To never ever put the heating on?

[Awayawaywe]

In the last 2 years we have had the heating on a maximum of 10 days. We use hot water bottles at night and blankets and copius amounts of tea to keep warm. This means our electricity bill is the same in the summer as it is in winter (although we do bathe more in winter as in summer we mostly just have a wash)
We have 3dc all five and under and now when I visit other peoples houses I am sweltering! I end up in a vest sweating my head off!
Are we the only ones?!!!!

Ps this is saving us about £30 a month in the winter months.

I rarely have it on but it's just me at home. It drops to around 14/15c and I'm ok at that
If I'm cold of course I'll put it on
Gas and electric costs me around £40pm

We hardly have heating on. We are out of the house 8 to 6 or less, are very active people so don't suffer cold as much and prefer the heat of a hot water bottle. Hate heating whilst sleeping.

Nobody had central heating 40 years ago

Nonsense. By 1980 central heating was effectively the norm. I can remember having it in the 60s.

We would have damp and mould all over the place if we didn't. Not to mention that we would be freezing.

Unless you genuinely cant afford to live any differently this just sounds miserable.

I’d rather just pay the £30 extra a month and be comfortable and warm but that’s because we can afford it.

But I'd say from around April to October, we don't usually have it on as it's warm enough not to need it. We don't have it on overnight. Usually an hour in the morning and a few hours in the evening.

I’m with you op. Very rarely bother with the heating. Always have log burner on the go in the evenings tho

Have you heard about the damage log burners do to the environment and the cancer risk of the particulates in wood smoke? What will you do if or when restrictions come into force?

OP, are you the mum who manages to grocery shop for her family of 4 for under £20 a week by hunting down tellow stickers in the evenings and Cathedral City cheese blocks for 90p at service stations, by any chance?

TBH, you sound like a bit like you enjoy denying yourself basic standards of warmth and hygiene. If that's your bag, crack on.

True, but there are young children. I could understand it if it was a single adult.

That sounds worse than the way my DH was living as a child. At least they had an open fire to warm the house up.
He still had ice in the INSIDE of the window in winter.

I am doubtful that this doesn’t happen to the OP. She has a semi detached house though so will benefit from the house next door HEATING their own house at her profit

Greta I know you're all about climate change sweetheart but we live in fecking SWEDEN and it's fecking JANUARY so leave the fecking thermostat alone"

I don't think it would occur to even the most passionate eco-warriors in Sweden to live without heating. As a pp said, in North and Eastern Europe , the heating goes ON in the autumn and off in spring.

The restrictions only apply to wet (unseasoned) wood, which we never burn anyway.
Also the alternative (central heating) uses gas which is produced in hideous coal fired power stations.

Nobody had central heating 40 years ago

That’s WRONG.
Even my PIL, who had very little, had central heating. The open fire and the Rayband heated the water for the radiators.
Of course no fire going meant being cold so it was bitterly cold in the am. But it was never an all day long situation.

That was to @JudyCoolibar

Judi people who could afford to have central heating installed had it. And a lot couldn't, hell for years our only source of hot water at home was our electric shower and it stayed that way until a relative died and my mum could finally afford to get a boiler put in.

She wasn't lazy or feckless and it wasn't by choice, she worked hard to raise 4 DC on her own and pay her mortgage which was her only asset and protection in old age. . But thousands to pay for luxuries such as central heating just weren't there. Now there are grants to help, but back then there wasn't.........or if there were she certainly wasn't aware of them

She never got it installed in that house and only had it when she moved in 2008 to a home that had it fitted (( I'm 38 )) I knew plenty of people growing up who didn't have central heating and some who still don't. Money brings the luxury of choice and not everyone has that.

We have an app that tells us temperature of the house. When we were away over Christmas it said our house was 7 degrees! Even though we weren't there we put the heating on because it's not good for the house to get cold and damp. When I go to my doctor's surgery there are posters on the wall saying "Don't let your house drop below 18 degrees" because it increases the risks if getting colds and illnesses. If old people are in the house you're supposed to keep it at 21 degrees.

If you can't afford it then there's no point in asking if YABU because obviously you aren't! If you can afford it then I would say YABU because it sounds miserable being cold all the time and having to drink tea for warmth rather than just fancying a cup! One of the benefits for me of being fortunate enough to be in a good financial position is that we have a warm, comfortable home and don't have to worry about piling blankets on top of us as night or shivering in our living room, especially with a young DD. I don't like overheating either, but there's a middle ground between overheating and just being plain cold most of the time!

Op, why do you say you wouldn’t tell your mother how you’re all living?

As to your questions, no you’re not the only ones sadly. It’s why pensioners get a heating allowance in winter. There are many people who live in poverty and can’t afford to heat their homes.

What’s not clear here is if you are in poverty and that’s why you do it, or for some weird reason you chose to live like this. I doubt it’s the latter.

If indeed it’s the former, as earlier questioned are you sure you’re claiming everything you can? Not being able to afford to heat at least one room in your home, boil your kettle or have showers in the summer is a desperate situation to be in, particularly with three small children.

It would be helpful if you could explain why you’re all living like this, as people may be able to help.

It also sounds like a bit of an affectation, if I'm honest (which is a nice luxury to have), especially with the showboating of rolling up your trousers and taking your socks off and stuff in a normally heated home. Sounds like performance freezing to me

How do you dry your washing..?

Performance freezing

performance freezing

You're being ridiculous and you're not doing right by those kids

For those of you who say she doesnt wash in the Summer, this is actually what she says....

"although we do bathe more in winter as in summer we mostly just have a wash)"

So, they do wash, just dont sit in the bath....that's how I read it.

The op seems to have disappeared...but I also presume she does have another heat source, such as a fire as most houses have these...I have presumed she just means she doesnt turn the central heating on, which is entirely different to having no heat at all.