"We don't have the heating on"

[Christonabike37]

Just reading another thread and seen this "we never have the heating on at night" and I've never really understood what it means, but now with energy prices I need to know if its really what people do.

Our thermostat is set at 15 always, in the evenings we up it to 20 for a few hours. I consider 15 off, and 20 on. Is this the same? Or do people just not have the heating on at all, like your house could be 0 degrees? How cold does it get at night? Surely it gets down to single figures most of the time?

Because it’s always the same - someone has already said that people who overheat (whatever that means) their homes are like people who buy cars every few years and therefore not their cup of tea, someone else has said they just spend £10 on warm clothes rather than spend it on heating (what warm clothes plural can you buy for a tenner - even on eBay you’ll struggle to find a wool jumper for that inc postage), someone has said they dry clothes overnight over the bannisters (conveniently forgetting that if you can’t afford to heat your damp house during the day there’s going to be a marked absence of rising hot air to dry a family’s clothes in a few hours), others have said they hang out washing which keeps them warm (in cold weather? For a whole day?) others have said heating just isn’t needed when you can sit under a blanket. The list of rather ridiculous and simplistic ways for the general population to keep warm is baffling.

I get it’s a personal preference and some people just don’t feel the cold, but these examples are extremely patronising. The elderly, babies, those who have disabilities and many, many others struggle to regulate their temperature - why anyone would insist that it’s just a case of trying a bit harder to keep warm (I paraphrase obviously, but you know what I mean)? A bit like those who insist private education is within the grasp of most if they just scale back on holidays abroad and new clothes.

My heating turns off at 10.30pm or it is when it's on. I have it on one of the pre-set programmes that comes on and off a few times a day or if it gets below a certain temp. I'll be changing that this year because my youngest has just started school so it will just be me at home if I haven't got work so I'm happy enough to use a blanket or put on a cardi.

Talking about people feeling the cold more or less, that is true.
My husband cannot sleep with the radiator on, never mind the temperature.
My DD does not feel the cold much at all.
I used to geel like I was freezing, but I suppose it is hormonal, I am quite ok now and a bit of moving around and warm clothes does it for me at least is 0 or minus degrees. Anything above 5C I can stand and my family too.
This was not possible when I had a baby, of course. The house was at constant temperature and I cost a fortune that got me into debt and we paid bit by bit.
I sadly think things are bad enough that we have to consider not using the central heating this winter.

Ok
So the £10 was clearly just an example
A piece of clothing will last , heating at a high cost will not.
You are seriously arguing against people wearing warmer clothes in colder weather?
😂Theres always one!

Yeah, absolutely, I’m seriously arguing against people wearing warmer clothes in winter, that’s exactly what I said 🙄

FFS.

You can get a decent merino jumper for under a tenner delivered on eBay, that's where I've got mine. Super warm under a hoodie in winter.

One jumper is hardly going to keep an entire family warm in a cold, damp, unheated home for the entire winter, is it.

@SirChenjins - I agree with you.
I think some of the habits on here are absolutely fine for some, but too austere and uncomfortable for many.
I like a warm bedroom - getting dressed/undressed in the cold is miserable, as is a cold bathroom and cold, damp clothes.
The "half a life" comment is spot on.

But people don’t need to read so much into it

If someone describes their approach just post your own instead

I just post what I do, and haven’t really been out out by any more austere approach’s - up to them fine by me

and I think half a life is a bit off tbh

Let people live their life without calling it a half, difficult if they don’t want it but then it’s not going to make them feel better about it and if they choose it then great

But that’s the thing @MarshaBradyo these approaches are all very well at an individual level, but they often come across as patronising in the same way as the ‘private schools are easily affordable’ ones are. If you can afford to buy multiple merino wool jumpers on eBay at a tenner plus a pop to kit out your family for 4-5 months during the winter months and dry them in a house which isn’t running damp, then you’re probably not one of the people who are having to make a choice between heating and food this year (or heating, food and merino wool jumpers).

If I ever did online dating I would definitely have ‘heating off at night’ as one my preferences

Of course, if you’re happy to have a cold house that’s great, but many aren’t - or simply can’t.

That comment was from a pp who felt that reflected her experience. I know how she feels. It's clear others on here have no problem living like this.
Everyone's different.

I’m sure it’s austere and uncomfortable and miserable for many people and they’d actually like something else. But they can’t afford it. You can deem that half a life if you want, but it’s not on to assume that it’s simply a choice people are making, rather than the fact that they can’t afford it.

Question for those of you who don't have heating - do you find public transport, shops etc too warm? Do you go out to work or wfh?

@JudgeJ Not everyone uses their bedroom for jumping straight into bed.

I genuinely find both public transport and shops way too warm in the winter. Numerous times I’ve had to leave a shop because I’ve felt faint.

We rarely have the heating on - maybe for a couple of hours a day.

I don't use public transport (doesn't exist here).
I don't really do much shopping apart from to the supermarket - but yes, I often do find shops far too warm and I get headaches.
I work outdoors year-round.

Interesting, @mountainsunsets and @Blossomtoes - you must have found the recent heat wave very difficult.
For 3 days my classroom never went below 32°c.

It was very difficult. Fortunately our house has very thick walls and our sitting room never went over 25 degrees. The only places I went were air conditioned shops by car.

I didn't sleep well but otherwise, no, I didn't struggle much.

But I didn't have to sit and work in a hot room. I couldn't work as it was unsafe (I walk dogs) so I kept my house cool and stayed inside in front of a fan in shorts and t-shirt.

There's a big difference between natural heat and artificial heat.

Public transport can be v hot, and I rely on it, but I dress for summer and open windows when possible.

Shops, rarely too hot but don't spend very long in them.

Work in recent heatwave - similar to public transport except draw blinds rather than close windows. Like a pp, I don't much mind natural heat. I don't live the same way in summer as winter.

For me, personally, it would be more of a half life to rely on temperatures being one way or the other. Hasn't much of humanity always lived without central heating in places that are v warm by day v cold by night? That's life.

I'm speaking from experience though. I'm on a low single income with a house heated to 16 a few hours a day in winter. Jumpers have cost me less than a tenner each delivered, they are brilliantly warm and hardly ever need washing if worn over a t-shirt, merino doesn't hold smells like cotton or polyester. DS prefers his amazon oodie but also runs hotter than me.

I don't live a 'half life' either