My friends seemed like they were freezing …

[MyballsareSandy2015]

…. came round for a takeaway, heating on 20 when they arrived. They had layers on … removed some but soon put them back on. They stayed on even when I turned it up to 23 … I was boiling, sitting there in a shirt.

I also think some of it is people having heating off during the day and getting cold. If you are cold in the first place you will stay cold at 18.

I’m in the U.K.

im currently wearing

fluffy crocs
walking socks
leggings

heavy cotton side stripe joggers
vest with bra top
long sleeved heat tech top
shirt
crew neck jumper
gilet

what else am I supposed
to wear?

the heating is at 22

Wow, no wonder people are always complaining about heating bills! 23° is a beautiful summer day.

I think it’s reasonable to wear a couple of layers indoors in the winter, a Tshirt and jumper, with the hot blooded in just a Tshirt and the cold blooded adding a vest or cardigan. Some of comments on here saying it’s fine at this temperature with a blanket, are you really expecting guests to bring a blanket?
If I get cold it takes me ages to warm up, if I have been somewhere cold I end up going to bed in so many layers that I do eventually wake up hot. Lack of snuggly layers in hotels is a big irritation for me, I like to get snuggled under the covers, one sheet or the thinnest possible duvet just isn’t enough. At least pubs, bars and restaurants seem to be putting their heating on again now, they must have realised that frozen customers don’t stick around for an extra drink or a dessert.

23 is just kind of nice to me. And it depends on how damp it is and how windy. I could need a jumper.

If it's pretty cold my heating is 21.5/22 deg. That is really comfortable for me body wise but it's my feet that always feel the cold badly even when they are up on the sofa. I've always had cold feet though even as a teenager.

I usually wear socks then slipper socks over the top in the hope they will be warmer. I wear fleeces in the house with a cami top underneath, if it is really cold, a t-shirt type top as well. I currently wear velour leggings that I have to say are fabulous for keeping my legs warm.

I think there is something wrong with my heating because it won't come on at 21, so I have to set it to 25 to come on. I get cold feet so wear fluffy socks, and we do have a pile of fleecy blankets if we need them.

But having grown up in a freezing cold farmhouse, I prefer to have the heating as high as I want rather than wear extra layers.

I have oil fired central heating.

Flipping heck - ours is on 18 and off for most of the day. I would find 23 unbearable.

My house is very well insulated, it doesn’t take much to heat it to a comfortable temperature and stay there.

Save your judgment for the people who have wood burners belching out particulates into the atmosphere.

If the radiators were red hot then the house wasn't up to temperature was it?

And no, our heating (and up until now I would have thought most people's) is on a timer. It goes off about 11pm. And I keep the radiator in the bedroom at a lower level than the others anyway.

Just checking here. We’ve all collectively decided that we don’t give a shit about the environment any more? Putting a jumper on isn’t such a big ask. When did everyone become so nesh?

But I have a jumper on. I have plenty of layers on. Why shouldn’t I be comfortable and not in pain?

I can only assume you have a serious medical condition then if being less than 20° causes you pain.

That is extreme. Have you ever been checked for anaemia or thyroid issues?

It's 18.3 degrees in my house - I'm wearing thermal leggings, a t-shirt, a lightweight jumper and socks, and I have a blanket over my legs. I'm perfectly comfortable.

Just stop with the sanctimonious and judgemental “why do you need the heating above 16 degrees” posts and stop assuming that those of us who need (need not just like) a warmer house like to float around in skimpy clothes all the time.

As PP said it’s what you’re used to

Absolutely not true. For years we lived in inadequately heated houses and spent more than one winter waking up to ice on the inside of the window. I do not want to go back to that.

DH and I dress for the winter with jumpers on but still need the living room thermostat to be set at 20 degrees. I did try turning it down to 19, but DH was just too cold. Obviously, if I am moving around at that temperature I would take my jumper off, but when I am sitting still at 20 degrees for any length of time I would not be warm enough in a T-shirt. Our heating is off at night, but the thermostat has a frost setting so it would come on at 12 degrees. The house is well insulated so it very rarely comes on at night.

In DH’s case it is for health reasons. He is terribly underweight, has poor circulation, has had open heart surgery and is on beta blockers, so he will never feel warm at anything under 20 degrees while sitting still wearing winter clothes.

I work from home and he is retired so we have the heating on all day. Fortunately, we have solar panels and our feed in tariff last year more than covered our energy bills. In fact, we ended up with our supplier paying us £600 more than we paid them, so last year’s energy cost us nothing. From an environmental point of view, I felt less guilty about keeping the heating on as our panels generated a lot of electricity.

Oh, and we both love summer. I can see why so many mumsnetters hate summer given that anything over 20 degrees seems to be such a disaster for so many. I see lots of posts being rude about other people’s medical conditions if they feel the cold. Maybe those who can’t tolerate anything over 20 degrees also have medical issues – high blood pressure, being overweight?

As I have said. Yes I do.

Yes I have been checked a million times, as I have said.

Fair enough, I hadn't read the entire thread.

OK then, I’ve not been noting down the name of every poster who says they have they need the heating up and cross referencing it with noted medical conditions.

By wood floors - so you mean real wood or are they laminate? Did you have slippers on and them socks? I often find laminate freezing underfoot and it affects my whole body temp!

That's why we have carpets.
I know some mumsnetters are OTT about carpets, but we don't wear shoes in the house (we wear slippers) and they are cleaned regularly.

I have a big rug for the same reason. The laminate was here before we moved and we are doing the whole place up and when we do it’ll be replaced with real wood in the living room and carpets in the bedrooms.

I don't understand why so many people are accusing OP of "letting her guests be cold" or "didn't you ask them if they were cold?"

She had the heating on the whole time despite her own discomfort, even if they said yes, they were cold, what more could she have done?

Depending what the 'layers' they were wearing were - if it was just a jumper perhaps they felt the difference between outside and inside when they first came in, having been moving, but then once they sat still felt colder, which is completely normal. Not taking a jumper off to sit there in a t-shirt doesn't mean they were cold, they could have been perfectly comfortable.

If they were sitting there with a coat on then fair enough to say they found the house cold!

In direct sun, which adds a lot of additional heat to your body temperature.

That’s uninhabitable. Please tell me there’s no kids living there? I get it’s an old cottage which is going to be colder, but have you had your roof checked? Checked for any gaps anywhere which could be letting drafts in? I’m only saying this because I’ve got Rheumatoid Arthritis and know what the cold does to your body. My mum has horrendous arthritis after growing up in a home with no heating (during & post WW2).