If it comes to it would you choose heating or eating?

[Tuliprain]

We were having this discussion the other night. I would choose eating and husband would choose heating - so we are already stuck. Im thinking we could warm up with blankets and hot water bottles etc but nothing you can do about hunger. He says the house will go mouldy and he’s rather be hungry than cold. Such a depressing subject to be considering.

Defintely eating without any proper heating, I was born in 1942, and we just had one small open fireplace, a coal burning one, but sometime we were short of coal in the war, The fireplace had a small oven attached to it, so food could be cooked in it, mainly stews of some sort, and could bake bread in it.

There was no heat at all in all the three bedrooms,, the windows got all iced up on the windows in a bad winter, especially one of the worst winters in 1947, when the whole of the country got frozen solid for weeks on end.

I started school in 1947, aged 5, and had to walk about a half mile to school, in not many suitable items of clothing, no padded coats then, fortunately, my late Mum, was a great knitter, and she knitted lots of jumpers and cardigans for the whole family, and some neighbours kids too,, She knitted lots of mittens and scarves too.

Any unwanted or a bit worn knitted items, she would collect from neighbours, and unwind the wool, and make another jumper or whatever, out of the old one.. Everyone would pile old blankets, and even old coats on the bed when it was icy cold in the bedrooms..

But whatever little food we could get, was the most important thing to have. My grandparents lived with me and Mum, plus one of her brothers., my Father was not yet home from being in the RAF abroad.
My beloved Grandad, grew lots of veg, and soft fruit in the garden,, so this was a lifesaver for us all getting something to eat., so eat and be cold, was the order of the days then.

@Rosieposie101

I live abroad in a country that reaches the same temperature as England in winter but has much hotter summers. Housea don't have central heating. People wear many clothes at home - the same as outside. People still spend a lot of time outside in winter but just dress in many layers and keep these layers on at home. I was so surprised and slightly horrified when I first moved here, but now I don't mind at all. I use a heated blanket, and if anything I'm too hot at night! Getting up in the morning is horrible, so I shower the night before, and keep my clothes beside the bed to get dressed quickly! I'm currently wearing thick, fluffy, ugly but remarkably cosy pyjamas and slippers and sitting on the sofa perfectly warm. I don't think people SHOULD have to live like this, but living here has taught me that it's perfectly possible to healthily live without heating.

Not everyone is healthy and some people need a warm environment due to illness or disability.

Heating. I can’t abide the cold. I’ll do intermittent fasting and only eat every other day. It’s actually quite good for you. I’ll stop and turn the heating off if my BMI goes below 18.

@FourTeaFallOut

I don't think people SHOULD have to live like this, but living here has taught me that it's perfectly possible to healthily live without heating

What is simply uncomfortable for a healthy adult comes with adverse health outcomes for those who are vulnerable. Could we stop peddling this myth that it's just fine for people to freeze in their homes, by just about every metric it's false.

Well there are other ways to keep warm. Heated blankets, hot water bottles, electric heaters exist for those who need them. It's not 'have the heating on or freeze' is it

@5128gap

I'm assuming that you and your DH have never found yourselves completely penniless, perhaps due to an insolvent employer not paying wages due to you, or a delay in your benefits being paid, of having to flee your home with only what you stand up in, or having your only money stolen from you, and then found yourself with empty cupboards and a prepayment meter that's run out.

Don't ASSume anything You know fuck all about me or my life.

@TheresSomebodyAtTheDoorNeil

In all honesty im not getting the constant dramatics, it's something we rarely use.

Ive always layered up and used blankets on the sofa, this year Ive upgraded to a heated throw. It wouldnt even occur to me to use the heating when it was just me in the house. Or at night for that matter.

I get people with disabilities will struggle as will the elderly. I actually think those groups of people should have the maximum support directed towards them..... But the majority could do with cutting with the dramatics. 😬

This.

@bitemyarsenic

No doubt will be flamed but seriously do people think that central heating has always existed?

Ridiculous notion.

You eat or you starve!? Put a jumper and socks on, exclude drafts etc. Stop washing towels after every use.

And this ^

This exactly. There's some ridiculous posts on here. Empty vessels and all that.

As I (and a few others have said,) there is no need to have to choose between eating and heating. Most sensible, logical people will just cut down on both to enable them to spread the cost between the two.

And as has been said, how on EARTH do he drama llamas on here think people coped before central heating? Fuxake.

I would cut spending on both, but wouldn't cut either out.

*THE drama llamas!

What worries me is what happens to families for whom this is already a stark choice? Food prices are on the rise too. What happens when you can’t afford even to make a choice between food or heating because you can’t afford either?

For most people it won't come to that. We'll just have to cut back in certain areas. It's doable. Or rather we'll all have to, won't we?

This must be such a worry for the very elderly or those with chronic illnesses though, the very people least likely to weather price increases. My late next door neighbour was 96 and her house was absolutely sweltering as the poor thing would have been too cold at a temperature any lower. I wonder if they're going to increase the fuel allowance then?

Buy some good thermals and base layers and turn off the heating.
You can always fill a hot water bottle with your veg or pasta cooking water to snuggle into, why pour hot water down the sink.
I think people could save a lot with some creative thinking and common sense. My grandparents lived without central heating and eating cheap wholesome food, maybe it's back to basics for a while to take stock of things. The world has become very materialistic and wasteful in a lot of ways.

@FourTeaFallOut

I don't think people SHOULD have to live like this, but living here has taught me that it's perfectly possible to healthily live without heating

What is simply uncomfortable for a healthy adult comes with adverse health outcomes for those who are vulnerable. Could we stop peddling this myth that it's just fine for people to freeze in their homes, by just about every metric it's false.

THIS 😞

People are very ignorant of the science showing the awful health outcomes from cold (and damp) homes, it seems.

@PrivateHall

I would cut spending on both, but wouldn't cut either out.

Exactly! Common sense! Not histrionics and drama, and pearl clutching comments like 'you have obviously never had to feed a family of 10 on an oxo cube, had 13 seconds to leave your private let home, had your last fiver robbed from your jeans pocket, and only a pea and a mouldy cream cracker in your larder!'

I would be worried about mould like your DH would be. I would probably choose to heat and eat extremely cheaply if I could.

For anyone who I struggling I would recommend having a look at Too Goo Too Go. You pay £3 for a “magic bag” and different shops sign up to give you food that’s about to go out of date. I got three toasties from Costa yesterday, my SIL gets bits from Morrisons.

Where I live we also have a “Community Fridge” which rounds up food from local supermarkets that they can’t sell but nothing wrong with. There is always lots of bread and sometimes fruit as well. Anyone can take anything for free. It would be worth seeing if those things exist locally for others.

@saleorbouy

Buy some good thermals and base layers and turn off the heating. You can always fill a hot water bottle with your veg or pasta cooking water to snuggle into, why pour hot water down the sink. I think people could save a lot with some creative thinking and common sense. My grandparents lived without central heating and eating cheap wholesome food, maybe it's back to basics for a while to take stock of things. The world has become very materialistic and wasteful in a lot of ways.

So being warm in your home and wanting to eat are wasteful things?! Ok...

@1forAll74

Defintely eating without any proper heating, I was born in 1942, and we just had one small open fireplace, a coal burning one, but sometime we were short of coal in the war, The fireplace had a small oven attached to it, so food could be cooked in it, mainly stews of some sort, and could bake bread in it.

There was no heat at all in all the three bedrooms,, the windows got all iced up on the windows in a bad winter, especially one of the worst winters in 1947, when the whole of the country got frozen solid for weeks on end.

I started school in 1947, aged 5, and had to walk about a half mile to school, in not many suitable items of clothing, no padded coats then, fortunately, my late Mum, was a great knitter, and she knitted lots of jumpers and cardigans for the whole family, and some neighbours kids too,, She knitted lots of mittens and scarves too.

Any unwanted or a bit worn knitted items, she would collect from neighbours, and unwind the wool, and make another jumper or whatever, out of the old one.. Everyone would pile old blankets, and even old coats on the bed when it was icy cold in the bedrooms..

But whatever little food we could get, was the most important thing to have. My grandparents lived with me and Mum, plus one of her brothers., my Father was not yet home from being in the RAF abroad.
My beloved Grandad, grew lots of veg, and soft fruit in the garden,, so this was a lifesaver for us all getting something to eat., so eat and be cold, was the order of the days then.

Interesting. I’m reading a book now called Powerless, The Year The Lights Went Out. It sounds just like this but in modern times (a lot of describing how to cook with what you could find). It also confirmed that younger people had trouble surviving as well as the elderly, as they are more used to being able to google basic knowledge and had not lived through times like that before. A really good book.

@saleorbouy Meant to say:

I grew up in a house with no central heating. I left home at 22 and that same year central heating was fitted (council house). We had a coal fire in the living room but no other heating.

There used to be ice on the inside of the windows in the winter. I can remember that the bed was freezing when I got into it.

Our house didn't get any mould so it's rubbish that an unheated house will go mouldy.

We have our heating on for 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening. Thermostat is set at 20. That is enough to keep our house comfortably warm.

I guess the issue with saying that people coped with keeping warm before central heating was installed in houses is that there were usually other forms of heating in the house instead, eg, an open fire for coal or wood, or a fitted gas/electric fire maybe.
Many houses only have central heating fitted, so more difficult to heat just one part of the house.

There's a million ways to stay warm, but only one way of stopping hunger

not really, black coffee and plenty of water helps.

@Scianel

This must be such a worry for the very elderly or those with chronic illnesses though, the very people least likely to weather price increases. My late next door neighbour was 96 and her house was absolutely sweltering as the poor thing would have been too cold at a temperature any lower. I wonder if they're going to increase the fuel allowance then?

There’s also young people with chronic illness and disabilities 😞

@bitemyarsenic

No doubt will be flamed but seriously do people think that central heating has always existed? Ridiculous notion. You eat or you starve. Put a jumper and socks on, exclude drafts etc. Stop washing towels after every use.

In fairness, starvation and malnutrition used to be a thing too. Still is in a lot of the world.

What you will find is the dramatic people on here are the same prolific posters on the covid boards in 2020.
They feed off negativity and are determined to be as negative and downright miserable as possible.
Don't let them suck you dry.

There’s also young people with chronic illness and disabilities

Absolutely and they don't get the fuel allowance either and are hardly likely to have much money

Not everyone is hale and hearty and can just wrap up in a few extra layers unfortunately.