to think actually it won't be such a bad thing if people are forced to put a jumper on instead of the heating this winter?

[create]

I know there are certain people who must have the means to keeps warm and unfortunately those are often the ones who least have those means but for the rest of us is it really such a bad thing if a financial squeeze makes us think twice about putting on/turning up the heating?

I find I only ever wear proper winter clothes in my own home because everywhere else (shops/offices/friends' homes) is far too warm. Really wearing a jumper or two is fine.

"Isn't it more economical to have the heating on low all the time than to switch it on and off and wear six pairs of socks and nose-warmers et al when it's off?"

Yep, makes more sense to have a low heat on.

The warmer a house is, proportionally the more heat it loses. Therefore if you heat a house all day to (say) 18C, it will lose more energy than letting it cool and then heating it back up when you're home in the evening.

Well I agree it is a good idea to dress warmly in the winter, and to hold off putting the heating on until it is really cold. That way you do feel the benefit. We have always done this in our house. However it doesn't really help the elderly, or people with asthma and other illnesses, or very young children. It doesn't help those people who live in damp, badly insulated homes.
For those who don't have gas central heating [like me] I can recommend oil filled electric radiators. IMO they are the next best thing, aren't too expensive to run or buy and can be moved from room to room.

YABU. We didn't have central heating (or any heating at all apart from gas fire in one room) until 1997, and had ice on the inside of the windows, and damp in the bedrooms. Why should people have to live like that in 2011?

some people find keeping warm easy

are you fat op?

< snigger >

electric blankets

God's work

I once read an article about a man who died under an electric blanket and this was only discovered after years as he dripped through the ceiling. Put me off for life that did. An electric blanket would otherwise be the answer to all my prayers.

Am I alone in loving the phrase 'feel the benefit'?

Because obviously no-one needs to turn the heating up, they just need another jumper, the same way anyone could afford private school for their children if they stopped taking expensive holidays and buying lattes

YABU. Are you the Heating Police?

He dripped through the ceiling? Oh my fucking god

fuckity...but what a way to go eh ?

that was a joke, btw

I would rather die of overheating, than die of cold

I made my choice

I don't drink lattes. No private school for my child then

Yep. The article was in German so I've no idea if I'd be able to find it in case anyone wants a read.....
But still maybe OP has a point. A jumper won't melt you now will it?

Thanks for the tip OP

I would never have thought of doing that

So, his electric blanket made him soup?

Yes it's the chill and the damp. We have heating on low but still sit under a duvet when watching TV in the evening. We have 13ft high ceilings and single glazed sash windows.

The girls have hot water bottles at night. I never heat at night but often had the baby in with us to make sure she was warm enough.

Laughs at the irony the dh is currently sat in his boxers fanning his bollox with the fan because he is too hot. should he just make a paper fan them to save electric?

"heating it back up when you're home in the evening"

Well if you're all out of the house all day then yes, obviously. But the elderly, disabled and people with young children don't have this option.

I've just returned from a weekend break and I the outdoor pool at outside temperatures of 18 degrees was far too uncomfortable yet the people of size and the older children were happily frolicking in it. So I suppose it depends.

I believe he was rather a large person and his fat kind of rendered over time. Lovely.

He's lucky he didn't combust

Last winter I was wearing thermal base layer, normal clothes, jumper, thick full length dressing gown, socks and slippers, with the heating on and a log fire and I was STILL cold. YABU

it would be nice to have heating to turn on, let alone up

I think it depends on whether you have a modern-ish and well insulated house or one that gets damp as well as cold - once things get damp, you can forget about getting warm. We are lucky that our house is relatively modern and insulated, and even in the last two winters we only had our thermostat at 19C when things were really freezing, but not everyone is that lucky.

And there are lots of people for whome jumpers won't cut it - they rely on you generating some body heat and the jumper keeping it in close to you. If you are ill, elderly, very thin etc. you simple won't generate enough heat to do the job.

I once did a fire safety course that was full of videos of people combusting or melting. Lots of poignant singed-armchair-and-charred-slipper shots.

They did mention electric blankets a lot.........