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Original poster

Do you get used to being cold?

131 replies

Woeismethischristmas · 02/04/2022 13:45

Stopped using the boiler (oil and can’t afford to refill the tank) the cold just seems to settle in my bones and toes. Am wearing layers, scavenging for wood to light the wood stove a few hours a day. How do you get used to the cold. Im just mooching around between heat sources. Electric bathroom radiator and oil radiator in the hall. Wearing layers and moving around but Still freezing even with endless hot drinks.

Do you just eventually adjust to being cold? Super warm at work so I spend the other half of the week boiling.

OP posts:
teaandtoastwithmarmite · 02/04/2022 21:34

Gosh I'm just sat here. Thermostat on 18 watching it in the hope it will go up. I'm the only that's cold in this house though. It's very depressing and I realise there is worse off than me. Unfortunately I grew up in a house that was always tropical so I'm not used to it. We shouldn't have to be living like this in 2022

Theworldisfullofgs · 02/04/2022 21:35

@SophieSoSo

It makes me so sad to see this as a topic on MN, along with the other heating threads in active.

It’s 2022 for fucks sake, we shouldn’t be living like this Sad

This.
Dodie66 · 02/04/2022 21:41

Thermal underwear, thick socks and my daughter bought us all oodies for Christmas. Not original one as as they are expensive but some cheaper ones on Amazon. Lovely and warm with a fleecy lining and hood. Also get a heat pad and heat in the microwave and put inside your jumper

Cirelle · 02/04/2022 21:42

It’s been theorised that the human body adjusts to cold by increasing brown fat, which boosts metabolism and improves insulin sensitivity. It takes several weeks though.

StayAGhost · 02/04/2022 21:50

I most assuredly do not get used to it. I really do feel the cold
Other points are as poverty strikes one will not be able to afford real thick warm clothes
Like a PP I grew up cold. Damp.
Miserable. Poor food
I can't believe we are going back to this

Mischance · 02/04/2022 21:55

Layers are the thing.

Long sleeved vest or T-shirt; then polo neck jumper to keep neck warm, then thick jumper, then thick cardigan. Leggings under trousers. Thick socks.

Move about as much as possible. Drink hot drinks. Bung a hot water bottle or heat pad down your jeans.

Be careful not to let your oil tank run totally dry.

MrsWinters · 02/04/2022 22:22

I find most peoples houses unbearably warm. I haven’t had the heating on since start of February, and we’re single glazed (but semi detached so might get some heat from neighbour).
I find it strange on zoom calls how many colleagues are sat there in t-shirts or shirts through the winter or spring. Pop a jumper or fleece on for goodness sake and your body acclimatises to the rest.

Namelessnancy · 02/04/2022 22:27

Twelve years of Tory rule.

AnastasiaRomanov · 02/04/2022 22:31

Most people didn’t have central heating not that long ago. I grew up without it mostly. Jumpers, layers, hot water bottles and lots of blankets. Hit drinks, hot food. I got chilblains in the winter when I was a child. Ice on the windows. My university flats didn’t have central heating either. I used to lie in bed with gloves and a hat on in winter during the day if I was home as it was so cold.

biscuitbreak · 02/04/2022 22:32

I really can't stand being cold. It makes the house feel damp and it makes me feel drained and tired. I feel so sad that this is a conversation we are having to have in 2022. Our family will struggle but we will still be able to heat our home (albeit less). People who genuinely have no choice but to turn off their heating I really feel for. I genuinely don't understand how it's come to this.

TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 02/04/2022 22:37

I could wear all the layers in the world but for me, it's when my nose feels cold that I feel uncomfortable and know the temperature is too low. I wish there was a cream or something I could put on it to stop it getting cold!

Findingneeemo · 02/04/2022 22:42

The oodie style things from Dunelm for £16 are excellent. Very warm. I haven’t tried a real oodie but I have not been cold in my dunelm one.

HelloSpringIveMissedYou · 03/04/2022 05:38

I grew up in the 80s with no heating and only a coal fire, which put out no heat unless you sat right on top of it. It was cold but I knew nothing else.

Since meeting DH radiators have always been switched off in our bedrooms as I just get too hot, I open the windows regularly on sunny days to get them aired.

Layers are your friend as is getting outside and going for a good walk/take DCs to the park, you always come home to a 'warm' house.

sashh · 03/04/2022 06:08

@sandgrown

Another 50s child . Our only source of heating was a coal fire in one room. In Winter we had ice on the inside of the windows. No fitted carpets either just a square on top of Lino. Lots of layers . Hot water bottles and even coats on the bed if it was really cold . Physical activity helps get you warm and to be honest we were very healthy and rarely had a cold . I still sleep with the window open and no heating through the night .
Physical activity isn't possible for some of us.
dottydodah · 03/04/2022 08:21

Whether anyone doesnt mind the cold is irrelevant .21st C still struggling along! Our heating bill ( Gas and Electric) up from £168.00 to £247.00 overnight.How is this even possible ? So we are getting £200.00 to be paid back! very generous.Luckily Summer coming up .Hopefully bills will come down . I wonder how many Thermal vests and onesies our lovely govt is purchasing?

beattieedny · 03/04/2022 08:24

We were, as a thousand shit memes say, fucking freezing as kids. And hungry, because snacks were not allowed. It was crap.
Sorry.

Norgie · 03/04/2022 08:24

I don't think you get used to it no, I think you find ways of dealing with it.

LadyCatStark · 03/04/2022 09:16

I wonder if all the companies (and councils in my case) know that whilst they’re saving a fortune by closing offices, their staff are stuck at a computer all day in dressing gowns, fingerless gloves and hats? 🤔

liveforsummer · 03/04/2022 09:19

I have raynauds so wound never get used to being cold. The activity thing wouldn't work either as whist once moving I would likely warm up you have to stop sometime and changes in activity levels are a major trigger for an attack even in warmer circumstances but when it's warm you come back out of it fairly quickly. If cold it can take a very long time to restore any blood flow to your extremities.

AnastasiaRomanov · 03/04/2022 09:28

@LadyCatStark

I wonder if all the companies (and councils in my case) know that whilst they’re saving a fortune by closing offices, their staff are stuck at a computer all day in dressing gowns, fingerless gloves and hats? 🤔
Good point
Svara · 03/04/2022 09:42

@Cirelle

It’s been theorised that the human body adjusts to cold by increasing brown fat, which boosts metabolism and improves insulin sensitivity. It takes several weeks though.
Yes, I've read a bit about that too. Saying two hours a day sitting in 17 or 18 degrees I think it was. I've never set my thermostat above that in winter, and this year have lowered it to 16 then 15 because of the cost. Might help those who are cold at 22 degrees (age 5 to 65 with no disabilities) to adapt though.
Sisteragatha · 03/04/2022 09:58

The idea of a thermostat is hilarious to 10 year old me, laying shivering in my coat under layers of blankets Grin

I remember when i I had my first baby and we would visit my mum and layer him up for the visit. I used to take my little room thermometer with me. He was born in winter. It was 12 degrees outside in the street and 8 degrees inside my mums house because it’s basically a shed and she never closes a door or window and doesn’t even have central heating, it broke in 1996 and never got fixed.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 03/04/2022 10:02

Pop a jumper or fleece on for goodness sake and your body acclimatises to the rest

Mine doesn’t. I had a vest, long sleeved t and hoodie on yesterday and fleece lined jeans with knee high thermal wool socks. I was still cold with the heating on.

user1471538283 · 03/04/2022 10:15

I grew up in cold homes and I've never got used to it. I can wrap up but I need warm air to be warm.

It makes me so angry that this is happening whilst that waste of space Andrew had millions to settle a lawsuit he should have been tried for and the government dished out millions on useless apps and the Brexit 50p.

Spudlet · 03/04/2022 10:23

@MrsWinters

I find most peoples houses unbearably warm. I haven’t had the heating on since start of February, and we’re single glazed (but semi detached so might get some heat from neighbour). I find it strange on zoom calls how many colleagues are sat there in t-shirts or shirts through the winter or spring. Pop a jumper or fleece on for goodness sake and your body acclimatises to the rest.
My neighbour has Raynaud’s disease and has lost the tips of her fingers as a result. Evidently her body did not get used to it. Thanks for the pro-tip though! 👍👍