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..

I think people should be able to use heating how they wish to feel comfortable. Not incentive low useage. I really feel the cold despite wearing layers. Even then l need the heating high.

Ive been like this all my life and it’s got worse as l’ve got older.

I grew up in that era, no central heading until I left home.

I remember my sister having a nasty cough between autumn and spring every year, defrosting clothes in front of the fire, working in care homes where people went with the first and last frost.

I remember people going door to door for 50p for the meter, or wood to burn. Of course many houses don’t have fireplaces now or chimneys- ours was taken out by the landlords a few years ago as it was leaking.

i remember kids in a&e with burns from open fires.

I spoke to my parents about this yesterday and they said this reminds them of the 40s- and they’re so sad we’re back there again! Things were supposed to get better for this generation, for every generation, not to back to one of the most difficult times! At least in the 50s there was a housing system, everything is easier when you have a secure roof of course.

As said above. This isn't sustainable.

Actually, it would be if we had renewable energy, well insulated homes and district heating rather than damp drafty homes each with their own boiler. In Scandinavia/Eastern Europe no-one is sitting there with Oodies on and a hot water bottle, they have the heating on whatever temperature they need to keep warm, because their systems and buildings are especially designed for it. Instead of being a race backwards we should be trying to move forwards.

@kc431 Interesting you saying that as last winter in Copenhagen our house was constantly warm due to geothermal heating - they literally burn rubbish and it comes from under the streets. I'm going to be honest though- it really isn't that cheap if that's what people think. Similar price to here at the moment.

Uh huh.

Well, we shall see.

Ive never understood why we dont burn rubbish and landfill in this country, I cant believe its beyond science to invent a filter that filters out the emissions from burning like that which would create our own energy.

I remember crying with cold when I was little, it was just so utterly miserable, bone cold, waking up in the night shivering. Constant cough and peeling chilblains.

Because it's terrible for the planet if not in CO2 (which, last I checked, we need to not produce more of), then in burning the various chemicals that end up in our food and water by being particulates, which yes, you'd need to filter and monitor closely.

But also, burning inefficiencies in our production is not sustainable. It'd be like telling someone to use leftovers to make their dinner when they're in a famine and have no food at all. You need that junk to be produced to burn in the first place, so it's not an energy source so much as a way of more efficiently utilising our waste.

You appear to have not read my post

I clearly mentioned it in the context of a filter filtering that out

And 'things' will always need to be produced, perhaps not as much as we are currently using but there will always be rubbish and landfill, there always has been

You didn't read mine, as I actually mentioned that when elaborating on the reasons why it won't be a longterm solution. The filtration isn't perfect, by the way, and I don't know about you, but I've enough toxins floating around for my liking.

Or you get into the absurd situation of shipping wood pellets from the US over the Atlantic to burn in old coal plants and claim as "green" energy.

"Things" being produced is why we're in this mess. People want too many "things" all the time and go into discounting mode for their future. Now we have the glorious honour of being able to witness this system rail against limits it cannot just magic away by handing out a big enough cheque to some people.

I grew up with coal and oil and pre north sea gas - central heating, when we got it for first time, was a godsend - cheap, clean and no more humping coal around.

however, central heating in those early years, and in most homes till even the 90s, was pretty all or nothing- one thermostat on boiler and a simple timer for on off maybe twice aday

modern systems give so much more flexibility. I have individual radiator thermostats to set rooms at different temperatures. Bedroom very low , living room at nearly full on, and rarely used rooms at off (guest room). I do heat bathroom to max “throttle”

then my central smart thermostat can now cope with being on all the time but with different temperatures in morning, daytime, evening etc. I turn system down to frost setting overnight. I can move the thermostat to room I’m in if I’m staying put most of the day so I can tweak temperature easily for that specific room. Mostly thermostat at 17.5 is fine for me unless drops below say 2-3 degrees outside. , I’ll even turn it down if I’m doing something active like house work

I certainly never heat before I have already put on a jumper or even a fleece, I always wear socks and slippers and thicker bottoms for sitting around. And when I’m sitting still, I have quilts in rooms to throw over me. Partly cos I still get hot flushes, so impossible to keep changing heating that often…I just pull quilt over or kick it off. But there again I’m a quilter so have nice quilts and throws in most room.

as MSE Site says, heat yourself first and only heat the house when you can’t cope with that any longer.

Because They were using bloody coal fires most of the time. Even central heating at time for the rich few was coal fired. Even stoves used coal gas- Natural gas didn’t get converted until 1975- 1977 in most homes and businesses

have you ever lived in a house burning coal in fireplaces or coal derived gas…bloody awful…you could see particulates building on the wall and ceilings- just couldn’t see it on the lungs . It included poisonous sulphur dioxide

just think about causes of the great london smogs . In the 5 days following the 4th December 1952, 4000 people died from breathing difficulties…that was just the ones recorded.

it was partly what drove the clean air act, the switch to coke and finally the amazing and monumental project to covert all homes to natural gas. I remember that, the gas boards coming to my home, and my grandmothers….talking to the women about changes they’d see with cooking, heating and doing the work to concert physically every appliance in every home. You don’t see that sort of concerted effort in todays capitalism and privatised energy industry. People forget this, or don’t even know about it 🤯😢

You are Liz Truss and I claim my £5.

I grew up in freezing cold social housing in Scotland in the 1970s. Every Winter my friends and I were regularly off school with respiratory problems. I always got bronchitis.
Like another poster has said on here, a prime motivation for me to work hard at school in order to get a decent job with a decent wage was to be able to live in a warm home.
While we will be ok this winter a lot of kids growing up in poverty won't and if (God forbid) schools have to close for a day a week due to the hike in energy bills they will be sitting in freezing cold homes for longer amounts of time.
A lot of families will have to choose between heating and eating.
This should not be happening in 2022 in a country where energy companies are making huge profits.

I hate an over heated house.

I will be wary of the heating bills but ultimately DH is disabled , not particularly mobile so heatingis unavoidable. I have bought hot water bottles, blankets, electric blankets. I keep candles in case of power cuts anyway.

The thermostat is set at 19/20 during winter. If he gets chilly he can layer up or wrap a blanket round his legs.
Electricity is our bigger expense, washing machine and during winter the dryer.

DM and her husband moan about being poor pensioners but their place is stifling hot and he sits in t shirt and shorts all year round.