Suddenly there is a load of publicity about the Power Off weekend, bringing the event to the attention of many, and throwing us a lot of internet activity right before we power down. I cannot wait until tomorrow and we pull the plug. Publicity is good, fantastic in fact, but it does bring unwanted comments and intrusion into our life. Rachel feels it more than I do.

So, there are pieces in the Times, Guardian and Scottish TV, online … and people’s blogs. I will have to wait until the weekend is over to look at it all and reply … so for now, if you want, here are some links:

STV News

Guardian Environment

Times online / J-P Flintoff

Off-grid

Car-less Family

OK – Must dash – people here.

The following are some of their answers, unaltered. I hope it inspires you to take the plunge and join in too! Remember, this coming weekend, starting 23.00 on Friday 19th – flick the switch.

Note – alcohol and fire do NOT mix – accidents will happen. If you are going to get drunk, don’t do this.

What did you enjoy most about the weekend?

The quiet, for both of us, i.e. no fridge, radiator noises, no TV.

Being made to think and value electricity and power rather than just use it because it’s there. We have left the lights off much more this week!

The quiet and knowledge that machines didn’t need to be attended to!

Early to bed and late to rise

All the candles and the secret scent of freedom that comes with no power.

Being released from relying upon clocks and reflexively going online when there are so many other things to do (I read an entire book on Sunday!)

No TV and the peace that came with it. We played pictionary and had fun. Seeing my initially reluctant teenager actively take part. I also quite liked the low lighting from the candles.

Time spent reconnecting with friends, over mulled wine and loud singing and poor guitar playing, oh and devising new ways of doing toast without finger burning. Loved settling in to the early evening with candles and space to think.

The liberation of not checking email!

Difficult to isolate just one thing … I loved the gentle light, I appreciated the daylight more, I loved the calm and quiet, spending quality time with the family without the distraction of the TV, and I really loved the special exciting feeling almost like being on holiday

What did you miss most or find most difficult?

Worrying about the freezer.

Sadly I had to turn the computer back on for work

Heat … I missed heat and hot water.

I really needed to get some work done – so ‘cheated’ by going to someone else’s house to use their power when my laptop battery ran out. So I missed power for my laptop and internet connection the most.

Sometimes balancing the ‘essence’ of the weekend with what needed to happen was difficult – for example we had a flour spill on the carpet during our cooky-making extravaganza, and really there was no choice but to get the dustbuster or else have flour ground into the carpet and strewn about the apartment.

Being able to grab the vacuum when we dropped something, the ability to flick on a light and the convenience that comes with electricity.

Most difficult was finding where I’d left the camera! Didn’t find it too difficult, all in all.

It took a few hours to get used to the lack of immediate light, but that was all really.

I think for me personally I found cooking the most difficult as we don’t have a fire and we were limited to a small camping stove, which was somewhat limiting.

I think the hardest thing was keeping a fire going for heat. I missed my cell more than anything I think.

What tips would you share with others trying this in the future?

Have light sources available for forgetful offspring who come home to a dark house.

Plan your weekend several weeks in advance!

To be honest none – let them find out for themselves.

It’s a good chance to catch up on sleep, or go out and be sociable! Invest in a gas stove!

Begin to make a family aware of activity months in advance – and have resources to run light and heat from non gris sources.

If you’re turning off the fridge/ freezer, don’t go food shopping for at least a week prior. Run out of something in that time? Too bad.

Don’t dismiss it because you can’t do 100% power off. You can still contribute. Something is better than nothing right?

Go for it … lanterns save the worry of naked flames and be sure to tie glow sticks to the dog.

Get a heat source! Our log burner made the whole thing an almost breeze, lots of heat, hot water and cooking facilities!

Organisation is the key, if you plan your meals and empty the fridge and freezer in the run up to the event, you won’t go far wrong.

What advice would you give someone considering doing something like this but unsure if they can actually do it?

Don’t be anxious, don’t take it too seriously, enjoy the experience of living by candlelight etc for a while, finding things to do without electrciity. It’s up to you how you do the weekend.

Go on, give it a go. if you fail like we did you can always flick the switch back on but you’ll appreciate having that switch back on much more than you did before!

Try it for a day, or 24 hours first.

You are in control. GO for it – if it all becomes too much just flip the switch.

Come on – challenge yourself! What really do you have to lose? The benefits far outweigh the discomforts over the course of one weekend.

Baby steps. Stat with something – anything – and build on it.

If you can’t do it all then do what you can. You’d be surprised.

48 hours can be a whole lot of fun. Be creative, get others involved, bring a candle parties are handy – after 48 hours you can say I did it and you will be sooo proud.

It’s two days! What’s to lose?

Go for it! Keep an open mind, be creative, don’t be defeatist and have fun!

The Power Off weekend is 48 hours, from 11pm on the Friday night to 11pm on the Sunday (19-21 March 2010), without electricity.

Playing board games by candle light, surprisingly wonderful fun!

Power Off is all about having time to have fun, play games, talk to people, have friends and neighbours round, spend time with your children – and all the other things that suffer as a result of 24/7 computers, emails, TV, games, chores, noise, 24 hour bright light and one endless season inside your artificial world, called home.

It is also a wake up call to how much we now use electrical items, how much we rely upon electricity generated far away by carbon guzzling technologies, how heavy our footprint and how little time we have left.

Keeping warm and reading by daylight, mid December Power Off

Power Off weekends are like mini-holidays at home. There are so many things you cannot do (and you might initially twitch at the prospect) but once released from their continual demand you are free, on holiday. It is fun, different, memorable, challenging, good for you and good for the planet.

Everybody’s situation is different – where you live will determine weather, alternatives (wood burning stove, summer in the southern hemisphere), support (neighbours) and limitations (like living in a block of flats in a city). However, this makes everyone aware of their relationship with electricity (especially those things hardest / impossible to give up). That is no bad thing.

Best of all, everyone who has done these before has been glad they did it, for some of us it is now a regular thing.

Our temporary kitchen and heating during the Power Off

So please, why not join us? It feels great to do this with like minded people, all over the world. Together in spirit on an adventure in our own homes.

We are aiming for at least 200 people to sign up.

Even if you cannot do it yourself, please forward this to everyone you know, sing its praises and maybe join us the next time, or just think of us on the weekend – March 20-21.

To sign up either email us at malcolm@touchwoodproject.com or go to our Facebook event and group for the Power Off Weekend and sign up there! Tell your friends, local media, and help this grow.

To find out more about previous Power Off weekends, discover hundreds of suggested things you can do, FAQs and lots of pictures, go to our earlier Power Off posts - and don’t miss the Radio interview!

Power Off Weekend - March 20-21, starts 11pm on the 19th

The weather helped, with sunshine and no wind. At night, stars mesmerised me as the scent of wood smoke drifted down to my eager nostrils. Joy! The time has just flown by, and to be honest life was so enjoyable without the electricity that we are only re-introducing it selectively – I call that a success!

First day of the Power Off weekend, embracing light and the simple pleasures

We rode our bikes to the local Stenness store, only a 5 mile round trip but something was special, we were really enjoying the day, soaking everything up, like we were on holiday. We kept the open fire lit with driftwood, boiled water using an old coffee jug and embraced the smoky flavours! People called by every day, bringing gifts of food, warmth and friendship. We feasted on plentiful supplies of food, cooked over the fire, we read stories out loud and relaxed.

Oh dear, the freezer has defrosted, I'll have to cook all these sausages!

I’d say we gained more than we gave up. As the last evening drew to an end, we wondered what the time was? It was past 11pm, so we could have turned the power back on! Instead, we took the lamp to bed, luxuriating in the warmth of the flickering flame. I began a new book to read and we decided, next weekend, we’ll do it again.

This is not for everyone. However, for those who have missed out, I can now reveal, this was just the preliminary event. The next one is in January – but it will be slightly different. Watch this space!

For now, let us replenish the stores of vegetable oil, candles, gas, wood, and tea, and reconnect with friends and family. Life without electricity has a magic and ‘energy’ all of its own. Try it! It is such fun coming up with alternatives, and to be honest, we spend too much time on our backsides (looking at TV and computer). Real life has something special to offer, something we have lost sight of perhaps, blinded by the bright lights of modernity. After this weekend we can see a way to have the best of both.

Reading by the flickering flame of lamp and candle light

It has become so easy to work and shop on Sundays, with no rest. The churches have lost their hold on many of us, replaced by supermarkets, television and the internet. Weekends have become time to ‘catch up’ and get jobs done. Too busy. Maybe a little self-imposed simplicity would not be such a bad idea? A day or two without electric lights, the computer, the TV? Maybe a day leaving the car (if you have one) in the garage and dusting off the bicycles? The freezer could stay on. A few rhythms and variety seem like a good idea. It just seems we need a helping hand, a little bit of encouragement, to stop ourselves from slipping into more consuming and mindlessness. Some sort of mindfulness is one gift that comes from choosing a weekend different from the norm. Special moments and a sense of magic, of life, of who we are.

The act of turning off the electricity switched something in our heads too. We relaxed and embraced the time, behaved differently and so didn’t miss what we gave up. You know that holiday feeling? So, we consumed less energy, we spent far less, we found more time because we imposed limits on our own use of the internet. We lived in the moment, we smiled a lot, we rediscovered something precious. I’ll try in later posts to put my finger on just what this weekend has done but it is somewhat intangible – a feeling, a sense of life. Whatever, it is good!

Please will you all follow this link and complete the quick 10 question survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XJP2H5B

Thank you.

Please, will you also make notes of your experiences during the weekend, keep a diary, take photos and complete a final questionnaire afterwards?

Best wishes!

Malcolm

[Note from Rachel: These also make great presents, so this is Part 4 of my Frugal and Green Christmas Gift series. You can find all the projects by clicking on this tag (also on the righthand side of every page): Christmas.]

Decorating the fireplace for Christmas

This I believe to be one of the earliest of human inventions and in all honesty, it is superior to the man-made, metal equivalent.

For one thing the parts are white and shiny, so reflect more light. For another there are many flutes thus allowing multiple wicks and thus variable brightness (the world’s first ‘dimmer switch’). Oh, and they are free, recyclable and beautiful.

Waiting for dark to be lit

Recycling a Scottish tradition

During the 17th – 19th centuries, and probably long before, traditional cruisie lamps were used to burn fish oil.

The upper bowl can be tilted to keep the wick wet so it doesn’t burn down

These were generally made of two metal dishes mounted one above the other, on the wall or hook. Now we are going to update this old lamp for the 21st century.

What you need

Rushes grow all over boggy fields

• scallop shells or similar containers
• vegetable oil or any oil that burns
• rushes or cloth, string or matchsticks

Readying the shell

Eat your scallop. Clean the shells, especially the insides, so there is nothing to ‘go off’. This also helps with reflectance.

The flat shell will catch any drips

The flat half of the shell makes an ideal base, to steady the upper shell and catch any oil that may run down the side of the shell. It also helps you tilt the curved shell at the right angle to keep the wick in oil.

That is the shell done!

Making the wick

You can use anything that will soak up oil, including cloth, string and matchsticks. I use the traditional wicks made from the soft rush (Juncus).

Gathering the rushes

Rushes grow all over boggy fields

The soft rush has been used for rush lights and wicks from long ago. As it is nowadays treated as a weed or plant of waterlogged and overgrazed land, it seems a good plant to use.

Gather a few stems of soft rush by cutting low to the ground. It is the soft, white pith in the centre that you want.

You can try peeling the dark green outer fibres as you would a banana, but for high quality wicks and speed, try this:

How to make the wicks from rushes

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Insert a nail, key, bone or similar hard object into the rush, leaving an inch or so of rush to grip (with your teeth). Note, the nail goes right through the rush stem but leaves the outer fibres intact on either side of it.

The green rush is pinched with finger and thumb against the nail. One hand is holding the nail, the other is pinching the rush sides against the nail.

Insert the key into the rush

Now, keeping the fingers pinching the ‘nail’ at all times, push both hands down the stem, whilst holding that inch of rush firmly between your teeth.

Beginners will want to choose only a short length of rush, maybe 4-6 inches, to start.

You will find the white inner pith is pushed out by the hard ‘nail’, as it cannot pass either side of the nail because of your pinching the sides to the hard object. The pushed out pith will then magically extend, like a concertina.

An alternative method is to strip away one half of the green outer fibre (as per the banana skin method, then use the back of your thumb nail to push along the inner of the remaining fibre, thus pushing the white pith forward and out, like a snow plough.

Either way, you are looking for nice, plump wicks. They can be used straight away or kept dry for storage.

Add the oil

Traditionally the oil could be coming from fish, seabird, seal, whale or animal fat (as tallow). If it burns, you can use it.

The easiest to use, and handiest in a power cut, is vegetable cooking oil. You usually have some of this in the kitchen, though it does give of a bit of smoke and the smell depends on what it is. You can add scent with essential oils.

Be safe

Burning oil can cause other things to catch light, so be careful.

Whilst the shell itself is low-lying and thus pretty stable, it can be knocked, spilt or spread. Do not light your lamp when it is set upon something flammable. Wood and plastic objects burn. Things like tables, televisions, stereos etc. All serious fire hazards.

Do not leave a naked flame unattended. Do not let pets near (the vegetable / fish oil is very edible).

How to use

Fill the shell with oil, place one wick in the fluted groove of the shell (perfect isn’t it), leaving half an inch protruding over the end of the rim.

Get the wick tip covered in oil too.

Lighting the rush wicks

Keep the oil level high and close to the rim by repositioning the shell on it’s flatter, lower partner. Take care to get it stable and not having oil dripping over the edge.

Light with a match or similar flame.

Lighting the rush wicks

Take care, please

Please take care! Ensure all fire, flame or heat is safe and out before you go to bed or leave the house. Accidents happen by their very nature when not expected. That said, many fires are started by electrical faults.

In this case, the safety is up to you. Fire and alcohol do not mix.

Final point

There is no point trying to replicate the light of a 100w lightbulb with candles or lamps. Instead, enjoy the calm and soft light of a natural flame.

Now run that bath and set up your lamps, with essential oils added, and relax. Who needs TV?

Since the Power Off Weekend is just around the corner, here are 101 things to do with your friends and loved ones — all without electricity:

The wonderful game of French Cricket, as shown in this picture by William Linford

101 electricity-free games and activities

Note: Not familiar with any game? Get in touch with me and I’ll help you out.

1. science experiments, flames, and safety
2. card games
3. reading books or plays out loud
4. ghost stories
5. board games, many you can also make yourself, like othello!
6. darts
7. shove h’penny
8. hang man
9. moving around the house without touching the floor (pretending the floor is the ocean)
10. shadow puppets
11. christmas card writing
12. origami
13. ten pin bowling with old water bottles as pins
14. hunt the thimble
15. hide and seek
16. model making
17. knitting and felting
18. art, picture drawing, painting
19. clay working or plasticine
20. making christmas decorations
21. writing letters to forgotten family
22. bingo
23. keeping a diary of the weekend
24. hop scotch
25. knots
26. rope making
27. kitchen science and cookery
28. three-legged race, sack race or egg & spoon race
29. music
30. dress up
31. magic tricks
32. making false teeth out of orange peel,
33. pass the parcel,
34. musical chairs,
35. paper games such as connect 4, battleships, connect the dots, etc
36. rock-paper-scissors
37. building structures with objects like cardboard egg boxes and tin cans, such as the tallest tower or the largest bridge span,
38. paper aeroplane competition
39. elastic band powered vehicles
40. morse code and secret messages
41. photography
42. claymation
43. tidying and cleaning and polishing
44. chinese whispers
45. quoit or hoopla or horseshoes
46. skipping rope
47. football
48. juggling and catch
49. kite making and flying
50. beachcombing
51. stilt walking (even on tin cans and string)
52. making toast, s’mores or toasting marshmallows on a real fire
53. nature walk
54. pin hole box camera
55. jigsaw puzzles
56. indoor basketball
57. brass polishing
58. bicycle repair
59. potato printing
60. charades
61. quizes
62. coconut shy (see bowling above)
63. pick-up sticks
64. i spy
65. radio, battery or wind up
66. simon says
67. paper trails and scavenger hunt
68. treasure hunt
69. 20 questions, animal, vegetable, miracle
70. obstacle course
71. eating together and conversation
72. a walk in the dark
73. star gazing
74. blind man’s bluff
75. hula hoop
76. tent indoors with sheets
77. piggy in the middle
78. foursquare
79. mini table tennis
80. french cricket
81. boule
82. jacks and marbles
83. carol singing
84. pin the tail on the donkey
85. make popcorn
86. spin the bottle
87. balloons
88. homemade jenga
89. feely box
90. blind tasting or scent testing
91. indoor golf putting
92. newspaper construction
93. quick on the draw / pictionary
94. three draw – word, picture, word
95. dominoes
96. house of cards
97. mini tug o’ war
98. memory game
99. diy and using tools
100. story or poetry or cartoon writing
101. fishing indoors
102. Jack’s alive
103. bobbing for apples
104. crosswords and word puzzles
105. wildlife safari / snail hunt

Here is also a great website I found:

http://www.familyeducation.com/home/

Most of the games here you can make yourself, which adds to the fun:

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/garden-games3.htm

If the power went off wouldn’t it be nice to know you could not only cope, but even have a great time?

Playing games by candlelight

Imagine, instead of panic in the dark and cold, you just smile and get on.

In fact you are so prepared, you don’t even miss the electricity because you are too busy talking to your family, visiting your neighbours, and enjoying life without the distractions of the internet, television and telephones.

Or maybe you would completely panic.

What would you do?

Do you know how you would cope if the power went off for longer than a few hours?

Well, I invite you to try this little experiment – a weekend without electricity: Power Off ! December 11 – 13, 2009.

December 11 - 13, 2009

Join others in this adventure, get support from us, have fun, come up with alternative ways to do things and afterwards know you are more in control of your life!

“But right now isn’t convenient”

If you think this inconvenient then ask yourself, if there are power cuts again, will it ever be convenient, will you get advance notice? No.

Better to try it out when you can be in control.

Join us December 11 – 13, 2009

The Poweroff Weekend starts 11pm, Friday night on the 11th.

Come and join us now – sign up to this private Facebook event so we can send you information about what to do to prepare and suggest tips for the weekend. See below for details and FAQs.

If you’d rather not use Facebook you can also email us directly to sign up: malcolm@touchwoodproject.com

There will be a lot of information and advice sent out to all who sign up for this adventure, so what are you waiting for? Join the Power Off tribe! And why not invite your neighbours and friends to join too, and share in the experience?

P.S. If you want to know what it is like to try these adventures, read about the harder version Malcolm and Rachel did a couple of years back: “this is not a good time”

FAQs

What do I have to do?

Prepare for the weekend (see below). Fill out the pre-weekend questionnaire. Then turn off your power supply at the mains where it comes into the house. Keep a written diary of your experience in the two days and photographs and complete the daily questionnaire.

What if I have a deep freeze or a lot of food in my fridge/freezer? What should I do?

Either cook it all, eat it and cook it and put it in the fridge which will keep some residual coolness. Some people are able to keep the freezer closed and try to insulate it to keep the coldness in there. Or you could find neighbours or friends that you could store the food with. Have a communal feast.

The point here is to be aware of how much you’ve invested in your fridge/freezer that’s vulnerable to a power cut. So if you have a lot of meat for example, you might want to consider an alternative power source.

What if all my heating is powered by electricity?

Close all rooms you’re not using. Put on more clothing to keep you warm. Get more physically active to generate heat. Consider alternative sources of heat like a camping stove, fireplace.

Consider visiting your neighbours. In this experiment, you are allowed (even encouraged) to rely on your neighbours, so use them as a resource. The human body generates a lot of heat — so invite friends round or your family into one room and keep warm. Put up cardboard on your windows to reduce loss of heat in your main room. Put blankets and newspaper on the bottom of doors and gaps to keep heat in.

Camp out in your own house — Consider sleeping in a different room. If your bedroom is really cold, move your bed into the warm room. Drape a sheet over to create a tent. Have the family sleep in one room together.

What if my partner/children/housemates don’t want to participate?

Talk to them and explain why this is important and only do it if you get them to agree. They must at least agree to do it for your benefit, but they really need to see the benefits of the challenge because otherwise you most likely won’t complete it. It might also cause too much upset between people — you need to be a team.

Why should I do this anyway?

To know how to deal with the situation if does actually happen. To experience something different. To face a challenge and succeed at it. To become aware of how much we rely upon electricity and take it for granted. To spend more time with people in our lives rather than watch television or sit at a computer. It forces us to be more involved with people. To be aware of addictive tendencies. To know how you would react in a crisis, to know yourself better.

Can I only do this for part of the time or only turn off electricity for some things?

When things are beyond our control, were not able to set the rules. So part of the experiment is to experience discomfort, to not be in control. So if you set your own rules in this experiment, you’re missing out on that lesson. Also the most realistic scenario is a total loss of energy in the event of a powercut.

When does it start and end?

Just before bedtime on Friday and finishes Sunday just before midnight. Weekend of the 12th & 13th December, 2009.

How should I prepare?

Get matches, candles, fire extinguisher and check smoke detectors will work without electricity. If your telephones are powered by electricity, make sure your mobile is charged. Print off any essential info you might need, like phone numbers of people or important ID. Start by preparing, such as backing up your computer, sorting out what to do with you excess food.

Have some alternatives ready to occupy your time, like board or card games, walks or bicycles planned. Consider whether you need to tell anybody what you’re doing, who might be concerned if you aren’t answering your emails for 2 days or picking up the phone. Here are 101 things to do, if you need inspiration!

What happens when it’s done?

Write up your experience and complete the post-weekend questionnaire.
What if my child or partner has some urgent project or homework to be completed during the weekend?

The more the challenge this weekend is, the more you’ll get out of it. But you need to ask all people participating whether they are prepared to adapt. For example, they may be able to tell their teacher or boss that they’re doing this and get their support. If their boss or mentor isn’t understanding, another possibility is to write something on paper or go to a neighbour’s house.

What if this weekend isn’t a convenient weekend? Can I do it another weekend?

It is supposed to be dealing with the unexpected. If it’s not inconvenient, then you perhaps won’t gain anything from it. Ultimately, it’s for you to decide but you will miss out on the shared experience of others doing it at the same time as you if you choose not to go this weekend.

What if we have problems like the kids throw a tantrum, or someone wants to watch an “essential” TV show, or a partner refuses midway to continue?

Pain is temporary, giving up is forever. However the point of the experiment is more about being aware of your relationship with electricity rather than simply completing two days without.

Spread the word and click on the Power Off picture below to sign up, now.

More FAQs:

What is an eco-friendly and cheap alternative to candles?

Since regular candles use petrochemicals, and beeswax candles are expensive, we suggest using scallop shell lanterns, which are cheap/free to make, very bright, and beautiful. Have a look:

Make your own scallop shell lanterns

Using cardboard to insulate the windows for free

My problem: How to stay warm this winter without spending money. The house is cold and heating it is expensive.

My frugal-living philosophy tells me you don’t need to spend money to be green, despite what all the retailers say. But can I?

What if I can’t just buy stuff?

You see, if I had more money I could head off down to the DIY store and buy solutions.

I could feel good buying stuff, and feel good because this will obviously do lots for the planet, despite my having just bought something that had to be made and transported and stored and displayed and sold and transported home. All that carbon burnt, money spent whenever I buy anything.

However, I cannot afford to go buy insulating stuff, partly because I live on an island, to which all that stuff must be transported with diesel powered ferries, which pushes up the price. Partly because it would be a 30 mile drive in a car to the store and we have given up the car too.

The main reason I cannot buy stuff from the DIY store is because I cannot afford it.

Food comes first and there is not enough left to buy insulation material, no matter how much it might save in money and carbon in the long run. I am reminded how it is easy for the poor to remain poor like this.

My solution: cardboard insulation

I’m going to insulate this house without spending a penny. I’m going to make this house warmer and also reduce my fuel bill, and I’m not even going to leave the house to do it. No need to waste time and money and carbon going shopping.

Instead, I’m off into the garage, the shed and the attic to find what I need, MacGyver style.

This is what I found:

• scrap of bubble wrap left from packaging
• cardboard boxes
• newspaper
• nails
• polystyrene off-cuts
• an old rag
• silicone sealant and
• some wool

Feel how warm they are to the touch.

Cold testing with your hands

The best way to work out where the most heat is being lost is to use my hands and feel surfaces.

If they make my hand feel cold they are conducting heat away faster than my heart can replace it (give it 30 seconds).

Hand feeling window pane

What I found was the double glazed windows feel cold. Also, can I feel cold air – drafts? Yep.

So whilst I cannot fill the loft with more fibreglass insulation or fill wall cavities with foam, I can do something. Now.

It feels good to take action

This is great, feels fun and I get a thrill from taking action, instead of being helpless. I may not have the best stuff but I can do a lot, this afternoon, instead of joining the Black Friday / Christmas shopping chaos.

Over the next couple of posts I’ll show you what I have done to make the house warmer and have fun doing something to improve things. I tell you, it feels good!

The window before insulation

First, this is the way I sorted window insulation in the kitchen, our one and only heated room.

The window, double glazed, south facing. Light fades at 4pm.

The kitchen window, double glazed

As the light fades there is nothing to see outside, so I can block the glass until morning.

Thick curtains will help, shutters will help, triple glazing will help. All cost money. Necessity is the mother of invention

Getting dark outside, nothing to see

After insulation

With just 2 inch thick polystyrene scrap, cut to fit, a cardboard box, trimmed to size and a couple of tacks to hold the cardboard in place, we get:

Insulated window

Result – warm room!

What a difference

The effect is so dramatic I can feel the difference instantly, and the room remains warm, despite the stove being on for less hours than in summer. Once the stove goes off at 6pm the room now remains cosy until past midnight.

Making it look pretty

Next step, to decorate the cardboard, trim it to a better size and make the job look nice but for now, we’re toasty. Then I’ll show you how I draft proofed the doors, windows, for free.