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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To never ever put the heating on?

625 replies

Awayawaywe · 02/03/2020 09:30

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.

OP posts:
AgentPrentiss · 02/03/2020 12:20

Another who doesn’t understand how you dry your washing. The cost of running a tumble dryer is way more for me than having the heating on. I deliberately don’t even own one anymore because the electricity bills were astronomical. It must take days and be damp and musty. 🤢

You must feel the cold if you need “copious amounts of tea” and hot water bottles. So I vote for miserable tight ass.

And eww at not showering in summer.

TabbyMumz · 02/03/2020 12:22

"Of course she could be putting them in front of all the fires she’s having..."
Not all fires are open fires that heat the whole house. We have a small gas fire that heats the sitting room. When that is in, we dont have the heating on. When we had no central heating, we had an even smaller gas bar fire...that also only heated the sitting room. We had an emerson(water boiler) in the bedroom that was always covered in sheets so didnt really heat the one bedroom it was in, but once in bed you soon warmed up with blankets. It was the norm to have loads of thick blankets on the bed, not like today people just have a duvet or a throw.. and we had an electric wall heater in the bathroom. There was only really a few very cold weeks in the year when you felt really cold. It is doable. Again, just to bd clear, I am presuming she has a fire in her lounge, as most houses do.

TabbyMumz · 02/03/2020 12:24

"And eww at not showering in summer."
She doesnt sah she doesnt wash in Summer. She washes, just doesnt bathe. Which I presume means she doesnt get in the bath.

KatharinaRosalie · 02/03/2020 12:24

In years gone by, you all sat in the one room with the fire going, because it was cosy. None of this all sodding off to your own toasty rooms and hardly seeing anyone

My ancestors used to share their living quarters with cows and sheep in winter time, but I personally still prefer underfloor heating..

DesLynamsMoustache · 02/03/2020 12:25

Again, just to bd clear, I am presuming she has a fire in her lounge, as most houses dO

They do? Most of my friends and family don't have fires! My mum does as she lives in a rambling old house, but most people I know just have central heating! I remember in the 80s everyone had those awful gas fires with the glowing coals though! My gran had several, but they all got taken out a few years ago!

JustInCaseCakeHappens · 02/03/2020 12:26

you might as well only use your fridge in the summer months, you'd save money by making the most of the cooler winter temperatures

Bluntness100 · 02/03/2020 12:26

I don’t think anyone is saying it’s not doable.

What people are saying is it’s a miserable way to have to live, and assuming she’s doing it due to poverty.

No one chooses to live in a cold house. The fact it’s doable is not relevant.

The fact people did it decades ago is also not relevant. The world moved on, we don’t shit outside, salt our food to preserve it, do our laundry by hand in the river, or fetch water from a well either if we don’t have to. All doable, but not the point.

TabbyMumz · 02/03/2020 12:27

"Go back 100 years and lots of people didn't have indoor toilets, or electricity, or running water, or washing machines. The fact that people managed to live a certain way 40 years ago isn't an argument for doing so today."
It doesnt mean they cant if they want to though. Life is all about choices and everyone is different. Some people keep their heating on low all year...some people only have it on the colder months. Just because it exists doesnt mean you have to do the ultimate and have it on all the time.

Thisismytimetoshine · 02/03/2020 12:27

I think op would have mentioned by now if they were sitting in front of a blazing log fire every evening Confused. It’s probably safe to assume not.

florascotia2 · 02/03/2020 12:28

For those who don't know what a storage heater is: www.which.co.uk/reviews/home-heating-systems/article/home-heating-systems/storage-heaters

They can be expensive to run. Often, buildings where they are installed do not have a fireplace. I really hope that the OP is not using them is because she has no money. As previous poster has said, can Mumsnetters help with info about grants etc?

PickAChew · 02/03/2020 12:28

Our house would be mouldy and I'd be in agony and unable to use my hands. We moved in during a cold winter spell and the heating controller didn't work properly and it was miserable.

VirtualHamster · 02/03/2020 12:28

Again, just to bd clear, I am presuming she has a fire in her lounge, as most houses do.

I've never lived in a house with a working fire, I'm not sure I know anyone who has a fire either. Plenty of fireplaces, but purely decorative.

DesLynamsMoustache · 02/03/2020 12:29

OP has mysteriously vanished too. Perhaps unable to type due to frostbite

thenightsky · 02/03/2020 12:31

OP has mysteriously vanished too

Probably gone out to Costa or somewhere to warm up.

Thisismytimetoshine · 02/03/2020 12:31

Op said hers can’t be turned off, florascotia. I wonder why that is, it sounds quite confusing?
Op, are you actually saying you don’t turn your radiators on because your house is already being heated by another system you don’t actually control yourself?!
Honestly!! What a load of hooey.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 02/03/2020 12:33

Where do you live? Spain? My friend never puts the heating on and I hate going round to her house in the winter. I wear ski salopettes and two coats and I have to have a hot shower when I get home to warm up. Also her house has loads of problems with damp and all her house plants die because it's too cold.

Flaxmeadow · 02/03/2020 12:33

Your house might get damp, if you never heat it

Not true
Damp/condensation is caused by warm air (inside) hitting cold air (outside) on walls and windows. Especially if a house is not ventilated. A house that is less heated will get less damp.

I grew up in a house without central heating and it was ok.

Exactly. Same here. We hardly had any heating but had no damp

We don't like having the heating on much and also have windows open upstairs all day and night or slightly open. Also open windows during the day if at home. Cant stand overheated houses. Central heating also dries your skin out terribly and after a while feels strange and unnatural to me but each to their own

But having said all that I would definitely put heating on if having any visitors (not overnight though, ever).

Especially WOULD put the heating on for any children or elderly in the house

TabbyMumz · 02/03/2020 12:33

"They do? Most of my friends and family don't have fires! My mum does as she lives in a rambling old house, but most people I know just have central heating! "

I think its unusual not to have a fire, as if you drive around estates, most have chimneys. I only know of one small housing complex (quite modern) by us, that doesnt.

"I remember in the 80s everyone had those awful gas fires with the glowing coals though! My gran had several, but they all got taken out a few years ago!"
The ones with glowing coals and glass in front were electric. ours has fake coals but a gas fire runs through it. Most of the gas fires in fire showrooms are like this.

ineedaholidaynow · 02/03/2020 12:34

I wish we had the answer to how they dry their laundry?

Thisismytimetoshine · 02/03/2020 12:35

A house that is less heated will get less damp. Sorry, this is absolutely not true.

Branleuse · 02/03/2020 12:38

Youre likely benefiting from your neighbours heating, but I think its kind of odd. Even in the olden days people would have had a fire.
Last time I went away in february and turned heating off, my house was 7 degrees when I got back and took 2 days to warm up again.
Of course you get used to cold to some extent, but sounds bloody miserable to me

Crazycrazylady · 02/03/2020 12:38

Sounds like a miserable enough existence to me to be honest..
I have visions of you all huddled around a mug of tea.
Life's too short to be cold if you don't have to be.

Morgan12 · 02/03/2020 12:38

Do whatever you want. No need to come tell us.

Personally I think you're a cheap skate and I feel sorry for your kids.

CoolcoolcoolcoolcoolNoDoubt · 02/03/2020 12:39

A house that is less heated will get less damp.

Someone isn't an avid viewer of Escape to the Chateau I see Grin

Rosebel · 02/03/2020 12:41

I couldn't be without the heating on. I can still remember the joy I felt in 1992 when my parents got central heating installed.
I hate being cold and unfortunately our house is freezing. 2 hours in the morning plus whenever people have showers keeps it warmer but still not as warm as I'd like.
Not showering in the summer is disgusting but if you want your children to be teased because they smell carry on.
I actually think this is a wind up though especially as OP has disappeared.