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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect them to put the heating on for me?

275 replies

Loobyloo16 · 13/12/2018 08:04

I'm a self employed cleaner. Now its coming colder a few of my clients still don't put their heating on. One works from home but just sits in a room with the fire on, another says she doesn't feel the cold. I went to a client yesterday and it was freezing, my toes were going numb, I did tell her but she still didn't put it on.
Another has told me to put it on myself if I'm cold, which I do.

I know it's no big deal in the grand scheme of things but I hate been cold and it's miserable cleaning with numb toes. People always say 'i thought you'd get warm with cleaning" I do but not that warm!

OP posts:
ApolloandDaphne · 13/12/2018 08:53

I had cleaners when i was working and never ever left the heating on for them. It was always set on a timer for morning and evening. No-one ever complained. I assumed they would hate it being on as they get warm doing the cleaning.

EmmaStone · 13/12/2018 08:54

I wouldn't mind at all if my cleaner asked me (directly) to turn the heating on. She comes on a day I'm home, but generally popping in and out, and I don't normally put the heating on in the day. Hints and comments about how cold it is outside wouldn't make me make the connection that she's cold inside, so a direct "would you mind if we popped the heating on for an hour, my hands are freezing" would be absolutely fine.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 13/12/2018 08:55

Tell them (nicely) that you do need the heating on!

If they can afford a cleaner, they can afford heating - it's not a 'luxury' for anyone in a position to be able to pay for someone else to do their housework.

Juells · 13/12/2018 08:56

I had a cleaner, years ago, who had horror stories. She child-minded for a doctor who would switch off the heating as she left for the day, leaving Mrs A and the doctor's own children to freeze until she returned. When she herself was young and had a baby she asked if she could bring her baby with her when she cleaned (in a very wealthy household), and was allowed to bring the baby as long as baby and pram were left outside in a shed...

ScrantonTheElectricCity · 13/12/2018 08:56

These people are very well off btw
That is why they are well of - because they dont waste money warming a whole house for one person like I do

WilburforceRaven · 13/12/2018 08:59

YABU. Need to clean harder. Don't see how you can have numb toes when doing such strenuous work. Sprinkle cayenne pepper in your socks to keep your feet warm, wear Marigold's.

Wagonwheelsandjammydodgers · 13/12/2018 09:00

People who have a cleaner aren't always rich and people who appear to have a lot of money can't always afford to have the heating on...

Pachyderm1 · 13/12/2018 09:02

YANBU. Anyone who would begrudge their cleaner the ‘luxury’ of putting on the heating for a couple of hours is a dick.

dippledorus · 13/12/2018 09:09

I don’t have a cleaner.

I wouldn’t put the heating on in the whole house - I don’t in general anyway. But if a cleaner asked directly then that would be fine.

Santasushi · 13/12/2018 09:10

B and m do thermals.

PyongyangKipperbang · 13/12/2018 09:13

Wow. The Upstairs, Downstairs attitude is alive and well on MN.

"Just work harder". Really? And you'd accept that from your own employer would you? Hmm

Its basic common sense and courtesy to think about whoever will be in your home at any given time. A person who doesnt feel the cold so much will surely have cottoned on to the fact that other people may feel it more and need the heating on.

Shirleyphallus · 13/12/2018 09:15

Hate people who seem to think they are better than others because they never turn the heating on.

Absolutely this. See also: people who think they’re better than others because they get up earlier.

ILoveAllRainbows · 13/12/2018 09:16

These are the best thermals I have found (they are much better than the women's thermals). You can wear more than one layer (I am wearing 3 pairs today and my legs never get cold).

www.marksandspencer.com/wool-blend-thermal-long-pants/p/p60108894?image=SD_03_T14_7411W_Y0_X_EC_90&color=BLACK&prevPage=plp

Racecardriver · 13/12/2018 09:16

I don’t like hot houses so I wouldn’t put the heating on given that you are moving around anyway. It wouldn’t do you any good anyway (we have those old electric heaters that store heat during the night and slowly release it throughout the day). I appreciate that you are working but you will only be in each room for 20 mins maximum so you are asking them to heat the entire house for you. Unless the houses are freezing (which is obviously a different matter YABU. Buy some gloves to wear under your rubber gloves and some ugg type slippers to wear with thermal socks.

mogtheexcellent · 13/12/2018 09:17

My cleaner is due today. Our heating is not on. Its night storage and v expensive.

I'm going to light a fire later and she knows she can pop the little electric heaters on and move them around if she needs. She says she gets too hot working though.

ILoveAllRainbows · 13/12/2018 09:18

Oh, and you need to cut away one layer of the crotch part as it is two layers and becomes very uncomfortably hot.

elfies · 13/12/2018 09:20

These folks probably aren't as well off as you think. All fur coat and no knickers as my FIL used to say .
As others mentioned , thermals could be handy , or a little fishermans hand warmer (from most walking shops ) , they're very useful.

Rosesareredvoiletsareblue · 13/12/2018 09:23

Working in the cold like that would be my absolute nightmare! From the start of November I have my heating set high and on pretty much all day, I can't stand being cold at all! I would ask them if they could switch the heating on half an hour before you are due and offer to switch it off half an hour before you leave, you'll work much better if your warm enough. Doesn't have to be on high, just enough to take the chill off for a couple hours. Some people just don't like the extra expense and others probably just haven't even thought about it because they aren't home when you go in. The guy who has the fire on in that one room is just selfish - could you make a point of going in there a few times to 'warm yourself by the fire'? Or would that get you sacked?

recklessruby · 13/12/2018 09:26

I 've been an office cleaner and it was uncomfortably hot! No thought given to me running around with Henry Hoover and scrubbing toilets. I got boiling.
In the end I wore summer clothes with a big coat for the journey home.
People imo don't often think of the cleaners comfort.
You sound like you could have health problems getting cold so easily on fingers and toes.
But I m from Aberdeen and now live in South East England so I m out of my usual climate and suffer in the heat.

Orchiddingme · 13/12/2018 09:26

The fact is that whether they are rich enough or not is NOT the cleaner's concern! They are obliged to provide acceptable working conditions. I don't think unheated houses where one person sits with a heater on (so clearly they need heating!) is acceptable. Just as you have to provide cleaning materials, gloves and so on (unless it's part of the deal) you have to provide at least a base temperature from which to work.

I think it's disgusting to sit there with the heating off and not acknowledge that others coming to work for you might not have as great circulation/be in the cold for a few hours. Some people do get colder fingers/toes than others and if you are in Marigolds and your hands in water a lot from cleaning, I think there's a base temperature you need to provide.

Mind you, some people don't put the heating on when they have visitors either. If people are in fuel poverty they can't- but the people I know who keep their houses freezing aren't like this at all, they just pride themselves on dressing in blankets and not observing social conventions like making their homes welcoming!

PerkingFaintly · 13/12/2018 09:26

I have this problem at the moment.

I'm disabled and can't manage without a cleaner.

But I'm taking out of the heating budget to afford her, because it's the one budget I can keep cutting as long as the place doesn't go black with mould. So there's one room at 15 or 16 degrees and the rest of the place is around 12 or 13.

I have offered to put the heating on for her but fortunately she says the activity keeps her warm.

Of course disability makes me inactive, so I'm cold and in pain from the cold. But I don't tell her that. I don't want her to feel bad about being paid. So she's under the impression I just like it cold.

Jingledalltheway · 13/12/2018 09:28

I'm a cleaner. In my own house I have the heating on and I wear a dressing gown over my clothes when I'm home. I'm always cold. When I'm working I wear a t-shirt, even in hoses with no heating on. Cleaning makes you very warm. But then we're very thorough and don't stop.

proseccoaficcionado · 13/12/2018 09:28

I just think some people are inconsiderate. Someone said heating is a luxury. Well, so is having a cleaner!

PerkingFaintly · 13/12/2018 09:29

ILoveAllRainbows, those thermals look amazing! Thank you for the recommendation.

previousfostercarer · 13/12/2018 09:30

If someone can afford a cleaner they can damm well afford to put heating on for someone in their house. Makes no difference if that person is a friend, family or cleaner
It's just tightfistedness not to do so once you become aware that someone is cold in your home