Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask them to put the heating on,?

235 replies

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 13/02/2025 13:58

If you're a guest in someone's house, is it ok to ask them to turn the heating on/up?

I live in an old draughty house with big single glazed sash windows, so I'm quite used to being chilly. We try to keep the house at about 18, it's very difficult to get it above that but if a guest was cold I would have no issues with plugging in additional heaters etc.

I'm currently staying with my mum for a few days. She lives with her partner and has moved into his house. It's freezing. The living room has a thermometer in it and it's currently 13C. It's a modernish house, fully double glazed and centrally heated.

They split the bills. They are quite well off - nice cars, several holidays a year - so it's not a money issue. According to mum, her partner thinks it's wasteful if they put the heating on during the day, as they are out a lot. They are both retired. They do go out a lot but usually one or both come home at lunchtime. They are usually both in by 5pm but the heating doesn't come on until nearer to 6.

I'm trying to work from here for a few days. I am so cold it's difficult to concentrate. AIBU to ask (insist?) that the heating is on during the day?

OP posts:
Mizztikle · 13/02/2025 14:36

LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 13/02/2025 14:00

I’d speak to my mum, give her £50 and tell her can she heat the house to 18 for the next 5 days as the house is so cold you can’t feel your fingers or face

Definitely do this, they probably wont take it but its a nice gesture. If they say no then try the heated throw, can you work from bed or laid on the sofa so your fully covered?

Zusammengebrochen · 13/02/2025 14:31

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 13/02/2025 14:28

They're in their 80s and have plenty of money. It's not that they can't afford it, just that he thinks heating the house is wasteful

Do you have to stay there?

BeardofHagrid · 13/02/2025 14:29

I lived the first forty years of my life with no heating and I’m saying yes, put the bloody heating on! It’s perishing at the moment.

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 13/02/2025 14:28

Iamallowedtodisagreewithyou · 13/02/2025 14:15

Yes just ask. How old are they? If they are old enough to qualify for extra money for heating then they do actually have to spend that money on heating.

They're in their 80s and have plenty of money. It's not that they can't afford it, just that he thinks heating the house is wasteful

OP posts:
Zusammengebrochen · 13/02/2025 14:25

Could you go out during the day and work from there - there must be a workspace or a library or something?

Sharptonguedwoman · 13/02/2025 14:20

HundredMilesAnHour · 13/02/2025 14:11

In your circumstances, I’d just order a heated throw from Amazon and have that wrapped around me all day.

(I hate a cold house and many years ago actually left a close friend’s house where I was supposed to be staying as it was far too cold for me, but I also respect people’s rights to have their own home at whatever temperature they want).

Heater throws don't work on hands and feet, sadly. OP, put the heating on. 13 def is ridiculous. Give the thermostat czar £50.

Iamallowedtodisagreewithyou · 13/02/2025 14:15

Yes just ask. How old are they? If they are old enough to qualify for extra money for heating then they do actually have to spend that money on heating.

HundredMilesAnHour · 13/02/2025 14:11

In your circumstances, I’d just order a heated throw from Amazon and have that wrapped around me all day.

(I hate a cold house and many years ago actually left a close friend’s house where I was supposed to be staying as it was far too cold for me, but I also respect people’s rights to have their own home at whatever temperature they want).

LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 13/02/2025 14:00

I’d speak to my mum, give her £50 and tell her can she heat the house to 18 for the next 5 days as the house is so cold you can’t feel your fingers or face

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 13/02/2025 14:00

I wouldn't be able to hide that I was freezing cold tbh, 13 degrees is ridiculous and not good for the house which will get damp.