Anyone else still not put the heating on?

[RosiePosieWa]

Children are teens who run hot and walk around in vests still and moan if I even mention the heating
I get chilly but layer up.

I said I'd wait till November but still not put it on.

I don't have central heating. I have individual electric radiators (quite space-age and fancy) in living room and kitchen, plus a woodburner in the living room too. But, as I am a mid-terrace cottage, I probably only put the radiators on maybe once a week and light the logburner perhaps three times a year. Being sandwiched between two people who seem to have their heating up high as soon as the temperature drops below 20 degrees means my place stays fairly warm and I just put my Oodie on when it's chilly.

But then I'd struggle to pay a massive electricity bill so I have to keep an eye on it. Never understood why people feel as though they have to be able to wear a vest and shorts all the time indoors, but if they can afford the bills it's up to them!

I have had it on for an occasional hour every few days since late October.

I’m entering my second winter living on my pension, state pension plus a little bit from private pension. I know from bills last year (when I was also frugal) that Dec, Jan and Feb energy bills will eat up 25% of my income as a single householder.

You have got to admit it there has always been an element of competitive under heating on mumsnet though.

Probably menopausal women who are hot all the time.

I miss being cold. I used to love going to bed with an electric blanket on before hand, a couple of hot water bottles and a thick duvet. Now I sleep with just a sheet in the summer and a 4.5 tog summer duvet in the winter, but even that doesn’t stay on all night. I know it’s cold as I can feel it is cold, my skin can be cold but inside I am hot. It’s horrible.

If we are competing, I’m currently wearing a jumper & working with the back door open so my cat can wander in & out from the balcony.

The thermostat says current indoor temp is 18.5.

We have up and put it on last night, DH wanted it set at 17 but I negotiated 18.

To be fair there's definitely more of the competitive 'how long can you wait?' where heating is concerned. It's like that on MSE forums too.

No heating on here.

Gave up

Some houses/locations are more prone to damp than others - you must now that?

And an element of sneeriness about everything.

People desperately trying to keep their heating bills down because they really can’t afford it get solidarity from others who are also having to tough it out with jumpers and blankets.

I do. Bit of Blitz Spirit: if others can manage, so can I!

I've had the thermostat set to 20.5c since the beginning of October.

Oops. I meant know that, clearly. 😬
Owning my own goal. ⚽️⚽️⚽️

I get that, but there are also some real 'for the sake of it 'scrooges out there too.

It's fucking freezing

6 degrees here.

Where do you live that you haven't had the heating on for two years - or is it that you feel you can't afford it?

It's cold here today. 5 degrees. Ive just lit the fire

I think the "competitive" behaviour comes because certain posters don't seem to understand that not everyone needs or wants the heating on at 22 all the time 🙈

As soon as anyone says they're not cold yet or that they like their heating on at a lower temperature, someone always pops up and says how unhealthy it is, or says they just have to be freezing because there's no way anyone could possibly be happy in a "freezing house like that".

For me, if the heating is on above 19 or so I genuinely don't feel well and start to get a headache - but whenever I say that on here, people act like I'm exaggerating or lying or "competing" - I find it very odd.

To be fair there's definitely more of the competitive 'how long can you wait?' where heating is concerned. It's like that on MSE forums too.

Because people seem to take it so personally! It's already happened on this thread - a few people have said they're not cold yet and other posters can't help but jump in and comment about them being competitive, or bang on about how they'll ruin their house with mould.

It's almost like the the "warm" posters can't comprehend that other people just don't feel the cold as much.

I put ours on Monday night we went to the cinema wanted to come back to a warm house kids 15,6 and 2 and there's a baby who didn't come to the cinema so it's going to go on when needed. Three degrees this morning. I am conscious of the cost and have been lucky not using it for months. I've overpaid through the summer to ease the worry but we have piles of blankets.

I'm in London. It's a bit of both really. I mean if money was no issue then I would have it on as and when. But im also in a new build and it's much warner /less cold than my old place.

MSE is MoneySAVINGexpert, so what does it matter if people who need to save money are asking each other how long they can hold out?

I don’t particularly feel the cold, 18’ is a comfortable temperature for me and I would love to heat my house to that temperature from getting up to going to bed. But I simply can’t afford it. So I swap messages with a friend in similar circumstances and we see how long we can hold out.

Doesn’t affect anyone else. We’re not ‘competing’ against anyone who wants to and can afford to put their heating on at 20’ from Sept to May… good for them!

ETA actually, what I am reacting to, I think, is when people get dismissed as ‘competitive’ anything, or a ‘brigade’. Let’s let people discuss or chat about what they want to chat about.

It's different if you can't afford it, but there are posters who say that they are still in T-shirts when the temperature is in single figures, who can't comprehend that not everyone is like them. It cuts both ways. I feel that some posters do come across as morally superior for not feeling the cold.

Our thermostat is set at 20 degrees. DH is very underweight due to health issues and has awful circulation and feels the cold dreadfully. Just putting on another jumper doesn't cut it when he can't move his hands to type because his fingers are so white with cold.

Also, it depends on what type of housing you are in and where you live. A detached house on the edge of the Pennines at a higher altitude than a flat in London is always going to feel colder in winter.

I think on weather threads it always helps to give context about the area.

No need for you to explain what MSE is.
You might not be competing, and that's fair enough, but some folk do take it to extremes (and can be quite dismissive of those who do need heating on sooner).