Aibu to find 17c too cold at home?

[Coffeeandteevee]

Apparently I'm crazy for finding 17c too cold.

I'm currently wearing a top, a hoodie and a big blanket/hoodie thing and I still have a cold nose.

Please tell me I'm not crazy and 17c is bloody cold to have it at home. What temp is your perfect temp at home in the evening?

22! I would leave home and never return!

No heaters on at night, that would be a total deal breaker for me!

@tomorrowalready

"The public health guidance is for a minimum indoor temperature of 18 degrees for healthy people suitably dressed but sedentary. It's at that level for a reason backed up by actual evidence: any less and you open yourself to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, flu and other respiratory diseases, and so on. Whilst it says lower indoor temperatures might be tolerable for healthy people who are active, it also suggests that anyone with COPD should spend at least nine hours a day at 21 degrees." This is quite depressing to read , Otherpeoplesteens, as it maybe contributed to my father's death as he had lived all his life in cold houses with just a coal fire in living room. All other rooms including the toilet and bathroom were like fridges and may as well have been outside. He had emphysema and 2 strokes when he died and that was in the coldest time of February 30 years ago. That's why I appreciate so much being warm now and having hot water for baths etc. and why I have a warm duvet and plenty of warm night clothes. All my memories of chidhood were of being bloody cold all the time. Great for those few hot weeks of summer to have a cool house but otherwise just miserable and, as you say, actually harmful to health.

Hi @tomorrowalready

I don't know the circumstances behind your father's life and - ultimately - death, but it is baffling that so many people in Britain are obsessed with living like Victorians in Victorian period properties. Life expectancy at birth in 1850 was 40 years for men and 42 for women; by the end of the Victorian period it had risen to the dizzying heights of 45 and 50 years respectively.

No-one in 2021 would seriously claim that this is desirable, but plenty think that the conditions which drove those statistics are worthy of perpetuating or returning to. It's nonsense.

As an aside, how many of the people on here who think sitting around in thermals, indoors, under a shared family blanket, warming your hands on a mug of tea to save on the heating is normal are the same people who leave the airconditioning running all day in your Spanish holiday villa, even when you go to the beach, because you 'can't cope with the heat?"

Otherspeoplesteens, thanks for replying to me about my father. He died in 1987 in a particulary cold spell but had lived his whole life like so many others in more or less permanent physical discomfort. As you mention I think our (as a country that is) attitude to warmth and comfort are still affected by Victorian attitudes and standards of cold being good for you and in addition to the modern puritanism of guilt at using the world's resources. I am over 60 now and it is only in the last few years I have realised how much I can do to make my life more comfortable - eg warmer bed covers ,dressing more warmly with hats and scarves outdoors, wearing more night clothes, socks in bed. Compared to many, I am an environmental saint but have had to consciously combat the residual guilt at not being miserably cold in my own home. There was another thread about someone's father regarding comfort seekers as soft or 'mardy' as I was regarded in my youth so I think it is still a strong undercurrent in British culture.

And this is why I'm happy to live in a hot country. We put the AC on at 24 for 10 minutes before bed just to take the edge off to fall asleep - it creeps up to I guess 28 in the night but still use a duvet. The thought of 17 makes me want to cry.

CheesusThesaviour, I was going to add a bit in response to Otherpeople'steens comments on living in Spain with A/C but thought I had gone on too much already. Based only on media reports, I 've never been there and have only been to warmer places (Italy, Israel, LA) in winter, I remember last summer reading about the soaring temperatures in Spain and other countries and thinking I would just die, (as many did I know). An outside temp of 17 - 20 is ideal to me. as i said i am a mardy soul - miserable in the cold and the heat equally, so 28 inside or out is far too high.

I keep mine on at 23 degrees (warm for winter and cool for summer). Perfect temp for me. Spring/Autumn I tend to get away without using heating/cooling too much (in AUS).

There's nothing I hate more than being too cold or too hot in my home!

Actually I've just thought of a query about home heating and maybe someone could give some information. It's just for curiousity's sake but I do watch home improvement programmes where they have a thing about 'opening up' spaces and making huge rooms, or raising ceilings to make high rooms. Do these open spaces not cost a fortune to heat and keep warm? Does anyone regret doing the work and then regret it for the practical reason of heating it?

It was done by a previous owner but I do slightly regret buying a house with an open plan downstairs @tomorrowalready. In our case it’s living room and dining room which got knocked together and then an archway through to the kitchen, so the whole downstairs is open other than the bathroom and hallway. It’s much warmer upstairs.

Mine is set to 19.
You should have a say in the temperature of your own home! Who is stopping you from turning it up?

My heating is set to cone on at 17

As an aside, how many of the people on here who think sitting around in thermals, indoors, under a shared family blanket, warming your hands on a mug of tea to save on the heating is normal are the same people who leave the airconditioning running all day in your Spanish holiday villa, even when you go to the beach, because you 'can't cope with the heat?"
Well we are certainly not in thermals, just me in jeans, t-shirt and jumper, one blanket on the sofa at 17 degrees, DS in joggers and t-shirt. I cope with the heat better than most, have lived in a hot country without aircon, and I'm perfectly comfortable at work in a heatwave when most people are complaining. I'm happy up to 35 degrees in summer, just can't handle houses heated beyond 20, that's different and makes me feel unwell.

I have a nest set to 18, the house is well insulated and seems to retain heat well. Over night it’s set to 13 but never drops below 16, if it’s - temperatures I will occasionally set to 19 but not very often

@Coffeeandteevee

Honestly it's like living in an icebox (currently not living in our own home so have no say over the temp). I dream of 22!

Do you live with your landlord? If not maybe buy some small heaters for the rooms you need them for. I hate being cold too, we lived in a cold flat & a heater made all the difference.

17C far too cold!!🥶

I feel comfortable when it's on at 23/24C.

@HarrisMcCoo that would absolutely suffocate me.

Some posters saying they were T shirts outside or sundresses when it is 17 degrees.

One day last week me and DH went to an outside attraction. It was 18 degrees and fairly sunny. DH had a T shirt with a thin top over and I had the same. Almost everyone else and there were hundreds of people there were wearing winter jackets. Most of them had the jackets totally done up and quite a few were also wearing thick scarves wrapped tightly round their necks. It would have to be freezing for me to wear a scart

I came home yesterday to find the heating had been off since the day before and the temperature had dropped to 14.7. My husband was pottering around the kitchen preparing dinner and seemed oblivious.

I think it depends on the individual, what they are used to and what they are doing. Most people prefer warmer temperatures when sitting still to when they are moving around. Our thermostat is normally set at 18 and it suits us.

[quote BigButtons]@HarrisMcCoo that would absolutely suffocate me.[/quote]
I know, DH gets annoyed with it being so warm. Having thyroid issues doesn't help, just always feel cold🥶

@ivykaty44

We were in a right mess at our old house, with debt on the gas, (or so we thought)
I would put whatever I could afford on the meter, and it would take most of my credit.

So, if I put £10 on, the meter would take maybe £7/8 for the debt, you get £5 emergency credit, but the £2 or £3 wouldn't be enough to cover it, so never had any credit on to be able to have heating, it was a thoroughly miserable existence.

For reasons that are too lengthy to go into here, the council moved us (DD2 and me) to a new house, when I say new, I mean new to us, these flats and houses were built in the 60's and 70's. Our street is a funny mixture of medieval and 20th century houses and roads. It's really lovely.

Actually the area I grew up in til I was 8, I remember these houses being built!

Anyway, I phoned Scottish Gas to change the address, and I found out that my old meter had been set all wrong, so I received a large refund, which was very nice.

We started here with a totally clean slate, It's a two bed maisonette flat with bedrooms downstairs, the rooms are large and we find around £10 per week is more than enough to stay comfortably in credit and keep the house warm.

We're also eligible for the Warm Home Discount which goes straight to the electric meter (£140) we don't need to top up the electric much at all over the winter, so we put more on the gas meter.

Sorry this is so long!

Just sending sympathy zukiecat as I know how stressful that situation of having money taken from your meter when you are on low income is. It also shows how it is the poorest who are paying the most and yet being blamed for the climate crisis when they have no alternatives to using expensive fuels. 20 years ago I was on a meter for gas and used to get tokens from a shop, then I changed suppliers and ended up being told I owed the previous company over £600. It was impossible as I used the meter but they tried to take the 'debt' from my payments like you. I went mad at that , can't remember how I persuaded them no to but I moved to this downstairs flat and set up Direct debits. But for years I would get phone calls saying I owed this morning and everytime I would go through how I could not owe them anything due to meter payments, the customer service person would then agree and promise to sort it only for the whole proces to repeat. I was told I had no proof of payment even though I could not have used the gas with out topping up the meter, well eventualy I found a couple of the payment receipts from 10 years before and relayed the numbers. A sympathetic operator did something they should not have done and checked my previous neighbour's payments, turned out. they'd used the gas but the payment debt had been assigned to my address. It shows how vulnerable you are when poor or on benefits as it is so easy to lose records/receipts and you are paying more on a meter anyway. I only realised I am eligible for the Warmhome payments 2 years ago so have paid hundreds extra out and you can't get it retrospectively. Oh and to those who might object to those on benefits getting 'extra' money, you never see the money, it is paid the next year direct to the supplier. I don't know if it is available to those on payment meters but if you are on any benefits it is worth checking.

Thankyou @tomorrowalready

I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, it's a horrible and miserable way to live and you have my sympathies for that.

It's stressful too, I used to have a couple of those halogen electric heaters, they don't really give out much heat, and expensive to run, you can't win! I would often just stay in bed when the DC were at school just to be warm, even though my bedroom itself was in a minus figure, the coldest room in the house.

Yes, to anyone in similar circumstances, please check with the DSS or the council, you might be entitled to extra help with heating costs. With the Warm Home Discount you can apply online with your energy supplier, you just need your energy account number. It goes straight to your meter, whether you pay by DD, pre-payment or whatever. It goes onto your electric meter, but if you're with the same supplier for gas and electric you can ask for it to be split between the two.

Definitely worth checking, it takes a lot of worry about energy bills away.

Yes really can't stress enough if anyone is on any benefit to checkWarmHomes scheme. I assumed I was ineligible as not on disabled or long term health benefits but if - stress if you read the details carefully it applies to many on unemployed benefits ( i think if your bills are one third of your income, not sure) . Also I think you (general you)need to apply before end of November. I too have a halogen heater for close up and personal heating, and halogen oven, induction hob and mocrowave as I only cook for one.

It depends what I'm doing....my thermostat must think I'm bananas.

If I'm cleaning, cooking, doing DIY, practicing my (semi active) hobby then I'm generally warmer anyway and I don't want the heating coming on.

If I'm sitting at my laptop or reading a book...my body temp is probably going to drop and I'll want it higher.

Trouble is when you have different people doing different activities feeling different levels of cold/warm I guess....

I like it between 19.5° and 21° at home.

It's currently 14.0°C, I am freezing.