How are people warm enough with their houses at 18 degrees?

[MrsBennetsPoorNerves]

My heating is set at 21, and I'm still cold!! But I keep reading on here that people have their heating set at 18.

I'm already wearing a jumper and fluffy socks. Sitting on the sofa with a blanket. I am OK with it at this temperature but feel that I should be trying to reduce it further.

Am I just a wuss?

anaemia definitely makes you cold.

and sitting means you feel the cold much more than if you are moving around.

I grew up in a house with no heating and we dressed very differently. We also always sat with our feet up off the floor in the evening, and often a hot water bottle on our laps.
I never went to bed without a hottie, and my duvet had a large balnket over it that was tucked in all round to stop drafts.

Hot drinks also help

The thermostat for the central heating will tell you. But we also have thermometers in a couple of rooms as the central heating thermostat reacts to the temperature in our hall, which is a sunny hall and stays warmer than our living room and dining room - so the feed to the rads will often click off before the other rooms are warm enough and the thermostat needs nudging up a degree or two. We don't have individual thermostats on our rads.

I think it's what you get used to.
If the house is never below 21 then suddenly being at 18 will be a 3 degree decrease with no gradual acclimatisation.
If you set the thermostat to 18.5 then as autumn sets in the temperature will gradually drop over weeks so your body will be used to the temperature. Personally find 18.5-19 comfortable in the day, 18 at night and 19.5 if we've just got in from a cold walk etc to boost a bit of extra warmth.
Never even considered setting it at 21, surely its stuffy and a bit uncomfortable?
Our heating isn't on yet and thermostat is reading 20 which is a warm very comfortable temperature still.

I used to be an always hot person then I changed to being an always cold person. I injured my hands doing stuff in cold so can't endorse that.

Anyway, back to OP's core question: I wear a lot of layers, gloves, neck buff, maybe a hat, 4-6 pairs of socks (slipper boots are great but fall apart after 2 weeks). 3-4 tops.... blanket/duvet on sofa & hot water bottle on my feet or legs while working (sedentary WFH). Lots of hot drinks. I try to move around as much as possible if not WFH, do housework !!

My heating is off.

outside temperature is currently is 11 with a low of 6. Temperature this morning was 18 outside.
house is warm and fine. Both kids haven’t felt the need for dressing gowns or slippers yet

I normally like the heating on and have it clicking on at 18 but I’m actually enjoying it. If we can keep the heating off until November I will be happy. I’m aiming to set it much lower at 18 though and only on and off when we are in.

I’m always cold and splashed out on an oodie the other week. It’s changed my life. It’s unbelievably warm. I would recommend it- it’s expensive but I think worth it as it’ll definitely keep me warm when the heating is off

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Are you taking your iron tablets at a similar time to drinking tea or coffee? They can inhibit the absorption of iron. Calcium rich foods and whole grains apparently can as well so best to take them a couple of hours after anything with a lot of milk etc. Vitamin C helps increase absorption.

There is possibly something to being 'acclimatised' to certain temperatures and that becoming a norm for you. I grew up in a freezing cold house with no heating, so it seems more than coincidence that I'm comfortable in lower temperatures. It would be interesting to know how many who feel cold below 18 degrees grew up in houses where that temperature was the norm.
We had heating when I was a child but then I spent many years without heating or cooling in a warm climate. It could reach single digits inside or in the high thirties. I'm comfortable in quite a wide range of temperatures now.

18 in a house is not cold?!

I'm menopausal and more than happy at 18 as long as warm top on.

I get really irritated with the ‘unless it’s 25 degrees my little tiny delicate lady fingers will freeze’ types. I know it’s my problem, not theirs, but I do always think some folk are utterly pathetic (unless they have an actual, diagnosed health reason that means they feel the cold more). A generation ago loads of people didn’t have central heating - they layered up and got on with it. We didn’t have central heating. Our fire wasn’t lit until the evening and even then it was only in one room. Get some clothes on and stop lolling about!

Layers and really big warm dressing gown and cosy socks, blankets if sitting down.

I wouldn't feel cold at 18 degrees outside probably because you tend to be moving and not sat but when our largest room goes down to 18 I put the heating on for 20 minutes. Not throughout the day but first thing in the morning and around 7 in the evening.

@Eggsley yeah, but you live there too! When do YOU want it on?

Well as we're not living a generation ago I'll be keeping the heating on thanks. You feel free to crack on being a martyr though.

I've had my heating up to 23 today (we're not convinced the thermostat is accurate so DH is moving it) and it still wasn't overly hot in here. If I want to be 'lolling about' in my own home at the weekend I will!

18 is ok if you are moving around. But could get a bit chilly if you are sitting still for long periods.

7 as proposed by PP DH is gobsmackingkly bad!
I would say that if you have your " heating" that low it might cause problems with house getting cold and damp.

I've had ours off today and back door and windows open but now chilly so put it on for an hour. Our thermostat is usually set at 20 with DH sometimes turning it down and me sometimes turning it up!

I feel cold at that temp too. I wear fluffy socks all the time now and my dressing gown. I'll even put the heating on for an hour in the afternoon to warm it up.

18 isn’t cold! Our heating thermostat has always been set to 18.

Being a geek I’ve just checked my digital thermometer station in the kitchen.

outside is currently 10
kitchen is 19.9
highest outside temperature today was 18

Heating hasn’t been on here since May.

we are a big house but it well insulated sw England and maybe my neighbours have got the heating on. If sunny it does tend to warm up inside fast.

I’m similar to you OP. Anything below 20C indoors and I feel cold. And I also think some people who don’t feel the cold don’t really get it. Yes you can wear more layers, use hot water bottle, blankets etc - but for me once the air temperature around me is below 20C that’s it, and I feel cold regardless. It’s like the cold gets inside of you and so doing those things to try and warm up have limited effect, if that makes any sense.

On the plus side though I coped a lot better when the temperature was 30C+ plus in the summer. I think some of us are built for hot weather, others are built more for cold weather.

Oh and I have a skimpy nightdress on and am on top of the duvet at the moment

Our house is currently 18. We’ve not turned the heating on yet. It does drop overnight but jumpers and blankets/slippers are fine in the day time. Duvets warm at night.

But we only ever heat a few hours a day to 19 or 20 if very cold. Eg morning a couple of hours, maybe an hour mid afternoon and a couple of hours early evening.

I hate the stuffiness of constant warm heating. Prefer the fresher cooler air. Everyone’s different I guess!

I feel cold and miserably shivery even with loads of layers in winter, and would always wear a coat outside if it was 18C. I have really felt the cold ever since I lost over 10% of my body weight (deliberately). Upside is that I enjoy the heat up to mid 30s, but especially as I get to wear summer clothes. I can’t comfortably wear shorts and an t-shirt if it’s any cooler than about 28C.

My heating is on at 21 to 23 degrees some of the time atm if I feel cold. I refuse to be cold and I do feel the cold. I also get too hot in Summer.

I’m wearing a summer dress today and it was V 20 degrees earlier. Not sure what it is now but I’m wearing the same dress and have a blanket over me but I’m a bit warm to be honest. I’m not usually warm but it’s been gorgeous here today in Somerset.