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?

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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.

Lach, your post is twattish.

So's the OP.

I think YABU...

I can acknowledge that you probably only meant that it's a good thing if people who are currently keeping their houses far warmer than necessary are encouraged to turn the thermostat down (from 25 down to 20, or something...) I agree that people should choose to do that, rather than waste energy/fuel, but far too many people are already unable to afford to keep their homes at a safe temperature in Winter, nevermind if prices rise further, for your post to be anything but immensely insensitive :(

My mum and dad are in their 80s and live in a house without GCH. They only have 1 gas fire and 1 storage heater. The house is bloody freezing. Mum pretty much sits in the fire from Oct onwards. Dad never used to be too bad, but gets colder now he's not as active.

It actually used to be cheaper for them to go to Spain for 6 weeks over Xmas than it was to try and heat the house. They can't do it any more because they can't afford the insurance.

I've paid their bills a few times, but they get really upset (bloody pride). Last year I bought mum a full set of thermals - she cried because she 'looked like a granny' (she is a bloody granny!). Last year their loo froze, now that's cold.

DH has already suggested they come to us for december. I don't know if they'll go for it though.

OP, it doesn't matter how many jumpers you wear if you're not active, the cold and damp still get in, twat.

I'm in NZ and the cost for heating here is diabolical. Our bill for elec and gas last month (one single, miserable month, albeit the middle of winter) was nearly £300 ($600). We live in one of the few places (rented) that actually has central heating, but we've only had it on a handful of times when it's been really cold because it's so farking expensive.

And I can moan. It's barely got into single digits temperature-wise. Nothing like as cold as it gets in the UK in the dead of winter. :(

There is not much worse than being too cold. So many people say they would rather be too cold than too warm; they've clearly never been genuinely cold and unable to do anything about it...

My Granddad is 92 and my Grandmother is 85. I don't think that "putting an extra jumper on" is going to cut it for them this winter. They are on state pension and that doesn't quite reach the costs of the winter fuel bills.

Another 'wouldn't rationing be a jolly good adventure?' threads

It's -40 here in winter, sometimes more. But we do keep the heat fairly low as DH is annoyingly obsessive concerned with our heating bills.

If people want to spend their money to keep their home or business at a certain temperature, what's it to anyone else? If they have money to burn in such a fashion, that's entirely their business.

I wear a vest, a jumper, woolly tights, and two pairs of socks in the winter. Also I have the heating on. I get cold. Sometimes I add an extra cardigan, if it is really cold. And I put sheepskin insoles into my shoes.

And yes, I have the heating on.

wannabemarypoppins we used to use something like this
www.howcast.com/videos/87584-How-To-Insulate-Your-Windows-With-Plastic

YABU. I grew up in a fairly run down council house with no central heating or double glazing. Our bathroom was like bloody Siberia for four months of the year and the rest of the house wasn't much better. You've also got to factor in babies, people with disabilities, the elderly etc. I'm sure a lot of older people suffering with fuel poverty would get by on an extra jumper if they could.

is the OP Edwina Currie? I bet she thinks eating eggs gives you salmonella and that Christians can't get AIDS!

I think YAB VERY U.

I think it is disgusting that the various 'powers that be' in this country care so little about the electorate that they will not do something about the escalating situation with energy bills that a lot of people face.

I think it is more disgusting that some people, whomever they are, will be faced with a choice of being FORCED to put a jumper on. Have you not heard of how many elderly deaths there are each year already because people are too worried about paying energy bills ? And have you not heard this year how many people in this country, be they single, elderly, families, whomever, are already in energy poverty and know that they wont be able to afford to heat their homes ?

I think that it is even more disgusting that some people are so worried about their finances that they feel it has to be a choice between heating or not.

But I think that you are the most disgusting for having such an opinion. Don't be so patronising....."wearing a jumper or 2 is fine". FFS.

Get out from your little fluffy fairy castle and view the world with the rest of us.

OP - there can't be many people who are not aware that there are plenty of things they can do to keep heating bills down.
Close Doors
Wear Layers
Watch TV under a duvet (my personal fav)

The fact is though, even if you do these things (and no doubt others) the price of heating our homes this winter, is, for many of us, a frightening thought.

Your tone is so patronising, even if you had a bright idea to save money that no one had thought of before, it would probably be lost under the weight of your self righteousness.

we had no heating or hot water for 3 weeks in the middle of the snow last year, we live in a rented house, the boiler broke and the landlord faffed around rather than fix it.
Many rented houses (especially cheaper ones) dont have lovely fires or any other way to heat the house apart from the central heating. The boilers in rented houses are often old and cheap and expensive to run. While we had no heating or hot water it was MISERABLE. We have four young children (then aged from 4 months up it is really hard to keep them warm with no actual source of heat!

Having read the OP's OP very carefully I'm with her. This not about homes were money is very tight, this is about chosing to heat homes hotter then they have ever been before.

I've been amazed in the last few years how unbelievably warm modern houses of friends can be. The kids end up all pink and stripped off in mid winter. My parents house is so cosy and they were so pleased at how warm it could be that they wacked the heating up all the time , a huge contrast to my freezing childhood.

My house is firmly in the jumper territory - I wish it was n't quite so draughty but I do feel ill when overheated just as I got sick last year from being permanently cold.

Interestingly we were given several bag fulls of 80/90s kids clothes and they were noticably thicker and warmer then modern stuff, robust dresses with sleeves made of cord, velvetish stuff and fluffy cotton.

Modern houses are far more efficient and better insulated than old piles.

If people want to spend their money on heating, why should they be forced to be cold?

FFS.

Our house is really cold due to the massive gap around the front soor (rented) and the fct that the bit where fresh airt comes oin for CO safety is right in the middle of the front room wall.

And we're in Wales, so cold.

Dreading this winter, really am.

You know when I was a kid we had one heater, end terrace house so cold as. mum would switch on the cooker when she woke so kitchen was usable and we'd have ice inside the windows: some days we would defrost the clothes off the line by standing them in front of the fire- proper standing, as they were rigid as cardboard.

Thought i would manage better for my boys but failed.

When they start interviewing people on the news,in winter, in their houses, who are complaining of the heating bills..they always seem to bearing a tshirt.
I grew up in the north in ahouse with no central heating, just a gas fire in the lounge and dining room and no heating anywhere else in the house. Not even a portable heater. The bathroom had one of those heaters where you pull accord and a miserable orange glow appeared which wouldn't warm upna fly's arse.
No double glazing either.or duvets.
When it was really cold, our duffel coats would go on top of our beds.
We survived.

Quick! take out a patent on this jumpers and coats in winter thing before someone else thinks of it.

Actually, my house has expensive and effective double glazing. I just get cold in winter. Hence the thermal long-sleeved vest, jumper, two pairs of socks, and so on. AND THE HEATING.

mx5hairdresser

Eggs can be infected with salmonella.

hmmm... I wonder about this... until I realised the extra amount that I spent on jumpers thermals extra warm pjs etc for growing children didn't really balance out the extra heating costs (especially when one has SN and tends to need a couple of changes of clothes when nappy leaks and has problem recognising when he's cold), as long as the heating's not super high I go for the hating option