Coping without heating

[Frio]

I’m seriously impressed by the people on the central heating thread who are surviving indoor temperatures of 14-16 Celsius. I really struggle physically and mentally with the cold.

My boiler has fritzed its circuit board and is utterly dead, any tips for managing until I can get it repaired? I have a couple of plug in oil filled radiators, plenty of sweaters and blankets but it’s the psychological impact that is the worst. How do I toughen up?

Well I guess that would depend where you live... It's 9/10c here ATM and is definitely cold in my flat! 🙄🙄

We have no central heating, no insulation and very draughty, single glazed windows. It gets so cold in here that my laptop and hair straighteners usually refuse to turn on in the depths of winter. Last year I checked the temp when that happened and it was 4 degrees in our bedroom!

Thankfully we have a wood burner in the living room so that room is fine once it’s going. We have an electric blanket on our bed and DS has an oil heater which clicks on and off through the night. We have good duvets and pyjamas, plenty of hot water bottles. The only difficult bit is the bathroom - it gets absolutely baltic. Showering isn’t something we look forward to in the winter!

If you start to feel freezing, cleaning the house is a great way to warm up, or following a workout on YouTube!

As someone who until this year lived in a draughty house with single glazed windows the one thing I can definitely recommend which sounds weird is to use bubble wrap on your windows. You can use normal bubble wrap but the best is the stuff with the really big bubbles. Made a significant difference.

Scarf hat and gloves game changer

NRTWT but heated throws are your friend. We have six of this one in our family as everyone wanted mine 🤣 I've hardly used my woodburner since.

www.boots.com/dreamland-intelliheat-faux-fur-warming-throw-10324331
Currently £50 off at Boots - great deal as it's quality and really easy to use.

Heated gilets are on my hit list this winter for dog walks. Did you research any brands?

Not stupid at all Hyperbowl, when you towel dry yourself in a cold room (or after a swim at the pool) you're just desperate to get dressed again. Talc takes that cold, slightly damp sticky feeling off and you can bung your clothes back on easily.

It was luck I had some in the cupboard and remembered having it after a bath as a child when we didn't have proper heating.

I'm probably the only person under 80 that has bought (fake) talc in the last few years.

@Hyperbowl thanks! I’ve not heard that one before!

lots of thinner layers are better than big bulky jumpers. layer your socks too because when your feet feel toasty you feel toasty.

and get a heated throw. they're the best.

I'm in the SE and had my heating on for a couple of hours last night , it's been in single figures over night and I don't tolerate being cold .

Thank you, that is really handy to know! 😁

Im a big fan of layering and my oodie and heated blanket.
I don't have central heating, just electric heaters when it gets really cold.
Annoyingly I can't shut doors though. Front door opens into the living room and I have to leave doors open as my elderly dogs use puppy pads now.
Being cold only bothers me in the daytime though. I like a colder room to sleep in.

I'm a cold creature also, and live in a cold house. If the house feels very cold and you're under a blanket light some candles or a small lamp instead of the main light. It feels way cosier.
Have a hot water bottle on your lap under your blanket. At bedtime refill it and put in the bed 20 minutes before you go to bed to get the full benefit of it.
Wear a thin thermal vest as a base layer, covered by a thin jumper and topped off with a fleece.
Buy cheap Ugg style boots a size bigger than normal and thermal socks and never, ever let your bare feet touch the cold ground.

i wear thermal eg leggings , shirts ect then normal jumper and trousers then a dressing gown on top, and a nice cuppa tea, thats if its cold cold but even when its mild it still helps

Hot water bottle under a blanket is really effective at generating heat. Snuggly cats also help.

I am sitting watching tv under a heated throw. I am lovely and cosy but the top of my nose is cold. It’s 16 degrees in the room - thermostat is beside me.

18 degree air is bad for you? You got a link for that?

I'm the other person under 80 who buys talc. I hate getting dressed without it in the winter.

It probably depends where you live, it was 3 degrees here when I went to work earlier in the week and highs have barely been above 12 all week! I have wooden window frames and the wind was howling through them on Thursday. The washing isn’t drying and just smells damp if the heating isn’t on.

We have an old RAF American base house. Awful windows too!

Our heating comes on at 16 degrees.

Until that point, we are fine if we wear sensible clothes and socks/slippers.

If you’re not cold blooded, you need to do what we did in an single glazed stone cottage with crappy heating, followed by a house with a broken boiler (for three years):

• slippers indoors - fluffy ones not thin/trendy ones
• heated blanket on the sofa
• oil filled radiators to plug in
• You live in one room - literally. Then you only need to heat the one.
• heated gilet (buy off amazon)
• Sheep’s wool inner soles
• drink lots of hot tea/hot chocolate
• if it’s perishing, go for a library visit as it’s warm there while being free
• lots of stews, spicy food and ‘Stodge” - there’s a reason suet puddings and custards are traditionally English foods.

In the extreme SE so not heating weather here yet but can be chilly in the evenings. So much depends on how much sun your rooms get - due to lots of trees and the way we face ours doesn't get much which makes it worse.
Top tip is leggings or tights underneath jeans. Wrists and neck covered. Slippers. Oodie. Heated blankets!

For the psychological part I think there are three things.

One is your frame of reference. I don’t think of 17 as cold, I think it’s a moderate temperature so why would I be cold at it? Maybe 15 or below I might expect to feel chilly if sat still and not under a blanket etc because from my perspective that’s where the cold temperatures might begin. But I wouldn’t automatically be cold of course - it was 14 in my bathroom this morning and I still showered and was fine because I’m used to it, which is partly how one’s frame of reference is formed - you get used to the temperatures you’re exposed to.

Secondly I just don’t really think about the temperature much. A lot of people who are consciously cutting back on heating have it on their minds a lot which makes sense but I think it probably makes you feel colder.

Third is lights, I don’t feel cold if it’s bright so put on all the lights, even better if you have a SAD lamp as they are so bright.

This is daft though. The advice shows these temps are bad for the house and its occupants.