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 remember the days of no central heating, condensation running down the windows, making pictures on it. Lying in bed and dreading having to go to the toilet because the floor was cold, the toilet was cold, the door handles were cold. I remember having hacking dry, painful coughs worthy of a 70 year old long term smoker, but I was just a skinny poor kid with asthma. I remember my fingers being stiff with cold and trying to hold my pencil doing homework. I remember finding out the black spots round the window and on the bathroom ceiling was mould.

I was brought up North of Scotland, Now south. I hope it makes a difference! I have prioritised heating over my life it still feels like a luxury to me every year. i will never take it for granted. Now I have arthritis, still have asthma. It's going to be a tough balancing act. But like a pp, I will give up other things before heating, until I have to give up that.

My house is well insulated with an efficient gas boiler changed in 2017. Heating set to 18 and sometime boosted to 19 if very cold, all controlled by a smart thermostat which knows when we are home or not so empty house not heated. If I feel chilly I put a pair of thick socks on and my oodie and a blanket but it’s not very often.

I didn’t have a radiator in my bedroom until my late teens. I used to get many chilblains every year, it was miserable. I’m not looking forward to going back to that.

How is it dramatic? Are you one of those telling Martin Lewis to get his knickers untwisted? I'm sorry that pointing out Europe's economy imploding is rustling your jimmies, but it's also kind of important. And while you, personally, aren't holding us all back, people who wastefully burn gas we don't have are definitely complicit. You not wearing a jumper and keeping the thermostat high plays badly against those who can't even put the heating on at all. Think of it.

In addition, I'm going to assume you're not following the energy markets, as I have for 15 years, because you are going to be rationing usage in the not too distant future by virtue of the end of cheap energy production. All developed and now most emerging market nations are paying over 4% of their GDP on energy, which is the point where recession kicks in.

And because this is a geological and growth issue, it's pretty much permanent unless we discover a magical way to produce fusion energy soon.

And not having to worry about Polio !!

FWIW, we are frugle with the heating, we use jumpers, we use blankets, run the heating low and tend to spend time in one room unless we have guests over by choice during the winter cos to put it bluntly, we are tight with money over the heating. Except on Christmas Day when I put my foot down last year and said fuck this. We could in theory afforded to run the heating more but we'd rather not burn money if we don't need to.

And I still don't think that this is close to the reality that a lot of people will face this winter. They won't even have the choice to run the heating low.

Yes most households could do a lot more to save energy within reason to prevent fossil fuel wastage. But thats not we are talking about here for a lot of people. Its WAY beyond that.

I was in the south and remember all that. I truly can't imagine what it must have been like living up north.

Well I guess we might be fortunate to be able to remember it. I think your Millennials and Gen Zers like my two will have a shock coming....

😂😂😂

@Liebig I’m not entirely certain what your made up phrase “rustling your jimmies” means, but if it’s akin to getting your knickers in a twist then you’re way off base, nor is there any need for a faux apology.

I don’t care what you or Martin Lewis or your energy markets says. I’m not worried or stressed nor do I care. I will keep heating my house at 22 whether you like it or not.

Good old days my arse

You mean like how the political discourse on here is usually "teh evil Toriez, amirite?" Sorry, that's an aside. I retract the prig comment. But my excoriation on the habits of the poster remain.

Perhaps people need to accept that their actions have consequences. I see way too much ignorance about why we're in this predicament, and a lot of scapegoating over an (admittedly truly) incompetent gov't when the writing was on the wall, oh, fifty years ago.

Overuse of finite resources is something of a bugbear, and the squandering of such things as hydrocarbon energy is a big deal. I see people driving massive cars at dumb speeds and huge houses being fully lit and heated all the time, and ponder just how clueless as a species we are.

Turns out, very.

The biggest mark of success for me, as an adult, is being able to:
Have the heating on more than an hour in the morning and 2 in the evening.
Have the heating on 70.

And I still wear lots of layers and blankets in the living room.

I spent my childhood cold. I did not expect my middle years to go the same way. Being able to earn enough money to keep my house warm was a massive driving factor in making me work hard in school.

www.gov.uk/government/news/all-children-aged-1-to-9-in-london-to-be-offered-a-dose-of-polio-vaccine

Take it you've heard the one about the worry about a polio outbreak in London this year and how they are offering an extra dose of polio vaccine to all kids aged 1 to 9 in London because vaccination rates are so low at the moment?

2022 is the year that keeps giving.

Why is it? We never had heating growing up. I've only thought about it now to be fair. My mum would even open windows to air the place!

My friends and I have all discussed the use of blankets and bloody Oodies! Keeping our homes 18/19 at a push. I like to think people can at least do something to keep their own prices down. I'd prefer to cut back on energy bills than life!

Less demand and all that!

How many people died of hypothermia?
It’s s only in recent years despite the advent of central heating that the UK death rate from hypothermia has been less than that of Scandinavian countries. Do you forget the headlines of elderly people burning absolutely everything and dying alone in their flats back in those halcyon days.
im a wheelchair user, can’t move around to keep warm, won’t be able to afford the heating. Oh how I miss those days of being able to run to the loo in the cold…

@Crikeyalmighty that it isn’t quite true. Because of the way the electricity market was split up when it was privatised, the supply companies are actually making little or nothing - that’s why so many went bankrupt just as this mess was kicking off. The supply companies are definitely on your side. It is the generation companies that are making the crazy profits.

Maybe just turn your fucking thermostat down, then, instead of glibly lecturing us about about central heating because you keep your house so hot you can just wear a t-shirt.

I understand what you’re saying, but this isn’t a case of the OP who swans around her roasting home in a bikini in winter when it’s in the minus temps, this is people getting sick or dying due to cold, people being unable to cook whatever food they’ve spent money on, whilst there are record profits by greedy companies.

Aye, are you even a mother if you haven’t buried half your kids?

We're all too used to comfy warm heating.
We're all too used to schlepping around our homes in all but nightwear.

I grew up with no central heating, a paraffin heater in the living room and nothing else.

I can't imagine how you'd heat a lounge/kitchen/diner.

They were going bust before anything to do with Ukraine.

Energy efficient homes would help hugely rather than plunging back to the 'good old days'.

As a kid with no heating in our shitty rental November to March/April was miserable.

I now live in Australia. Middle of winter and its 8deg. Housing standards are atrocious.
Almost all houses are open plan, built like tents and shockingly cold. We built our own home and bucked the trend with (sliding) doors everywhere to seal off rooms plus double glazing. Friends laughed but we are now warm and they are not(and cool in summer)
Also in a country with so much sun- I cannot understand why solar panels are not mandatory.
Governments need to improve building standards as building companies are not going to volunteer to increase their costs/reduce their profits.

Agreed. Some people really perpetuate a culture of suffering, like it's a badge of honour.

Nevermind that. The big question is, are you even a mother if you don't make them all share the same bathwater to save heating costs?

And top up the bath with the kettle.

Last week I had a fall, skinning my knees and I felt 8 years old again!, Now I have the winter to look forward to to remind me a little bit more of my childhood 😂

I suppose this time I have access to slipper socks, dressing gowns, and woolly hats, maybe even fingerless gloves if I want to hold a pencil!

The strange circle of life eh?