Ice on the insides of windows growing up

[candlemasbells]

Inspired by the other threads about bath water, loo breaks and drinks, did you grow up with ice on the inside of the windows in winter?
We lived for many years in an old house with no central heating and in the winter beautiful patterns would form in ice on the insides of the windows. I often hear people of my parents generation or older reminiscing about cold winters and ice on the insides of windows and they don’t believe that someone my age (born in the 1980s) would have experienced it.
We were in no way neglected growing up, we were given hot water bottles, plenty of duvets/blankets/sleeping bags to keep warm. In the depths of winter we would often sleep in a downstairs room which had a fire.
Theres a question asked on the census about the type of central heating your house has.

The shared house I moved into after living with my parents had single glazed sash windows and I remember ice on them and being able to see your breath indoors in winter.
When I bought my own house it took 6 years to save up for and organise getting central heating. It did have double glazing though, so wasn't as bad.
Born in the 80s.

My father died in 2004 and still didn’t have central heating in the house. I didn’t notice it growing up, but once I’d left home and went back it was unbearable! I’d sleep with my clothes beside me in bed, then put them on under the covers before getting up.

My current house didn’t have central heating. Didn’t notice until I moved in. Had it installed pdq.

Jack Frost used to come and paint the patterns. Or so my mum told me.
There were no duvets for me - lots of blankets and a frilly sheet thing that went over the bed (bedspread?)

And yes to running down to the fire in the morning. In a nightie that was so static and flammable it was a health hazard near the fire. I had a Holly hobby nighty

My friend born in the late 70s had this, no central heating until the 90s.

I was born early 80s and moved to a house without central heating. It was installed fairly early on so I don't remember it being cold, but I remember the two-bar heater in the bathroom and can remember using the baby bath in front of the coal fire in the lounge.

I have experienced ice on the insides of windows a few times while sleeping in bunk barn. Somewhat different when you've soent the day hiking, hit the pub and anti-freeze your veins on several pints!
I've camped in -6⁰C which was err bracing. Night one was cold. Night two was better after heading into Keswick and buying a fleece sleeping bag liner!

Yes , they always looked like leaves !
I can also remember opening the back door and the snow would be about 18 inches up the door frame !

Oh yes, ice on windows and constant thirst. (We had no central heating and I had chilblains during the winter)

I also received a "good hiding" if I misbehaved and was subjected to lots of passive smoke.

My parents were considered wholesome parents in professional jobs.

We also had foreign holidays and private education/music/dance lessons.

Luckily no but when I stayed with a friend with a cusk fire it at my grand with a coal fire it was always freezing 🥶

1970's childhood. No central heating. I remember icicles hanging from the windows.

I was born mid-sixties and we had no central heating, just gas fires in rooms downstairs only. We had flannelette sheets, blankets and eiderdowns and also hot water bottles (later, electric blankets) I was never really cold in bed, but goodness me, the rooms were cold, and definitely had ice on the inside of the windows! The house was big and old, but I loved it and the cold was just one of its quirks, like creaky stairs and being very hot in the summer with the sun on it all day!

Yes - born late 70s and house mainly heated by aga and fire (both not high during the night). Beautiful paisley patterns in the ice on the windows, and intricate plans made by me and my brother for how to get dresses in the morning under the covers to avoid the possible hypothermia of getting up.

I remember following my grandpa to the living room at 5am one morning and he set the coal fire. It seemed so cool to me as I had cgh. He could get a fire going in a few minutes but then he had done it every day of his life since he was a young lad. My mum and dad grew up with coal and could still light fires. My grandpa would light the fire and then go back to bed for a few hours to let it warm up and heat the water.

Yes. Kid in the 80s/90s. One gas fire downstairs, but you weren’t allowed to switch it on unless it was a particular month or if we had guests.

It was freezing, despite hot water bottles. I used to get chilblains and wear loads of layers in bed.

Back in the 1960s the only heating in our three bedroomed house was a coal fire in the living room. Ice on the inside of the windows was common in winter. We used to draw pictures and scratch our names in it.

Nope, cuz we had central heating and double glazing. We did however have that with the first home we bought in the early 90's. The house originally belonged to an elderly couple, he used to wash himself in their brown painted, asbestos, lean-to front porch. I found the damp bedding worse tbh.

We had storage heaters downstairs but no heating upstairs.I wore the thinnest nighty, no nice warm slipper socks like my DC have.

We also never wore hats in winter; only small children or grandparents wore hats.

I remember getting a pair of ski gloves which were water proof. The only other gloves were mittens knitted by your granny, or sheepskin mittens which were soggy and then stiff if you got them wet in the snow. Waterproof ski mittens were the dogs bollox in 1979.

Yup we had that
Born in late 70's and from 6-16 lived in a barn conversion - although modern for its time it had single glazed windows and no insulation. Central heating was there but the controls were on or off and heating oil (countryside) was expensive so heating was off from mid evening until morning and that house got properly cold overnight.
I remember in winter putting my clothes on the radiator at night so they would be slightly warm when I dashed across the room to snatch them before dressing under the duvet.
When we bought this house 8yrs ago it had draughty single glazed sashes, no insulation and an old central heating system with crappy controls. As soon as you turned it off the inside temperature dropped like a stone. We refurbished the place and upgraded windows, insulation, heating system and controls and now it's so much better, we have no truly cold days and the improvements have paid for themselves with reduced bills.

I used to wake and see my breath, always condensation on the windows and my bed was under them.

I used to get dressed by taking my clothes down to the central vent and sitting in front of it. It was terribly inefficient and guaranteed to make me late.

We had one of those heating systems that blew hot air around in vents.

I still get ice on the inside of my single glazed sash windows sometimes.

Yes. 70s child. We eventually had a house with central heating but single glazing so when the heating was off all night the glass had ice. Grandparents didn't have heating in their houses so it was warmers in the beds and getting dressed under the covers.

Though the house I grew up was cold upstairs, I never experienced that. Perhaps it was because we were terraced; my husband grew up in a semi and had ice on the inside of his bedroom window in the winter.

No, it used to get very cold inside but there was never ice on the windows. We had a wood stove that blew hot air around, wooden shutters on the windows, and DM would put hot water bottles in our beds then take them out when we went to sleep (Italian Alps, could get as cold as -15 on winter nights).

We still hated having to get washed and dressed in the morning though...the bathroom was always freezing cold.

It was a new build house at the time so I'm guessing well designed for cold winters.

I have gas central heating. This winter my money plant froze to death in my dining room where it had happily spent the previous ten years. No ice ferns though, secondary glazing.

Yes. We had single glazed wooden windows and central heating. Yet still had ice patterns inside the glass. The nets used to stick to them and I'd rip them off.
The wood used to rot and smelled of resin.

I had condensation on the inside windows. I don't remember ice though.

We have metal-framed windows from the 1860s, double glazing only on some and the heating shuts off at 10pm so we should get ice on the inside of many of the windows in a cold snap...except they also don't fit properly and it's too draughty so we seldom get enough moisture on the inside to freeze!! I think I marginally prefer it to the streaming condensation we used to get on the sash windows in our old house.

It is very, very cold in our bedroom on winter mornings...builds character I suppose (and hopefully our immune systems)...