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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to restrict how much we have the heating on

901 replies

reallyagain · 01/11/2021 22:26

After a winter working from home last year we were hit with a horrendous heating bill (several thousand on top of already paying quite a high amount per month). So this year with gas prices being so high I’m really conscious of being careful. DH wants it on much more than I do and it’s causing endless rows. He’s turned it on 4 separate times today and is sulking when I comment. We share heating bills - I suggested he pays more to have it on more but he refuses.

How much do you have the heating on if you work from home?

OP posts:
Peacocking · 04/11/2021 20:50

All that sounds miserable...its not really!😁 We keep ourselves and our pets toasty warm, but more by heating ourselves and where we sit than by heating the whole house. The house is kept warm enough to avoid that horrid cold damp. Even that's expensive though. If we turned our heating up to 25 degrees it would literally be like burning wads of cash in this old stone house.

Brennanlady1888 · 04/11/2021 21:05

Try wearing real wool socks if your feet warm you don't notice the cold as much. Also if working from home you can cover your knees with a blanket whilst sitting at the desk.

Stellaris22 · 04/11/2021 22:18

I really feel the difference when I’m not wearing my wool socks. My feet and toes get freezing, but once the wool socks are on they’re so toasty. Having correct clothes is key.

LoisLane66 · 05/11/2021 01:37

My gas bill for the past 47 days with EDF Standard Variable (passed from Utility Point administration) is 18.09 and electricity 30 days up to Monday was 12.47 in 2 bed flat.

ArcheryAnnie · 05/11/2021 01:51

@reallyagain

Wauden he won't layer up / he has tonnes of icebreaker etc thermals he could wear but won't
He's being a knob, then. It won't kill him to wear a pair of socks, or a vest. Ridiculous behaviour from a grown man.
Gamermum76 · 05/11/2021 02:39

Get Oodies. They are on sale now too. I often have to take my off as it's so toastie. I've got the whole family them. Not cheap, but it will balance out soon enough and make us a saving.

SleepyMombie · 05/11/2021 03:08

I can't be comfortable if it is less than 21 degrees so all year my thermostat is set to kick in whenever the temperature drops below that. I've been so poor and cold in the past - and my heart goes out to people still in that situation. Now I don't have to be cold I won't, because I hate it and like a PP said even with multiple layers of clothes I can't think or work, all I can think is "I'm so cold".

Offices temps are set based on studies based on men.

Again women were ignored.

Fuck being cold all the time ever again and sleeping in my coat if I can manage to afford not to do that.

etulosba · 05/11/2021 08:34

Again women were ignored

That’s probably a good thing… from an environmental point of view.

Energy consumption in buildings and female thermal demand

www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2741?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_deeplink_PID100062364&utm_content=deeplink

Delatron · 05/11/2021 08:35

I do really feel for people who can’t afford to have the heating on. Is it just this country where prices are so high? How on earth do other countries manage to keep their homes toasty at all times?

It would just be utter misery to be sat in my house with my coat on. It would like being outside. The air would still be cold even if the coat helped.

etulosba · 05/11/2021 08:47

I do really feel for people who can’t afford to have the heating on. Is it just this country where prices are so high? How on earth do other countries manage to keep their homes toasty at all times?

How do we know that they do?

timeisnotaline · 05/11/2021 10:23

Im a freezing person and I set the heat to 19 or 20 and wear jumpers, I have ugg boots and use a heat pack for naps.

Grenlei · 05/11/2021 10:31

I think it depends what you're used to.

I had a colleague some years ago who lived in a small, modern mid terrace, and always had. Her heating was constantly on at max, when she was at home even in winter she'd be wearing shorts and a vest. That to her was optimum temperature. She was a pain in the arse in the office because she was always complaining it wasn't warm enough (it was a pleasant 21-22, but not high enough for her).

Conversely, I know people who grew up in very large old detached houses where it was pointless putting the heating on, so the house was warmed by the Aga/Rayburn in the kitchen, and by real fires in the main receptions. They all wore wool socks, scarves and cardigans indoors and at night you sat as close to the fire as you could then took your hot water bottle to bed (and hoped you didn't have to get up for a wee in the night!). They never complained about the cold because to them it was normal.

I grew up in a house with no heating upstairs - we had radiators but only in the downstairs rooms (bit of costs saving by the council). Hence I don't mind a bit of cold which is why I've not yet put my heating on. I can afford to, I just don't think it's necessary (as said upthread, I live in the south, I know it is colder elsewhere!)

coogee · 05/11/2021 15:22

Conversely, I know people who grew up in very large old detached houses where it was pointless putting the heating on

This is my husband, only the only “heating” in the (not very large) house he grew up in was the coal fire in the sitting room. No other rooms had any form of heating. The one exception being bath night, when an Aladdin paraffin heater was lit in the bathroom.

He seems quite happy sitting in 14 degrees or lower.

Weenurse · 06/11/2021 07:07

We are paying that per month on a mortgage for a second property!
What would he prefer?

Oblomov21 · 06/11/2021 07:19

I refuse to live in a cold house. I just refuse. I don't want to put on another layer. I'd stop something else like wine or going out for a meal if Dh said anything, not that he would.

It all depends on your money situation, and how you choose to spend the money that you have.

Oblomov21 · 06/11/2021 07:24

How do people get it to be only £47 per month? Hmmm. Hmm

ArcheryAnnie · 06/11/2021 07:58

It would just be utter misery to be sat in my house with my coat on. It would like being outside

Delatron you don't sit indoors with your coat on - I agree, that would be uncomfortable. You have indoor warm clothes, which are comfy, you have a throw on the sofa, you have a rug on the floor, you wear socks indoors, you have a hot water bottle in bed. You can live cosily in winter without having the heating on full-blast. If you normally wear, eg, a tshirt and leggings when relaxing in the evening, just putting a vest on under the tshirt makes a remarkable difference.

MintJulia · 06/11/2021 08:30

I work at home so this week when it was really cold, I wore a vest top, a ski base layer and a sweater, thick tights, jeans and boots.

Toasty warm even though I was sitting still. Added some lippy and earrings to look professional on Zoom. Grin

Plenty of hot drinks too.

Abraxan · 06/11/2021 09:27

This debate really has nothing to do,with climate change and an energy crisis.

MN has had the same type of debate threads running ever since I joined, 19 years ago.

It's just that climate change sounds like a good thing to add into the list of arguments by those who like to keep their heating off.

Delatron · 06/11/2021 09:34

@ArcheryAnnie was replying to the poster who actually does keep her coat on indoors.

I do all those things you suggested. But I still have the heating on in the day. Strangely at night heating off windows open and not so much as pjs on! Definitely no hot water bottle.

I just want my house to be warm in the day. I don’t want to feel cold air. So if with a vest/t-shirt/jumper and thick socks on I’m still cold I’ll put the heating on. That’s my benchmark. I will not shiver under loads of blankets, put hats and gloves on etc.

TuftyMarmoset · 06/11/2021 10:29

@Oblomov21

How do people get it to be only £47 per month? Hmmm. Hmm
If you pay by direct debit then it’s meant to be averaged over the year. So we pay £47 a month and we’re currently £147 in credit which will be mostly used up over winter. We have a smart meter which tells me we are using less than £1 combined of energy a day at the moment.
Noavocado · 06/11/2021 10:42

We also used to pay only £47 a month. Now £59 for winter. Gas heating on 2hours daily roughly £1 day. Electric also £1 a day.

MintJulia · 06/11/2021 10:53

@abraxan It may have been a regular topic over the last twenty years, but now that gas boilers have an end date, it has a new significance.

Ground-source or air-source pumps may not generate enough to heat older houses to 20 degrees, so adapting to cooler living conditions with warmer clothes and changing lifestyles makes sense.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 06/11/2021 14:37

Ground-source or air-source pumps may not generate enough to heat older houses to 20 degrees, so adapting to cooler living conditions with warmer clothes and changing lifestyles makes sense.

I presume anyone with a gas boiler will be able to keep it until it packs up. No thought has been put into the fact that ground or air source pumps cost an absolute fortune and aren’t practical in many properties. I’ll be keeping my gas boiler for as long as possible!

DottyHarmer · 06/11/2021 18:00

I read an interesting article by a heating engineer saying that heat pumps can also power air conditioning, so people may well use more energy if they are tempted to cool their houses in the summer.

It also said that heat pumps are so noisy that unless you live some distance from your neighbours you will be driving them mad with the humming noise.