Can we use public building to stay warm?

[Jobseeker19]

For example can we sit in the library or town hall for hours and use their central heating and charge our devices in their plugs?

I'm wondering if it will come to this if people cannot afford the new energy prices.

But people's circumstances differ @AwkwardPaws27 we chose to live no more than 4 miles from the office for environmental reasons as well as financial and practical ones (husband has epilepsy so can't drive; cheaper to
take taxis or use hire cars when needed than to run a car for me . We used to cycle or get an occasional bus or in a pinch (deep snow; punctures) walk. That's all fine, but it does mean now that WFH has doubled our electricity consumption, without the compensation of reduced commuting costs, or even saving much time.)

@Jobseeker19 But if you work, you are only talking about a few hours at the end of the day. I am sure most people can afford some heating, and come the spring, we won't need heating on much at all.

@Gilead

Regarding the above, some of us are disabled, moving about isn’t an option, extra clothes do not always make enough difference, that’s of course if you can dress yourself. Perhaps think things through beefier telling people not to complain!

This is an excellent point. Most healthy adults can cope with a chilly house in the daytime in exchange for being able to afford a few hours heat in the evenings. The risks are really increased for people who are more vulnerable; who have a disability, are elderly or frail, or the very young. They can't simply put on a jumper or do starjumps; they need heating. If you are disabled or frail, travelling to a library or heated public building may simply not be possible. You'll probably see more people living in one room of their homes - not due to mobility but due to only being able to heat one room.

And that's without having the heating on all day. We may have it on for an hour extra at some point in the day if it's particularly cold (draughty Victorian flat with high ceilings in Scotland) but yes we do put on extra layers, fill hot water bottles when making hot drinks, wrap blankets round as required. And we're not disabled/I'll/with asthma/young children etc (favourite Christmas present by far was a pair of cashmere fingerless gloves from turtle dove, made from recycled sweaters and a game changer for keeping my hands warm while I'm working). And we are fortunate in that it will be luxury items we cut back on to pay the bills, not having to choose between food or fuel.

@nonevernotever

But people's circumstances differ *@AwkwardPaws27* we chose to live no more than 4 miles from the office for environmental reasons as well as financial and practical ones (husband has epilepsy so can't drive; cheaper to take taxis or use hire cars when needed than to run a car for me . We used to cycle or get an occasional bus or in a pinch (deep snow; punctures) walk. That's all fine, but it does mean now that WFH has doubled our electricity consumption, without the compensation of reduced commuting costs, or even saving much time.)

I understand that, I was pointing out that circumstances are different for different people too We can't use the workplace as a place to keep warm without incurring a significant cost of commuting. House prices mean living near our workplaces is impossible & our jobs don't exist in our immediate local area.

Wetherspoons is always popular too - they have a sign up saying you must buy something every 2 hours now
Where is that?
I work for Spoons and I've not heard anything about that rule. It wouldn't suprise me though.

We have lots of old people who sit in ours drinking the refill coffee and people working on laptops. They can stay as long as they like.

@ipodtherforipoor

I think people do sadly. Wetherspoons with the free refill hot drinks is a popular option.

I have a restaurant and the heating will now be off so places are not gonna be that inviting anymore

I work from home. I turn the heating on for an hour when the kids come home from school, and we light the fire in the evenings. But while the kids are out, it's 12 degrees in our house and I work with a heavy lined cardigan with a furry hood on over my other clothes, thick socks, warm slippers and fingerless gloves, and I'll have hot soup or something for lunch. I can't be particularly active because I have to be at my desk. It's not particularly pleasant.

@RedskyThisNight

Do wonder how many of the people currently keen to wfh will want to return to the office and someone else's heating bills ...

Our commute is >£100 per week each, so it would very much depend.

@lololololollll I wouldn't buy a meal in a restaurant that had no heating.

[quote Monopolyiscrap]@lololololollll I wouldn't buy a meal in a restaurant that had no heating.[/quote]
Well it's not been on all day and I've done pretty well.

My local library is open 8 hours a week. That's not a typo. I literally haven't been in it since it reopened after covid because I can't get to it because I always work those hours, and a local prick politician had the gall to say in a recent local newspaper report that it's a sign people are "wanting different services". Fucking arsehole. I want to get to the library so don't try chalking up my non use to no interest.

It is worth keeping things in perspective. A 1KW electric fire will heat a room for 1 hour for about 21p if you have a credit meter or 25p if you pre-pay. You need to compare that with the cost of getting to and from the library (eg a £2 each way bus fare £4 total gives you 16 hours of heat on a pre-pay or 19 hours on a credit meter).
Phone chargers are rated at 5 watts - so 5 hours charging even on a pre-pay meter costs 0.7 pence (or put it another way, you can charge your phone for 5 hours a go 142 times - nearly 200 times on a credit meter!)

A&E is usually warm and be a good 4 hours till you get seen. Enough to warm up.

Libraries will generally welcome people coming in to use PCs or to read. We have free public access WiFi and don't mind people charging up phones/laptops. We do count book issues but PC use, enquires and visitor numbers are all counted too.
Libraries have been used for years as a safe warm space and will continue to be so used - thank goodness

Quite frankly, I think the library would really welcome the visitors! They really need to keep their numbers up otherwise libraries close. They find it difficult to argue against cuts when their bosses are saying 'but no one used libraries'.

Use them people! Have a look around. Take out books!

I work in a village library & a city centre library. We already have plenty of people that do this. Some homeless people come in & sleep in a corner, we leave them to it as long as their behaviour is acceptable. The vast majority tend to be very polite.

In both libraries, we run activities for all sections of society, often with free drink & biscuit. We just ask for whatever donation people can give, maybe 50p or £1. We always have colouring out for children, often toys too, as well as the books.

I would echo previous posters who say to take out books. Join up for free if you aren't already a member! Our libraries have just been given a 5-year guarantee of staying open (Essex, 70+ libraries of all sizes), but they are more likely to stay open beyond that if people use them.

And asking how you dry clothes. Mine go outside on the line unless it's raining, so when they are brought inside the dry faster, put on a clothes horse.

Well, aren't you lucky to have a garden and a line! Unfortunately in the flat I used to live in we had no outside space and one night storage heater which I suppose was the equivalent of no heating. Clothing used to take a week to dry and smell. Dh's asthma got worse over one winter so we had to move out.

Isn’t that what the library is for 😂

@EYProvider

You’d think the UK was the North Pole from some of the comments on here. It’s only really a bit chilly during most winters apart from one or two odd days. Can’t you just put an extra jumper on?

The UK also has differing weather in different parts. If you live in the South of England you may not realise how long and cold the winters are in the North of Scotland.

I remember years ago my dad saying how old people would go and sit on the benches in the local shopping centres for hours because it was warmer than their houses. He does the same now at Wetherspoons and I like to go to cafes and nurse a cup of tea for a while because it means I don't have to warm our house up. It's not a new thing and I don't see anything wrong with it, especially if it is a public building such as a library.

The thing with drying clothes outside is that it’s great when you have dry days but when you have weeks of wet weather it’s not quite so easy. I don’t have a drier so line dry as much as possible even in winter but at some points it just isn’t possible.

@IvanaTrumps

I do think there is a lot of drama over this.

My parents' home didn't have central heating till I was 16. We had an open fire in the living room and that was it. I had a convector heater in my bedroom as a 'treat' if it was very cold ( getting down to -10C.)

And for the first few years of my working life when I rented, 2 houses had no central heating.

You learn to put on layers of warm clothes.

And asking how you dry clothes. Mine go outside on the line unless it's raining, so when they are brought inside the dry faster, put on a clothes horse.

If you are old, ill or have a young baby, then you will need heating on at times. But for younger and fitter people, hot drinks, more clothes and a hot water bottle, if sitting at home make a big difference.

I have a house where the fireplaces have been bricked up. I can't afford to put new ones back in so I rely on the central heating. We don't put it on much, and I've placed thermal curtains over all the doors and windows. I always have at least three layers on, but that doesn't stop me from getting chilblains on the cold floors over the winter or my fingers going numb. There's not much more I can do to keep my body warm. I really don't think we should need to be going back in time. My Nan would have been so upset that we were going backward. That's the whole point of all the work her generation put in.

My point is that many houses don't have the option of an open fire anymore. You're lucky if you have one. Thanks (genuinely) for the drying clothes tip though.

And to add - the city centre library is open 7 days a week, including one day till 7pm. The village library is open 6 days per week - 3 whole days & 3 half days - some of which are volunteer hours.

@RancidOldHag

Charging devices is a bit iffy.

But spending time in libraries, or spinning out a single cup of coffee somewhere, or hanging around in shops and shopping centres, or going to stuff in community centres or church halls is all very common. There are usually warm places to sit in hospitals too

It's what happened when energy prices shot up in the 1970s - though beck then there was also the option of riding the Circle Line all day.

In Sydney in a heatwave we'd wander around the shopping centre without buying anything or go to the cinema for the freezing aircon.