My house is 19 degrees today and I’m freezing!

[Springandsummerarecoming]

I’m guessing I’m freezing as we’ve had some nice warm weather and I’ve got used to being warm but I’m so cold today. Dreading the winter when it will be colder and can’t have the heating on as much!

You should be grateful to us who’ve acclimatised (often through necessity) and manage to keep our heating off as much as possible. If it wasn’t for us there would be less fossil fuel left for you richer and less resilient types to waste.

There will be just as many of the cold lovers who happen to live in hot countries and burn through loads of fossil fuel using air conditioning when those who prefer warmer temperatures use less. Being able to tolerate more cold or warmth is not some kind of virtue.

God forbid anyone should ever be at all uncomfortable.

Hardly something to aspire to though, is it?

We've had our heating off for about a month now and working from home so it does get cold. It sounds counter productive but I find it really helps me to go out for a brisk dog walk before I start work at 8am and then again at lunchtime and it seems to keep me warm then for a good few hours afterwards. Hot water bottles are also great to keep you warm

We didn't have air con in a warmer climate, it was simply unaffordable!

@Svara I'm sure many people don't. But many do. And like with heating in colder climates, many will need it for health reasons. So it's ridiculous to imply that people who can't tolerate cold are evil for guzzling fossil fuels when the reverse will be true for many countries.

Kerrist on a bike, 19C and cold?!
Our draughty abode doesn't get this warm, ever. Quite frankly anything above 18C requires a window to be opened.

A cube of air at 19 degrees is 19 degrees no matter the size of the cube?

Unless it’s got a wind chill factor.

Completely agree that some people can only tolerate a narrow temperature range for health reasons. In my experience it tends to be the same people who struggle with both cold and warmer temperatures, usually age or health related.

@Svara my experience has been very different. Some people I know are only comfortable in very cold temperatures (4-10 degrees) and other only between 20-30 degrees. This is within my autistic community. No amount of "acclimitisation" changes our sensory sensitivities, sadly. When I lived with no heating at all for several years I was permanently cold.

Many people have medical conditions that make them feel the cold more, or cause more pain for them, or make being colder actually dangerous.

Thermostat manufacturers recommend temperatures being set to 20+ for a reason. It reduces illness and damp and also deaths. It is not an excessive temperature and actually those who prefer a significantly lower temperature are the outliers.

There's also the fact that men feel the cold less the women so office temperature levels etc were always set with them in mind, which is why many women spend work hours feeling cold.

There is no virtue in being cold. Nobody should have to do it and there are many, many reasons why it would be even worse for certain people than for an average person.

People really should stop being so judgemental and focus on pressuring politicians to protect their citizens from unmanageable price rises as decent European countries with a similar wealth per capita to the UK have done.

It's down to the humidity. Cold, dry air will most times feel warmer than cold, humid air at the same temperature. Hot temperatures on a humid day can feel much hotter than the actual temperature because the body is cooled through evaporation and that action is stifled due to the moisture in the air. Cold temperatures on a humid day, feel warmer because having a higher humidity makes our body evaporate less water, resulting in less cooling.

Some of it depends where your thermostat is. The temperature in the hall (where they are often so stupidly sited!) will often be much lower than a bedroom. I had Smart radiator valves fitted a couple of years ago, because downstairs was freezing and upstairs roasting (just the opposite of what I wanted!)

I have frozen all week. I’m really trying to tough it out, but 16° is just too cold for me, no matter how many jumpers I put on. (Two since you ask. And a knitted cowl, an extra pair of knitted socks, a vest and fingerless gloves. I’m ok if I’m moving around (although my nose, feet and hands are freezing) but to work or watch tv I have to wrap myself in a blanket and have a hot water bottle on my lap and one on my feet. Nighttime is fine, I’m not doing anything different.

The best thing about the Wiser thingy is that I can have different temps in different rooms. 18° is fine for the hall and kitchen, but I need 21° in the sitting room and my office. I keep DD’s bedroom at 19, usually. I don’t heat my bedroom at all, apart from a half hour blast for when I’m getting up.

I’ve been broke for a while (it’s not related to everything else and shouldn’t last) and although it’s no fun, most of it doesn’t bother me most of the time. All of the not doing beauty treatments, not buying clothes and house stuff, not going/eating out doesn’t really bother me. I was doing ok making do with books, movies and yarn I already have - I was profoundly grateful that I had a warm, comfortable house, homemade steak, chips and cake and a hot bath for kicks. It was enough to feel content.

Now, I’m fucking freezing and have lost that small comfort. I don’t care if people think it’s whiny and ‘there’s plenty worse off than me’. I’m cold, uncomfortable and miserable and I’ve had to give up even tiny non-essentials to get through. When I was warm and a few tiny luxuries (a bath costs 50p. A supermarket steak is about three quid. Everyone should be able to afford treat themselves to one if they want to occasionally) I was poor but happy. Now I’m not. I’m still miserable and people being more miserable doesn’t invalidate my misery (and I have every sympathy for them. This sucks)

@GiraffesInScarfs I was never claiming it was a virtue to be comfortable at lower temperatures, just responding initially to a comment that people who could tolerate cold would be the ones running the aircon in a hot country. In my workplace it's the same people with heaters in winter and fans in summer, though I think they are NT.

I find that interesting about the autistic community, I'm autistic myself and always assumed my ability to be comfortable at a large temperature range was an autistic thing! I'm happy sitting at 15 to 35 (but hate heating above 20, it feels different to summer heat).

Its 13 degrees outside and 18 inside and despite the sun I feel cold.

No way am I putting the heating on so its a fleece for me and a halogen heater on in the dining room while DC eats dinner.

We're going out for a brisk seaside walk soon (bundled up in many layers) and will cuddle up under a blanket on the sofa later.

I've been frozen today. Had the heater on at work today.

Based on the people I know you're very unusual in that and very lucky to be so! Most people I know seem to either feel the cold a huge amount or be unable to tolerate any heat. It would be interesting to see studies on this.

Yes, I'm definitely lucky at home with regard to comfort and bills! I couldn't afford to have the heating up high as I'm a lone parent. The work environment can be uncomfortable though, and even make me feel ill, particularly in Spring when they've still got the heating on as it doesn't seem to have a thermostat.

Yup, hence the rest of the paragraph:

A cube of air at 19 degrees is 19 degrees no matter the size of the cube? Do you mean big houses are draftier so feel colder at the same temperature?

I nearly always have a fleece blanket on my legs, and dressing gown on too. I showered this afternoon and my hair is still wet, I never blow dry it, just pin it up. So, I’m colder than normal, but not freezing.

embrace the blankets/throws and fluffy socks OP

I wfh and find 19C is fine for the most part, as in I can layer up and survive. But the backs of my hands get freezing and really painful, even with gloves on. It's weird.

In winter I really prefer 22C and in summer 15C.

My house is big, and tiled so seems to feel the cold more than my smaller house which was fully carpeted.

I wfh and am sitting at a computer most of the day 19.5 I tolerate 19 hearing goes on and yep I have layers on and often have a blanket round my legs . I think moving about it's a bit different but even so at 19 I will start to feel the pinch after a while it's ridiculous as may tomorrow my heating is set to 21 and set to come on an hour in morning and three or four hours at night
however if during the day it goes down to 18 i di manually over ride it