually left their doors open during the warmer months, presumably to allow a cooling breeze to flow. It's certainly something I haven't seen for years, probably because people are more security conscious these days. People didn't bother to lock their cars, either!My parents did that (not anymore) though they still have a curtain behind the front door. Never really seemed to make much difference to be honest.
There's a pretty simple solution to both of those problems...I have a bead curtain between the main kitchen and the utility corridor to the back door in the house that I have just moved into. No matter how carefully I adjust the tied-back curtain, every couple of days the end bead chain has managed to form a large loop that gets in the way, and I have to find it in the mass of chains and pull it tighter. At the back door there are strips of a plastic-type fabric about 4” wide hanging down, presumably to keep out insects. However, they have weights (plastic and only light) across the bottom to keep them hanging down and not waving in the slightest of breezes. Of course, every time you go through the door, the bottom of the strips wrap themselves around your ankles: I am going to flying one day.
Tin openers attached to the wall - operated by turning a handle.
I've seen most of the things so far in the thread but that's a new one to me. When would you last have seen one?In a similar vein, tea caddys screwed to the wall. They were like a mini-hopper - put tea in the top (a red clear plastic cylinder shape) and push a plunger to release one teaspoon's worth of tea into the teapot. Probably died out with the arrival of teabags.
I've seen most of the things so far in the thread but that's a new one to me. When would you last have seen one?
Interesting. I wonder if anyone makes a modern version, my mother's a fan of loose leaf tea.Probably 30 - 40 years ago. My parents had one before they redesigned their kitchen. Apparently it's called a Caddymatic. It looks like this...
Interesting. I wonder if anyone makes a modern version, my mother's a fan of loose leaf tea.
I vaguely remember seeing one of these boxed up in my grandma's attic, except it was in blue. I think little me just assumed it was an emergency light.Probably 30 - 40 years ago. My parents had one before they redesigned their kitchen. Apparently it's called a Caddymatic. It looks like this:
View attachment 104586
Image of red and white Caddymatic tea leaf dispenser.
We had one. I can't find a modern version. There may be a good reason for that ! It was yet another kitchen gadget that seemed like a good idea at the time. Much easier to use a tea caddy and a measuring spoon.Interesting. I wonder if anyone makes a modern version, my mother's a fan of loose leaf tea.
I'd quite like one for instant coffee. Got to be greener than those fancy pouches Nespresso comes in.We had one. I can't find a modern version. There may be a good reason for that ! It was yet another kitchen gadget that seemed like a good idea at the time. Much easier to use a tea caddy and a measuring spoon.