This is probably the coldest winter I’ve ever had to deal with and right now I’m trying to deal with it with a boiler that keeps turning itself off and barely any wood. This country living lark is certainly an eye opener and there are A LOT of things that I will be doing differently next year! I’m welcome to any tips also!
I know some of you readers live in places where it gets really cold so you may read this and think “whatever!”, but for me -2 is cold, so -11 to -20 degrees Celsius is simply unimaginable (actually it’s not, I’ve been this cold before on a chair lift whilst skiing and I cried and ran off to the nearest bar).
Pretty, but there's no way I'm going out there
Running this house is worse than running a business. There’s always so much to keep on top of and our “to do” list seems to be getting longer by the day. We used to live in a house in Lyon but it was connected to the mains gas system so heating was never an issue as nothing could ever run out!
I recently spoke about my woes with our wood burning stove, well, no sooner had I got the hang of it we woke up one morning last week and realized that we had run out of oil! Suddenly, mastering the stove was no longer an option, I had to keep it going otherwise we’d all be mighty cold!
Thankfully I was able to order in some more oil which was delivered the very next day so only had to slum it for 1 and half days. Unfortunately though, the boiler needed some attention and the oil guy was luckily able to recommend someone to me! Convenient that!
Just as I was congratulating myself and saying how lucky we were that it happened last week, our log delivery was delayed by another week and guess what? We’re running low on logs! We used so many whilst we didn’t have any heating that our supply dwindled VERY quickly.
Real feel temps -16 to -20 degrees!
So fast forward to today… almost -12 degrees Celsius by the back window at just 0850 in the morning. The boiler has decided not to work as it’s too cold so we’re back to square one. No heating, nearly no wood left and no way to keep warm other than reversible air con in our bedroom and a small radiator in Baby Piglet’s bedroom.
Right now I’m trying to decide what to do, I’m tempted to lock up the house and leave as I haven’t been out for a week due to the snow and my lack of suitable snow equipment for the car. Right now I am getting cabin fever and feel as if I may explode. I suppose that would keep the house warm wouldn’t it?
The walnut tree
Piglet in France 
Are you sure this is true? I’ve watched so many programmes about people moving to France, and I’ve certainly never heard of cold winters. I think you’ll find that it never gets cold south of the Loire. As far as I know, it’s always warm and sunny and picturesque. You’re not in Siberia, by any chance? 😀
I am truly sorry you are so cold, I do know what it’s like, it’s pure hell. All I can suggest is thermals, layers, big furry hats and scarves until things warm up.
LOL. I feel really sorry and sad for people that do live in truly cold countries and have little means to heat themselves.
We’ve got the hats, scarves and thermals. Think we’re going to have to jump ship though.
Country living does need organisation, it`s true. Autumn is the time we get our wood store in, it`s too late and too expensive if you are seeking it in mid-winter. Sorry to hear of your crisis, Piglet, we are not quite so cold in Poitou-Charentes at present but got snow forecast for tonight!
brrr. more snow! I wa told to order wood etc during the summer but we had so much going on it kind of slipped our mind. We didn’t really know how much we needed and our November delivery seemed huge. We never expected it to be used to quickly 😦 I’ll be orderin in the spring but we’ve also got a few trees of our own which are falling down so we’ll be getting a chainsaw too 🙂
I lived in countryside all my childhood and we had only basic stuff in there, wood stoves for heating, no gas and a lot of problems like pipes freezing, tons of snow outisde on -20 and snowstorm. One persone can’t do this by her own. You do need help. My mom usually paid people to help us. When you think you can’t do this, lock the house and go away util gets warm. Still, you’ll learn how to manage everything sooner than you expect. xoxo
I wish I could get help but I wouldn’t know where to start. The plumber just said the pipes were frozen and theres not much to do. Apart from me moaning it is quite fun, never know what’s going to happen next. Do you have good memories from your childhood? We’re probably going to go elsewhere tonight, too cold!
I think that a boiler that doesn’t work when it gets too cold has somethiing of a death wish….. Not that I like cutting off my nose to spite my face, but it might find itself in little bits in a scrapyard.
I find the wood-burning stove a bit messy, and requiring a bit of effort to keep it going, but it’s seriously low tech: there’s almost nothing to go wrong. My central boiler keeps the minimum temperature in the house at 17°C or so, and the stove adds 5 degrees to that.
Though sometimes I wish I lived in one of these modern BBC houses with low energy consumption, overall, I like the compromise.
Good luck with your heating!
I think it has a death wish too! I’ve already spoken to Mr Piglet about the possibility of replacing it with a poele a granules for next year. What with the price of oil and it not working when we truly need it, well, what’s the point?
You’re right about the stove, messy but low tech. Only thing that can go wrong is running out of wood! It is like having a second baby though…
We’re on our 5th winter in the far south and we are never quite so prepared as we should be, although the woodburner is working overtime at the moment, we are using a combination of logs and Bricafeu (compressed wood shavings, which are great, easy to light and burn very hot). however – roll on March.-, that is when shorts find their way back on. Good luck – hope the heating gets sorted.
Thanks Peter!
You’re allowed to not be so prepared in the South, I’m very jealous of your weather right now!
I’ve found somewhere here that sells Bricafeu and I’m going to get some on Monday, they told me they are easier to light too 🙂
Roll on spring I say! It will be later than March here but even so, I can’t wait!
Piglet I feel your pain. Living in an isolated village myself I will tell you what most people do here in preparation for cold winters. Always order your wood months in advance. People here often get it in August or September when prices are cheaper..I don’t know of course if that would apply there?
Forget about the bloody boiler. It sounds like its expensive and too much like hard work. Concentrate on the wood burning stove..messy I know..but as a previous commenter said its low tech..and if you keep them going they are the best bet.
Then do as the Turks do…make one room warm (ie the room where the stove is) and move in there for the duration. Live and sleep in there. OK you have to use the kitchen and bathroom but we have a small fan heater which I switch on when I’m cooking and when I’m having a shower I leave the bathroom door open with the fan heater blowing warm air in to it. Just shut the doors to the rest of the house until the weather improves.
Hi Ayak, thanks for stopping by and for your suggestions. I’m implementing some of them already AND I’ve had confirmation that wood is also cheaper here in the summer too 🙂
Hi Piglet, try to make a little “box” with some silver insulation just over the burner part, like a little cover or jacket for the burner but don’t block the total air flow to the burner just barely cover it to keep it warm. We bought some of that thin silver insulation stuff (it’s like the car visors) at Castorama. Use that to make the cover with and we also put it in all the windows between the glass and the shutters and it’s keeping a good deal of the cold out. Also, if your system is in the garage like ours is and in a little room of it’s own, take an electric heater and put it down in that room to heat up the room. Also, move into one room with the heat like Ayak said. We have done that and we all live in the kitchen cuz it’s the warmest room in the house. I definitely know about stir crazy and cabin fever. We are sooo gonna be sick of each other when this thing is over!
I really hope your wood comes and your boiler starts working again. It’s no fun to be that cold but it’s even worse when you are worried about keeping your little ones warm. Best warm thoughts going out to you.
Ashley
Great ideas Ashley, thanks! I hadn’t thought about insulating the windows, what a great idea! I’ve already laid rolled up towels and blankets at every door to get rid of any small gaps that could be letting the cold in/heat out but the windows are a great idea!
We’re all living in the living room at the moment except Baby Piglet who has our only electric radiator in her room. I think I may kip in with her tonight LOL!
I’m not too sure about your other suggestions as I know nothing about the boiler but I will pass them over to Mr Piglet. Thank you! Hope you keep warm and you get that oil Monday!
Yikes, a boiler that doesn’t work because its too cold sounds like the manufacturer didn’t realize why people put these in their homes. I hope you get it working again quickly. Wood fires are wonderful, we love them but they don’t spread heat outside of the room where they are located very well. Have a good weekend.
Ha ha, yeah something definitely not right with the picture! I think it is to do with the pipes that bring the oil from the tank getting frozen, we’ve bought some extra super dooper insulating stuff for them and if they get frozen again tomorrow am I’m going to go at them with a hairdryer!
Our woodburner is okay, it heats up the downstairs of the house to about 19 degrees but we get a bit hot in the living room, most of the times it 25 degrees plus!
Here in Brittany it has been -5 for the last week or so. We only have a wood burner and a few electric heaters, which we only use in the morning to take the chill off.
Our little 2 up to down is very snug, usually just over 20 with just the log burner, and as the heat rises out bedroom is not too cold either. In the morning it has been 17 when we come down in the morning, and this morning there were still logs smouldering.
The first year we were here we had an old insert log burner, which ate logs and we had to have hot water bottles in bed. I ripped out the old one and put a nice new free standing one, which I had to make the fireplace bigger for.
There is nothing worse than being too cold, so I really feel for you, maybe they should do night classes for wood burners, as once you learn to master one, they really a are very good source of heating.
We usually try to preserve a 23-24 C temperature inside in winter. I cannot imagine what 17 would be like ( actually I do imagine, last week, we woke up at 15 and it was horrible and I don’t want to experience it again soon ! ). The problem in my area , which is the extreme south of Romania is that once it warmsup , we have very warm springs and extremelly warm summers, up 35-38 C. To go from +35 C in summer to -25 in winter is pretty hard, it feels like the body does not want to accept it just like that. Ah, I hate winters, they make me feel depressed and miserable. I want my +35 C back, I won’t complain again about being too hot !
Rosabell, hi! I can’t even imagine what -25 degrees would be like, apparently it was -18 degrees here and boy is that cold! Our bedroom was just 7 degrees this morning. I was frozen! Thankfully baby Piglet has her own little electric radiator and special sleeping bag to keep her warm!
Hi Steve! Your house sounds very warm and snug, do you fancy three guests? When we have wood we can keep nice and warm although admittedly a big house is not easy to keep warm. We tend to only live in parts of if when it is cold.
I am curious why the old log burner ate logs and what the differences are with the new one making it more economic? We have a recent woodburner (free standing) and I think it eats logs but then I always have it on high – it’s the only way I can keep the fire going!
If they had night classes I’d definitely be there!
I grew up in California and the US South , so my delight with my first snow when I moved to NYC was soon replaced by dread when I heard there was snow in the forecast.
It does look good falling and it is pretty lying there but you can’t DO Anything !! but shiver and pick icicles off of the dog after he comes in, delighted with how much snow he ate ..
I now live in a place where it snowed once ( 7 flakes) in 100 years and right now I am suffering from the heat of this very hot summer. I would trade places with you .. really.
From my years of living in the Northeast US .. I found that baking, sewing, reading were what kept me sane and I took advantage of every chance I had to leave home for as long as possible in the dead of Winter ( which is where you are right now, I believe )..
Bon chance, sweetie .. come visit here .. you will join me in whining about the heat in no time 🙂
Candice, I love HEAT! In fact, today I have been dreaming about our escape from this winter. It has been very mild until last week which has been nice, but it’s so so cold now! I am thankful that I have some form of heat but the heating has been playing up it’s so cold. I have travelled to hot places in the winter before, even for Christmas and it seems strange to me – I LOVE IT!
Thanks for the suggestions on keeping busy, I definitely agree! It is the key to maintaining ones sanity!
Poor you! You have all my sympathy!
Watch out about cutting your own wood…and buying wood generally. You need to be sure it has been cut for at least a year before you burn it or you risk tarry deposits on your chimney liner leading to blockages and…if unlucky, fire.
Thanks Fly! I knew you had to age wood but wasn’t sure why, I just thought it was to burn better!
If the house is not heated your pipes may then freeze and burst!?! At least while you are there you are keeping some warm air of “sorts” circulating. Even if it’s only you cussing about the boiler or fire! Could Mr Piglet pick up some wood from your log supplier? or local farmer?
The heating comes on when the oil defrosts, usually end of the morning, mid-afternoon… we have special oil that doesn’t freeze, only it does if it gets colder than -10. Given that the last few nights we’ve been at -15 -18 it’s frozen hence our problems.
The house is heated with the little wood we had left and in the afternoons by the boiler. Thankfully a friend delivered a huge load of wood to us today, her neighbour was drunk and was being generous 🙂
So sorry! Hang in there! Spring is on it’s way!
I can’t wait! Youpee for Spring!
I don’t think it could help you but I’ve been through about the same last week, after a series of -20-23 degrees, a few days in a row. We live in a fairly large city and we do have central heating and we are connected to the gas system, only it’s been that cold that pipes are frozen and central heating in our house is about 10 years old, so, in the coldest night, stopped working. We woke up to discover the whole house was very cold, there was no warm water and the service provider suggested we change the panel control of the heating system…Now we are waiting for tomorrow, Monday morning, so we can pay for the replacement of the old one. Fortunately, as son as the temperature warmed a bit ( I mean getting warmer than -23 degrees), the heating system re-started working , so, for the moment , we have a decent temperature. We’re lucky we’ ve been only -10-15 for the last 3 days, so we could get some decent temperature inside the house. My husband is terrified, because of his heart condition, my mother-in-law also, because she is almost 90 years old and not in the best shape ever. There is no way we would stay in the house if the heating doesn’t work so we just pray it won’t stop again until we can replace it ,hopefully on Thursday ! I feel for you a lot. Don’t stay there with the child in cold, if you can’t do anything to fix itquickly, move to a place where you can have a warm staying until everything gets back to normal.
Hi Rosabell, I hope you manage to sort the system out quickly and that your husband and Mother are well and safe. It sounds a bit of a nightmare, hopefully these ridiculous temperatures will go away soon, however each time I look at the weather forecast they seem to be lingering for longer and longer.
We have wood again, thankfully due to the kindness of a local friend who was able to source some very quickly for us, so the fire is keeping us warm as the boiler is temperamental and seems to work when it wishes. Baby Piglet is at the nanny’s during the day and has a heater in her room so thankfully she is not cold otherwise I would be long gone!
Oh no, not you too! Our boiler is playing up as well, but luckily we have a huge pile of wood for the stove so we can keep the lounge warm. It’s certainly tough going this winter.
What’s it with these boilers? Is yours oil as well? We now have plenty of wood so like you, we’re keeping the lounge nice and warm! Sometimes it’s the simplest of solutions that work the best!
My bf and I were driving around the snowy countryside today and just talking about how we wouldn’t want a house; how much work it is. Having a wood burning stove on top of that is just too much. Any plans to move in the future? So sorry to hear about your experience freezing. It is indeed freezing out! Keeping drinking hot stuff and having soups! The other day I made savory polenta (with emmental) and let the pot cool down a bit so that I could eat it out of the warm pot on my lap! ha!
🙂 We just moved in last summer! I spent a lot of time living in apartments in Lyon and our last place was a combination between an apartment and a house, all I craved was outdoor space and more room. Whilst it is hard work I will be getting a cleaner in again soon (tax deductible 🙂 ) and winter won’t last forever so fun times will soon be back again.
I love your idea of using the pot for heat, I am going to have to borrow that idea!
Oddly enough, it’s our mildest winter on record. But I love your pictures. The snow is gorgeous there.
Thank you 🙂 The winter here was mild until last week, boy did we get a shock!There’s actually not too much snow right now, last winter when we were visiting houses we had to cancel some of the visits as 60 cms fell very quickly, at the moment it’s only about 10 cm’s so not much at all thankfully.
Oh dear girl!! I do hope you and that wee Piglet are staying warm! You know, this is the kind of thing that people write about in books about living in France. Maybe it is good fodder for that eventual book, eh? Although I know right now the only fodder you want and need is burnable, lol.
Sending you lovely warm thoughts and hope that you can keep everything going.
xx
Karin
P.S. I agree with writingfeemail — lovely pictures of the cold and snow!