Why would you not want a heated blanket?

[Swanfairydust]

I live with another person and they have been working from home all day. The heating has been turned up to 23/25 degrees (I can see from the app). I didn’t think it was partially cold today - between 8-10 degrees but I have been told my spare room can get cold.

The thermometer is usually kept in her room but it was in the living room for a few weeks (she was away, didn’t want it kept in her room).

As the radiators were turned down low the temperature didn’t increase in the living room and as a result her bedroom radiator has been on full power all day (there is no tmv).

I have told her to put the thermostat back in her room (third time of asking, so this time it was

outside her room and told h

@Yummypumpkin There's clearly a connection between electric blankets, food poisoning, and hamster mortality.

Oil filled radiators are electric!

@me4real it is surely the only plausible reason why someone would refuse an electric blanket.

Most of the day I wear proper wool socks and slippers and tea shirt with woolly jumper we dont put heating on until the evening . You have to wear appropriate clothes for the weather conditions . You dont need to have the central heating all day !

If I were her id find somewhere else to live. She's an adult. If she's willing to pay for it, she should be able to have the temperature however high she wants it. That room is her home. She shouldnt have to justify it.
If she's not willing to pay, then that's a different story.
Some people really feel the cold (me!!!) And I have the heating cranked up to ridiculous temperatures. But if I pay for it, why not.
That's just my point of view. I don't think u understand how she feels. Let her do her thing, but explain the price and negotiate.

OP, you set your price to lodge based on some assumptions about bills being the level they've normally been for you. Lodgers don't have to pay a split of the bills as such, it's just a single weekly/monthly payment they agree with you to cover everything.

Although you don't sound brilliant to live with, neither does your lodger, and I have a bit of sympathy for both of you, having lived in lots of houses on both sides of the lodger/landlord equation! I would suggest:

1. You insist she's fully clothed before the heating goes on/up - long trousers, socks, slippers, long shirt, jumper and an extra layer of cardigan/wrap or something over the top. Anyone is going to pay more than they need for their heating if they're not actually dressed for winter. And since you're paying the bill, not her, this needs to be the basic starting point.

1. If you've given her access to switch on/increase the heating to warm her room up, no, it's not unreasonable at all that you ask that the TVRs are all switched off in the other rooms, and that the thermostat goes into her room - the boiler will just be heating the rest of the house otherwise, not the space she actually wants warm. Only applies when she's home and you're not, obviously. You might need to explain a bit of physics/central heating pipe layout to her for this to register, it's amazing the number of people who don't really understand how central heating works.

1. If you have an old bill, you can look at the units readings, the multiplication factor to kWH and the price you pay per kWH to figure out your daily cost just from the meter reading. No actual bill from the utility company needed. If you're not that hot at maths, just ask someone you know who's reasonably numerate. You can figure out a single number that you multiply the units used in a day to convert it direct to £. (Ignores the standing charge, but that's not what your beef is about anyway).

1. Have a grown up conversation with her about the cost per day. Lodgers have rarely lived in a house they have to pay all the bills, so understanding the price difference between having the whole house at 21 all day, and just her room at 21 all day, will help the penny to drop on why it is HER responsibility to turn off all the other TVRs first if she's WFH all day.

1. You could also do an experiment just having the fan heater in her room for a day and taking electric meter readings on that - it might end up cheaper depending on losses in your central heating pipes. We have a big house, and when I WFH, I tend to just have a thermostatic electric heater in smallest room and work there, as it's less to run than heating everything (and I can't be doing with switching off/on 10 other TVRs every day).

1. Having done 3 & 4, and possibly 5...if you haven't fallen out and found yourself lodgerless, agree a winter rent uplift per day she's WFH or week if she wants it warmer generally. In theory, we should all be figuring out how to not need the heating on as much so we don't fry the planet.

1. Having read some of the comments on this thread, I just need to resign myself to the fact that not enough people are prepared to give up fossil fuels, and our planet will expire in a ball of flood, storm and drought as it becomes predictably uninhabitable 60 years from now. Well done for trying though ;)

@MeandT

OP, you set your price to lodge based on some assumptions about bills being the level they've normally been for you. Lodgers don't have to pay a split of the bills as such, it's just a single weekly/monthly payment they agree with you to cover everything.

Although you don't sound brilliant to live with, neither does your lodger, and I have a bit of sympathy for both of you, having lived in lots of houses on both sides of the lodger/landlord equation! I would suggest:

1. You insist she's fully clothed before the heating goes on/up - long trousers, socks, slippers, long shirt, jumper and an extra layer of cardigan/wrap or something over the top. Anyone is going to pay more than they need for their heating if they're not actually dressed for winter. And since you're paying the bill, not her, this needs to be the basic starting point.

1. If you've given her access to switch on/increase the heating to warm her room up, no, it's not unreasonable at all that you ask that the TVRs are all switched off in the other rooms, and that the thermostat goes into her room - the boiler will just be heating the rest of the house otherwise, not the space she actually wants warm. Only applies when she's home and you're not, obviously. You might need to explain a bit of physics/central heating pipe layout to her for this to register, it's amazing the number of people who don't really understand how central heating works.

1. If you have an old bill, you can look at the units readings, the multiplication factor to kWH and the price you pay per kWH to figure out your daily cost just from the meter reading. No actual bill from the utility company needed. If you're not that hot at maths, just ask someone you know who's reasonably numerate. You can figure out a single number that you multiply the units used in a day to convert it direct to £. (Ignores the standing charge, but that's not what your beef is about anyway).

1. Have a grown up conversation with her about the cost per day. Lodgers have rarely lived in a house they have to pay all the bills, so understanding the price difference between having the whole house at 21 all day, and just her room at 21 all day, will help the penny to drop on why it is HER responsibility to turn off all the other TVRs first if she's WFH all day.

1. You could also do an experiment just having the fan heater in her room for a day and taking electric meter readings on that - it might end up cheaper depending on losses in your central heating pipes. We have a big house, and when I WFH, I tend to just have a thermostatic electric heater in smallest room and work there, as it's less to run than heating everything (and I can't be doing with switching off/on 10 other TVRs every day).

1. Having done 3 & 4, and possibly 5...if you haven't fallen out and found yourself lodgerless, agree a winter rent uplift per day she's WFH or week if she wants it warmer generally. In theory, we should all be figuring out how to not need the heating on as much so we don't fry the planet.

1. Having read some of the comments on this thread, I just need to resign myself to the fact that not enough people are prepared to give up fossil fuels, and our planet will expire in a ball of flood, storm and drought as it becomes predictably uninhabitable 60 years from now. Well done for trying though ;)

Thank you 100 percent

Live somewhere you can actually afford to live in. Or go for fewer facials so you don't need a lodger.

It's so fucking depressing to see the number of people on this thread who don't give a thought about the impact their choices have on the planet.

It's winter. It's cold. People lived for centuries without any central heating, let alone having it cranked in every room all winter.

A lot of sensible advice here.

But why should the landlady tell the lodger how to dress...I mean I presume the lodger is an adult? The landlady isn't her mummy telling her what to do.

The issue is the cost of the heating.
Deal with the issues in monetary terms.

@Gillimac37 it's not just the financial cost of the heating, the environmental cost should be factored as well.

It's wasteful and it would drive me nuts, whether I was reimbursed or not

I feel the lodger is a nanny, au pair or student as they are being treated like a child / young adult by a landlady who obviously sees herself as far superior in every way.

Two grown adults of equal social standing with mutual respect would sit down and have a conversation about this.

The fact this conversation is taking place on mumsnet behind the back of the lodger suggests the above doesn’t apply in this situation.

Agree entirely with you op. I work from home and put an extra layer on, have a spot oil heater by my desk or if elsewhere, sit with a hot water bottle.
We have the heating come on to 18 degrees max in the morning for the children getting up and ready for school and then again at 4pm for an hour ish when they come home from school. We light the fire at this time with all interior doors open to warm everywhere.
Your lodger does need to pay more for bills - perhaps this will shock her into realising how sodding wasteful she is with no regard for the environment.
She sounds like a little wallflower who must be constantly sickly.

Two grown adults of equal social standing with mutual respect would sit down and have a conversation about this.

I always find comments like this amusing. Most humans don't work like that else we'd have world peace in a click of a finger (or two)

I think you're making assumptions when it could just be the lodger is a cheeky fucker. The OP said the lodger had problems at her last digs so I think you're way off.

Our house feels really cold during the day - it needs to be on 23°c to feel warm, which we have it set to in the evening, but much lower feels really cold! A previous house felt warm when set at 18° and 20° felt boiling! I find it hard to work when everything I touch feels cold and my hands and face feel cold. My classroom is like that after school as the storage heater puffs out all the heat in the morning. This feed for me is coming up with loads of ads for an oodie. I want one of those! It would solve the problem for me! 😁

So you went into her room to check whether or not she had a blanket!!!! Wow! Invading her privacy or what!!!!

My dh would never ever use a heated blanket & he is the person who turns the heating on in September. I used to go around the house turning everything down before we had children. I think living together is like a marriage if you can't stand the way she is with the heating you should probably get a 'divorce'!

I honestly don't understand why you have even posted because you are just agreeing with everyone that doesn't agree with you.

Yes it's your house and yes if no formal tenancy agreement then technically she has no legal rights. However! You've chosen to have a lodger and all you seem to be doing is complaining about them. If you aren't happy with the current arrangement then ask her to leave. If you want her to stay, accept the extra money she has offered.

**arguing not agreeing

@Whenigrowupiwanttobea

So you went into her room to check whether or not she had a blanket!!!! Wow! Invading her privacy or what!!!!

Can you not read?

@Whenigrowupiwanttobea

So you went into her room to check whether or not she had a blanket!!!! Wow! Invading her privacy or what!!!!

No, she went in to check how hot the room was. She just had a good look around just to check for a blanket while she was in anyway.

While the lodger isn't ideal, honestly I would rather live with someone that turns up the heating and leaves their clothes on the floor than the op. I agree, massive invasion of privacy. And not the easiest of people to have a discussion with.

This is why people shouldn't have lodgers.

Again, my house, my rules.

I presume she is paying though?

And no, that’s not controlling. That’s making good money sense.

Good money sense would mean you didn't need a lodger as it's clearly not very compatible!

I don’t have to make compromises, because it’s my home….

😆