The Cold Battle Commences

I’m sitting here wrapped in a blanket with the heating on, my thin socks proving pretty inadequate at keeping my feet from feeling like ice blocks. Last night, the BBC weatherman forecast the first real beginnings of that winter chill, with northerlies set to blow across our little island from next week. Snow, he said, was a real possibility. In the Highlands of Scotland, but still – snow. Gosh.

It feels as if the past few mild weeks have lulled me into a false sense of security – I find it difficult to remember what living with months of cold can feel like. I love many things about winter, but ultimately it does become a bit of a challenge. I mean, aside from the fact that when it gets colder, my nose turns perpetually rudolf-red, and my rubbish circulation leaves me with purple-blue fingernails and iceblocks for feet. In late autumn and winter, the longer nights need to be filled, the bitter cold penetrates through every nook and crevice in my window-rattling but endearing half-renovated house, and then there’s the prospect of gargantuan fuel bills, as well as an increase in bird food funding.

Around this time every year, it becomes a battle of wills – me vs. the cold. I try hard not to switch the heating on between until at least November, but I’m sad to say that it currently seems to be a losing battle on my side. Despite the fact that I’m still waiting for the first frosts (after which time, I’ll harvest my squashes), the heating has been on several times (even in the day), and my environmentally-aware conscience sits on my shoulder, tutting and pursing its lips in disapproval each time the button is switched to ‘on’. Oh good grief, it’s not a major major issue, I know. And let’s face it, I’m lucky that I have a roof over my head, a lovely warm bed and the option of heating my house up to practically sauna-like temperatures, if I had the urge to do so. Clearly, I do not.

My rather rambling point is that with fuel prices set to keep on rising, I don’t want to keep on having to pay increasing heating bills year upon year. Then there’s the ‘ethical’ issue that my old Edwardian house is so flippin’ inefficient when it comes to retaining heat. Our loft conversion (and roof) has little insulation, and the wooden sash single-glazed windows throughout the house are probably the worst offenders, letting in a steady stream of cold air and slowly chilling the house from the outside, in. The one exception, apart from our double-glazed conservatory (which, in winter, offers little more warmth than the outside air temperatures, and in summer, frequently hits the 90F mark), is the wooden-framed double glazed window in the bathroom. It’s stupendously good at keeping that room like a light-filled warm sanctuary.

I haven’t heard any long-range weather forecasts this year, so have no idea as to whether we’re in for a mild winter, or another season of record-breaking temperatures and major weather-related travel disruptions. But what I do know is that I have to take this fuel thing in hand. We can’t afford to double glaze the entire house, so we’ve got to make efficient changes elsewhere.

We have been rather naughty and haven’t had our chimney swept in at least 5 years – extremely stupid really, when you consider that a chimney needs to be swept at least once a year. Our open fire gets a lot of use in the autumn and winter, so this is definitely something that needs seeing to.

We’ve also been throwing around the idea of installing a wood-burning stove, as we have an empty fireplace in the adjacent open-plan dining room. It’s located in the centre of the house, and seeing how quickly and efficiently my mum’s log-burning stove heats her house, we feel as though installing a stove there would be a good investment, as over a number of years we could save a lot on our bills. But as ever, money is the main issue. Not with the stoves themselves; second-hand woodburning stoves seem to be reasonably priced, and if we set some funds aside, eventually buying one wouldn’t cause too much discourse with our finances. What we don’t think we can afford right now is the cost of actually installing the thing. More research required here.

The third thing I need to consider, is the fuel itself. We have gas central heating, and when we have a fire, we use coal and wood. Two out of three of these fuels are not (currently) sustainable. One or two years ago I alluded to the idea of growing some of my own fuel at least. I mean, in my eyes, that would be the most environmentally-friendly option. We’d need just enough fuel for our one fireplace, and I imagined we’d switch off the heating, and huddle together in the lounge on cold winter evenings, before retiring to crawl under a mountain of blankets and quilts at bedtime. A somewhat rosy, romantic view, I feel! I have experienced the reality of living in this house in the winter without hot water or heating for several days in a row (during which time, our gas cooker provided some salvation) – and I can tell you, it ain’t no fun mister.

But back to the fuel. Hazel wood. I was going to being by starting off a little coppice, for kindling at least, and to serve as a kind of wildlife area too. At the moment, my designated tiny area is full of (spreading) dogwood and nettles, so that is going on my autumn/winter projects list too. Big job. Not really looking forward to dealing with it, if I’m honest.

Then there’s curtains. This house needs more curtains. Nice ones. Roman blinds and wooden slatted blinds are about as useful as a sheet of toilet paper when it comes to keeping the cold out, and fuel bills down. My mum tells me car boot sales are a good start. Either that, or I need to get the sewing machine out and start learning how to use it properly.

Finally, I need to invest in some more thermal underwear. If I don’t feel so cold, the house doesn’t need to be heated up so much. Of course, there’s always going to be my blue-tipped fingers. But for now, I need to stock up on thermal vests (yes, I already own one, am currently wearing it, thoroughly recommend), thick socks and slippers. Or slippersocks.

Oh, almost forgot – am also making sloe gin. Great for internal warmth and external glow. Recipe coming soon.

What about you? How are you planning to battle the cold this year?