To say turning heating “off” will make the house unbearably freezing?

[HairyKitty]

I can’t afford the fuel bills with the price rises. But we are at home full time in an old poorly insulated terrace.
But surely, whether the heatings is hard off (or set at a low temp so it doesn’t come on) after 2 or 3 days of this in winter the house would be very very cold for us to live in full time, most likely about 14/15 degrees?
How do people cope in winter who actually have the heating off in old houses and are home full time?

DH always laughs at me in winter as I always get undressed in bed. Neither of us likes a warm bedroom, so the heating is off by bedtime.

Electric blanket on, PJs tucked inside the bed from the morning, gets them toasty warm, get in bed full clothed and gradually undress and into PJs. Luxury!

I bet electric blanket companies will not go out of business this year.

As someone I follow on Twitter has said:

Quality of life expectations evolve. It is not unduly soft, spoilt or indulgent to be upset when things you have had access to for years and were never sold as temporary suddenly become unavailable or unaffordable. Yes, even if people in 1951 went without them.

I don’t under this backward attitude to heating - it really is the basics of basics.
What baffles me even more is that people seem to piss their pants when there is a shortage or walkers crisps and sunflower oil as though there’s nothing else to eat or cook with but no central heating? Pah, no big deal! The UK has a really bizarre attitude to essentials and quality of life.

Another thing people do in poorer countries or ones with really bad winters is all live in one room, just abandon the bedrooms. So, one stove, probably woodburning, collect and season the wood all year, and eat and sleep in that one room. They don't attempt to heat a whole house and some heat goes upwards enough to prevent freezing pipes (although not always).

You can also sleep next to family members, all in one bed.

But I don't think people are ready for these type of measures, which is why I don't think just saying 'switch the heating off' is terribly realistic unless you are genuinely able to start doing the other things that will need doing to keep your family warm which people do around the world but which aren't the norm in the UK.

It seems like it -can't quite believe the lack of compassion and refusal to wake up to how bad things will be for so many people...

Rose tinted glasses. Lots of people saying ‘well back in the 60’s when I was 3 my parents did this and this and this…’ I suspect a lot of false memories here - especially anyone saying they had no heating at all. There would have been some type of heat source, even if you didn’t have central heating.
Not quite so many people with anecdotes of living with no heating as an actual adult and feeling the true impact that has on daily life and it’s practicalities.

In the old days, people would keep one room heated and the rest freezing. Then that one room could be heated by solid fuel or coal.

I'm wondering if that might be a viable solution to turning off the central heating.

I grew up in a house without central heating, albeit small. It was fine. A bit chilly, having a quick splash of a wash on winter mornings. Maybe an electric blanket or hot water bottle at nights.

BTW I'm not doing a four Yorkshire man type boast - I'm not suggesting that this would be acceptable now. I think it's horrific incompetence of the Tory government to have got us all into this mess. But at least these might be helpful suggestions for those who are genuinely desperate for options. 😭

We’re in planning stages. Considering/ getting draft excluders, magnets to reduce gaps between curtains, film for windows, a halogen heater, electric blankets. Closing off rooms. Needs to be vaguely sustainable but people do adjust and even without prices I think it will be necessary in future

We avoid using the heating, it's just how it is. I've got a heated throw if I'm downstairs but if I'm just watching TV alone I'll do it in bed. I use the hairdryer to warm my bed before getting in......we also have oodies which are fab.

If it's bitterly cold the heating will go on for a couple of hours but in general I don't find it necessary..I'm either moving round the house cleaning which keeps me warm or sat in it which is easy to.keep warm with a blanket or throw. I won't be freezing to death any time soon.

@RancidOldHag
It's hyperbole, you won't be literally freezing - even growing up in a house with no central heating we only had Jack Frost patterns occasionally.…It's usually a case of attitude and habits

Its not hyperbole lots of people are going to die this winter.

In winter 2017/2018 there were 16,890 people in the U.K. that froze to death in their homes specifically due to being unable to afford to have heat. That was before the price increases when only 10.3%/2.4 million households were in fuel poverty. This wasn’t much talked about because these were mostly the elderly and disabled, so considered by the government to be an acceptable level of death and a cost savings on state pension and disability benefits.
www.e3g.org/news/17000-people-in-the-uk-died-last-winter-due-to-cold-housing/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882404/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2020-2018-data.pdf

The recent price increases mean that 66%/16.5m households (estimated 45 million people), will have been pushed into fuel poverty by January 2023, according to a new report authored by York academics.
www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2022/research/fuel-poverty-uk/

If the ratio holds true, then we are on course for 116,119 people to die of the cold this winter. That’s the population of a small city- like wiping Doncaster off the map.

Also there is a huge North / South divide.

When we holidayed in Scotland we had the heating on in midsummer. It's really not an option to have no heating at all.

Also it will be miserable for people who have known better. In "the old days" people had never known any different.

The luxury of central heating gas become the norm. Going back is a pointless, miserable failure on the part of the Tory government, along with the stupidity of Brexit, and I for one am gutted that we can't vote them out for another 3 years. 😔

Yes there are international factors, but look at France and other European nations in the same energy market. They are not talking about writing off a whole century of progress.

People need to be angrier about this.

Can I just remind people not to block up every single gap in the house so that there is no ventilation at all. This is when you start to get damp and mould.

We have trickle vents in our windows, and don't have a mould problem.

How much do electric blankets cost to use?

I remember my nana having one when I was a kid and she left it switched on all night but she had no other source of heating (that she would use).

Yes there are international factors, but look at France and other European nations in the same energy market. They are not talking about writing off a whole century of progress.

But the UK is still somewhat stuck back in time in general when it comes to housing quality. Rental advertisements still point out things like ‘central heating’ and ‘double glazing’ as though in 2022 that’s some kind of perk and shouldn’t just be a given.

OP please don't. Put some heating on. Being cold is miserable.

Op if you are over 50 then see if your local Age Uk has an energy efficiency team. We have a local one with an advisor who will come and look at your home, advise on savings, refer for any insulation available, give out energy savings lightbulbs etc. No cost.

I bought room thermometers last winter and our hallway and dining room and kitchen are 11 degrees when the heating has been on for an hour. The rest of the house is about 15-17 with the heating on. It's a crap system but the landlord won't do anything about it.I'm investing in oodie type things and hoping for the best.

Won't have any choice but to have the heating on, it's the only way of drying washing sometimes

Grew up in a house with no central heating, now have 2 small DC in a big, old, Victorian. House often at 14/15 degrees in winter, not much more we can do without tearing it apart and spending a literal fortune. We’re actually quite comfortable with it, it’s kind of a way of life and not unbearable at all. From Oct/Nov to Feb/March (depending on weather) we have heating on 2 hours in the morning so house is relatively warm when children wake up and get dressed, then 2 hours evening so bath/bedtime is bearable and rooms are slightly warmer to go to bed. Most of the radiators are on/off by rotation so other parts of the house don’t get damp. Family room has a wood burner (we mostly sit in here if in the house) - all of our waste paper etc and logs go into this which is on a slow burn most afternoons until we go to bed.
We all wear layers, vests, socks, fleece pyjamas, 13.5 tog duvets, extra flat sheets on beds, hot water bottles and extra blankets/quilts. We have rugs and blankets on the sofas and rugs on the hard floors (kitchen, bathrooms, reception rooms). We wear slippers and housecoats if at home during the day. We get outdoors most days for a walk or a run around when it’s dry, even if cold. House is insulated as much as possible and top (bedroom) floors have thick carpet and underlay.
Draught excluders on all doors and (wooden framed) windows all sealed with frost tape. We do have a couple of electric fires/heaters which are used around the house in the depths of winter. All windows have thermal, heavy curtains or Roman blinds and they’re usually drawn just before it goes dark to keep the heat in. It’s a bit of effort and not what a lot of people are used to, certainly, (my brother and family walk around in shorts and T-shirt all year round with house at 20 degrees) but other than when I lived in a flat during my 20s, I’ve never known living in a house to be any different and I honestly don’t even think about it. Our bills will be much higher like everyone else’s even for fairly limited usage so I’ve every sympathy especially for those who can’t afford extra measures like buying extra clothes or bedding etc. or can’t physically manage in the colder months.

I read that up to 25% people this winter are planning on no heating.

I say
a. I think half of that number will have it on by dec
b. all very well thinking that on sunny days
c. things go damp.

During winter I sometimes open our loft hatch. Heat rises. Enough to keep the loft non damp.

still pennies i believe

Even the older houses I know, many have boarded up fireplaces in many rooms. Not just 1 room.

@Pyewhacket
I'm sure you're aware, but if not (and possibly for anyone else thinking the same thing), please don't just start using fireplaces that you haven't used / used for a while, it could a lethal disaster.

Frozen pipes are a risk with no heating at all. If you can manage an hour or two…
but definitely see if you can get some insulation to any exposed external pipes, it’ll help.

My fear is a hard cold winter after this very hot summer we’ve had - historically it seems to swing hard with extremes!

This. We had the thermostat at 15 degrees for three hours a day in February. It was chilly but not freezing, 16 in January was comfortable (previously used to 17 in morning, evening, and often weekend daytime if we were home).

I've lived overseas without heating, short mild winters but as low as single digits inside, it's those temperatures that were difficult to cope with.

Draught excluders on all doors and (wooden framed) windows all sealed with frost tape. We do have a couple of electric fires/heaters which are used around the house in the depths of winter. All windows have thermal, heavy curtains or Roman blinds and they’re usually drawn just before it goes dark to keep the heat in. It’s a bit of effort and not what a lot of people are used to, certainly, (my brother and family walk around in shorts and T-shirt all year round with house at 20 degrees) but other than when I lived in a flat during my 20s, I’ve never known living in a house to be any different and I honestly don’t even think about it.

Sounds great. I bet it reeks of damp.

My old house never got above 16 degrees with the central heating on! You need to wear layers but it's ok - warm slippers are a must. At 12 degrees (inside) I used to light the coal fire (I hated doing it so let it get that cold) . I've moved, don't put the heating on much at all