to not put the heating on as much as everyone else?

[elmobaggins]

I grew up on a farm, in a very draft-prone house where the boiler was more broken than not, so am used to living in cold houses. I make sure we all wrap up warm at all times (i.e. appropriate thermals, multiple layers and very sturdy footwear, etc) and DH never seems to feel the cold - he works outside all day anyway.

However, now that DCs are getting to that age where they start to invite newly-made friends around, I've noticed a couple of comments from the other children/parents about how cold our house is - I've genuinely never noticed it before now... but I've just spotted a heating oil thread where someone commented they put their heating on all day when it's very cold outside I don't think I've had the heating on for more than 3 or 4 hours in the whole time we've lived in our house, and it's not on a timer or anything. I think we normally turn it on for the first time in late Nov/early Dec, and only on the occasional day it's very cold.

I'm starting to think that IABU for basically using the "can you feel your feet in thermals? if no, time to stick the heating on" as the threshold for if the heating gets popped on, and perhaps my level of use isn't quite normal for a family.

(Just wanted to add, DD doesn't complain of the cold - seems to have inherited DH's warm blood too.)

So, AIBU?

What's a normal "trigger" threshold for putting the heating on?

[Helltotheno]

soverylucky poor you :( The option of external insulation is open to you probably, but it's very ££.
What about a stove? Not too spendy if you get a small one in... even dinky ones give out really cosy heat and are well worth the investment in my opinion.

[Bunbaker]

LieInsAreRarerThanTigers We have solar panels.

"there is alot to be said for insulation and the cost of new builds in terms of heating"

Definitely. Our last house was 200 years old and cost a fortune to keep warm. Our current house (4 bed detached) is less than 20 years old and our monthly combined fuel bill is about £100 before the FIT payments.

"I've never encountered the attitude you find on here in RL, this competitive lack of heating."

I agree. There is a sense of moral superiority coming across. It reminds me of Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

I grew up in a no-heating type of house and had ice on the inside of the windows every morning. I made a new friend when I was about 13 and stayed at her house one night...I can STILL remember the shocking luxury of the heating on all night...the warmth of the radiators and the comfort of her bedroom.

I hadn't realised before...but now...my heating is on ALL the time. I can't go back to that frosty, hard, uncomfortable place.

[MrsKoala]

Beksy - since we had DS we have had the heating on 24/7 to maintain the 16-20 in our bedroom. Otherwise it was far too cold for him, his little face and hands were almost blue one night i turned it off :(

[pollypandemonium]

You can look online at your gas usage and compare it to other similar properties in your area to see what other people use.

I think it's about what your values are - consider how much it costs to have the heating on all day - £2 maybe less? Then consider whether you can afford that and whether it's worth it in terms of keeping visitors comfortable.

[Beksybob]

That 16-20 for babies, is that even at night? So are you supposed to keep the heating on all night long?

[charlieandlola]

My fat keeps me warm, thankfully, so have the heating on from 6.30am to ..8am and then 5pm to 9pm. Thermostat is set to 17, but turn it to 15 once dc are in bed at 7.30pm

[piprabbit]

FSID recommend that the ideal temp for babies is 18 degrees (or the range 16 - 20 degrees). I feel that if that is warm enough for a newborn, then it is warm enough for me.

[Awomansworth]

Our is on 24/7, but thermostate set to 17.5, so boilers fires up on and off all day. House is very comfortable. We only have oil fired central heating (no gas supply) and it's so expensive, but our house feels too cold without any heating on.

[Viviennemary]

I grew up in a very warm house so I really feel the cold if other people turn the heating down. I think it's a bit rude not to turn heating up if your guests are cold.

[shesariver]

Me to Holly, hate feeling stuffy.

[shesariver]

Me and DH fight all the time, as he feels the cold more than I do and I would sleep with my bedroom window open all year round given half a chance. We have the thermostat at 20 which seems to be the minimum because if we turn it down the heating "clicks off" and wont work.

[HollyBerryBush]

They were talking about cold and heating on the radio this morning - 18-21 degrees is healthy, above or below that and it is an unhealthy temperature.

I cant work in those sort of degrees, my house is always 64.8, which google now tells me is 18 degrees! But Im a fresh air freak - windows are always wide open.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Nickname I'm glad you've put the heating on after seeing damp I would be furious if you were my tenant and didn't keep the place warm enough to keep damp at bay.

at fleeces.

I've never encountered the attitude you find on here in RL, this competitive lack of heating.

[cleangreens]

Pile of fleeces??? If you can afford it put the flippin heating on, very unwelcoming.

[Wallison]

I would be embarrassed at having to offer a fleece jacket to someone who was INSIDE MY HOUSE. Just put the heating on and don't be so tight.

[starfishmummy]

I would leave it as it is but just have a big pile of nice warm fleece jackets or similar for visitors to wear.

[IsaacCox]

I hate being the tiniest bit cold and I ashamedly hardly ever will just put a jumper/another layer on. I put the heating on (usually around 20-24c) when I come down in the morning, so about 7 am and it stays on until we go to bed at about 11 (I'm usually in all day). It's only ever off if we get too hot.

[rosieposey]

This is a thread close to my heart. We rented a lovely large cottage in October that we intended to buy. It had been on the market for 2 years and hadn't sold (probably through lack of parking space) and when it came up for rent we put our 5 bed new build detached on the market and moved in to our 'dream' cottage.

Fast forward 5 months and we have moved back into our new build - we were getting 400 pcm fuel bills and decided that it was just too much and that we couldn't afford to pay especially through a long winter. It cost us alot of money in rent and mortgage but i am glad that we tried before we bought because i have never been colder than we were in the last month in that house (we went without heating as i refused to pay any more £400 bills) I could not wait to get back to our (albeit characterless) but warm new build.

Its put me right off living in an old cottage, there is alot to be said for insulation and the cost of new builds in terms of heating (we pay 175 dual fuel here per month) I would have loved a cottage and we really were going to buy it but the running costs were just too much.

I had DC5 in November and hated how cold our bedroom was (the central heating was ineffective upstairs and the downstairs was open plan and massive) I just dont want to be cold and i really feel for those on this thread that cannot afford to put their heating on - we did that for one month and it put me off buying that place.

[expatinscotland]

"People I know who keep their houses hot have more colds and bugs than us - could there be a connection?"

Huge amount of research from Scandinavia which proves that is complete, outdated tosh.

If you're worried about climate change then campaign to get energy-wasting, damp old homes torn down and replaced with better-constructed, more-energy efficient homes.

[Wallison]

You charge people to stay at your house and then don't heat it properly? Blimey.

[LieInsAreRarerThanTigers]

Bunbaker, maybe some of the people who can afford it but choose not to are concerned about climate change? Or they could afford it if they went without something else which they would prefer?

I am trying to make my house as cheap to run and eco-friendly as possible - investing in solar panels (done) and solar heating (next on list) will cut my bills from around £250 a qtr (spread over the year) to about £50. But I need to save up!

[Bunbaker]

"and cant understand anyone who has the money but would rather sit huddled under a duvet than turn the heating on."

Neither can I

"People I know who keep their houses hot have more colds and bugs than us - could there be a connection?"

I keep seeing this on mn, but don't agree. I get one cold about every two years and like a warm house. OH hardly gets any colds, and DD gets far fewer colds than one of her friends who lives in a fridge very cold house. In fact her entire family are always getting colds.

[bluer]

Ours is about that age but there's no insulation in the walls! Its still pretty toasty even without!