We are too used to Central heating..

[Dampclout]

Until the 1980s very few houses had central heating. Most people heated one room, had hot water bottles at bedtime and wore warm clothes. I can recall quickly going out of the warm front room and shutting the door behind me, if I wasn't quick enough there would be be the shout of ‘shut that door’
Nowadays I wear a tee shirt in winter and keep my house at 20c… I think I will be going back to my childhood ways this winter..

This thread is rather like a race to the bottom for some.

I was born in the sixties and we always had central heating. My parents had grown up in houses without it and were adamant that they wouldn't be going back to that.

I have my own heating set to 18/19⁰ and on a timer to come on for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. It is normally off during the middle part of the day and overnight. That is the way I shall continue.

I can't wait to squat in a field as I do my ablutions with my rifle in my hand during my national service while I chuckle to myself at how woke it was for us to think that indoor plumbing would ever catch on.

I think the OP has a point, I think a lot of us are too used to turning on or up the central heating before putting on a jumper or a thicker one. Know I'm guilty of this and my DP definitely is! Though since the new year if the DC weren't in the house I wouldn't put heating on or TV to try and save money.

My local radio station did a segment on things we now do to rebel from things we couldn't do as kids- one caller has her heating on 26c in winter and they are all in shorts and t shirts!

I don't think we want a world without central heating and no one should be going cold/getting ill because they can't afford to put heating on. The price 'cap' is extremely worrying but a lot of people can still make a lifestyle choice of - lower thermostat, extra layer/s, a blanket, a hot drink to remain at a comfortable temperature. It's those that won't be able to afford to have heating on at all, won't be able to have hot meals, boil a kettle, where you think what the actual hell are we living through!

We’re supposed to be progressing not regressing. I was taken to hospital as a child with bronchitis due to poor heating in my childhood home. I remember frost inside the windows and it being so cold I didn’t want to get out of bed in the winter.

I do not look upon this time fondly and I certainly don’t want the same for my kids.

Clearly you voted this current government in and are trying to style in out with the ‘things were hard back in my day but we were fine so stop moaning snowflakes’ routine. But it won’t wash.

I was born in the 80s and have always had central heating, double glazing etc. But I'm reading some diaries at the moment that were written in the aftermath of the Second World War.

In person talks about fuel rations and how they can't heat their home. This means that they just light one fire in one room. Imagine how cold that was! And we think we have it bad today.

Last winter I tried putting the heating on less and wearing more clothes. I still felt so cold. My face was numb, I couldn't feel my feet despite slippers and socks. I will bankrupt myself if I have to to keep warm.

it’s just disgusting that people are struggling to feed themselves and keep warm . It’s like we are going back in time . I grew up in the 70,s in a farmhouse that was always freezing cold and it was awful . I’m so scared for my parents who live on a pension and are already struggling . I may have to help with their bills as well but I’m not sure how . This once proud country is rapidly going down the pan .

I have my house at 21 in winter and I'm certainly not in a t-shirt! I wear a thick cardigan and have a fleecy blanket over me.

But you're the one posting to say that central heating is an indicator of moral decay, wanting to be warm at home is a sign of weakness, and shivering is good for the soul.

Yes, people are used to being warm during the winter. How feeble of them.

It's not true that there were few homes without CH in the 1980s! Even in the 2000s, I remember viewing houses to view houses to buy that didn't have CH.

I had no CH throughout the 80s and 90s, and it only started to become unusual towards the end of that period.

Yup

We decadent Brits are far too used to luxuries, like windows, roofs, indoor plumbing, flushing toilets, solid walls, lockable doors, mattresses on beds, a choice of clothes when we get up, food.....

Honestly, our ancestors would just throw a fit if they saw us now

"One person talks about fuel rations and how they can't heat their home. This means that they just light one fire in one room. Imagine how cold that was! And we think we have it bad today."

In houses without CH (not just after the war when there was rationing), heating one or two rooms was standard. Many houses did not have fireplaces upstairs anyway.

You have a fire (gas or coal) in the main living room, and that's the only room you keep consistently warm. Everyone sat in the living room on an evening, to be warm. You take hot water bottles to bed, and if you had a small paraffin or electric heater in your bedroom you might put it on for half an hour beforehand to take the edge off.

Drafts are the enemy, so my mum would constantly be shouting to close doors in order to keep the heat in. Draft excluders etc. were used for this reason, an open plan design would be utter madness.

Christ but it’s depressing when the only answer to the energy Chrissy isn’t ‘stand up to the energy companies’ but it’s ‘wind the clock back 40 years’

*crisis

The i newspaper has published these figures and the disgusting salaries of the bosses of the energy companies. The problem is getting anything done about it.

That was my pet hate. Our bathroom had 3 outside walls and was freezing. Our hot water was never very hot so by the time the bath was filled it was pretty tepid. If the coke stove didn’t draw well then no hot water.

I can afford to keep my house at my chosen temperature, if you are happy at 18 degrees then well done you.

I consider 18 degrees quite tropical. I usually wear a thick jumper and gilet in the winter. Even then, our energy bill is £350-£400 a month.

It drives my husband mad because we're well off and could afford to have a hotter house. It just seems strangely indulgent, particularly when I'm in house on my own. I don't know why I choose to live in a chilly house when I don't need to.

We fitted smart thermostats to our radiators last winter so we can now just turn the heating on in one room.

A friend once told me he expected to be able to walk around the house in a T-shirt in the middle of winter, which I still think is a bit OTT.
As someone who grew up in a large victorian house without central heating, and parents who could barely afford the electric and gas bills at the time, our house were always very cold. SO, I really love central heating.
Currently, I am planning to lower the temperature, shorten the time; maybe have a quick burst in the morning, then much lower the rest of the day.
(I am going to try anyway).
I also know that the best way is to heat oneself - wear warm clothes, using layers to trap air, etc so will see how it goes.

This

Why are people so content to go backwards in standards? Like with Brexit, being encouraged to grow our own veg like in the war to combat shortages. Even this week newspapers saying 'there's nothing wrong with a bit of mould on your food', just cut it off.

Fucking Tories.

I really can't believe people still think Corbyn wouldn't have done a better job.

Did you heat the water on the stove for the bath? I'm trying to get a picture.

To think this was what? Just 40 years ago

I'd rather wear another layer than smell.

youre deluded if you think you don't smell sleeping in bedding that's been on 6 weeks & washingyour body & clothes so infrequently.

growing up we had night torage heaters and an open fire, a boiler in the kitchen to heat the water, also an immersion heater
if it was very cold in my bedroom i had a tiny electric heater on the wall, as we did in the bathroom
when i left home we had a gas heater with bottles that we wheeled from room to room. dh wore a hat in bed
now, gas central heating, nothing else, no alternative

Why are posters completely disregarding with the OP said for the sake of drama and political point-scoring?
As far as I can see, no one is advocating a return to unheated houses, so why are pps posting as if this has been suggested?
We have been told for a few years now that thermostats should be turned down, jumpers should be worn etc to help combat climate change, and this, was generally thought to be a good thing. Why is the same advice met with such derision now?
As this thread has shown, we have got too used to overheated homes - not heated homes, note, overheated homes - and people are reacting to sensible advice and good practice as if it's unimaginable hardship. And before anyone jumps on me, I am talking about the 24/7 heated homes, not the homes where heating is on for a few hours.
For the padt six months there has been a steady stream of news stories about people with enormous energy bills worried they are going to get even bigger. Instead of universal sympathy it might be a good idea to ask how their bills are so high in the first place.

You don't get how people have time to wash towels more frequently than every 6 weeks?

putting them in the machine takes about 1 minute, pegging them on the line less than 5 minutes, bringing them in etc less than 5 minutes. Less than 10 minutes in total.

it's hardly walking them miles to the nearest river, hand washing them with rocks and walking miles home again 🙄🙄🙄

if you've got time to post here, you've got time to wash your towels more frequently than every 6 WEEKS.

Why are people saying 18-20° is warm/roasting/tropical? I know everyone is different in how they feel the cold but these are really not abnormally indulgent settings for CH.

And the thing about winding the clock back , don't our bodies become acclimatised to certain temperatures? When I've been to Portugal in March and its been 20° ish, the British tourists are wearing tshirt and shorts, the local people are wearing coats and hats. Because for them, that's not particularly warm!

Back to the UK a lot of us are accustomed to centrally heated houses. Just because you were warm enough without it in the 70s/80s doesn't mean you won't feel cold now. Often children don't notice the cold as much as adults anyway . My DS wears tshirt and shorts all year round indoors and never wears socks or slippers indoors whereas I often think it's quite chilly in the lounge which is sort of open plan and the largest room in the house. (Babysitters have had their coats on before when we've arrived home because they thought it was so cold at a balmy 19 or 20°)