To wish people would stop saying “just put a jumper on”?

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There have been sooo many thread over the years with people saying how no one really needs heating - how e.g. 16 degrees is positively sweltering - and if you feel the cold you should just put a jumper on and a bit of cold never hurt anyone…

This is complete rubbish and I think this myth needs to be debunked. It’s not helpful. Of course many people are being forced to have their heating off but that does not mean this is good for their physical or mental health.

I was prompted to start this thread as I was listening to a radio 4 science programme that tackled this topic head on. In summary:

• when we get really cold (e.g. a room at 10 degrees) our body has to work really hard to keep our core warm and this places great strain on our body - increased heart rate, blood pressure, decreased congnitive ability, etc;

• surprisingly, for a lot of people 23 degrees is the right temperature if you are just sitting around - this does not surprise me as if I am working from home, if I have my thermostat set to 19.5 degrees, I still have to wear ugg slippers and a big jumper;

• getting chilled does make you likely to get sick - this is because we are constantly being exposed to viruses, which we do fight off (the cold virus in particular) but when we get chilled our body’s immune response is severely impaired.

I love this thread ……. 15c in our house tonight watching telly in hoodies fleecy joggers and slippers ( no blanket ). Not had the heating on yet this year and have a wood burner with a mountain of wood ( free / foraged ) and not had that on yet either. For the time of year it’s really mild…..it’s got to be 5c or below outside to be cold.

This discussion is getting a bit silly. It’s nonsense to say that in the past people had no heating. They didn’t have gas central heating - but they did have other heating!

It is 20 degrees in my London flat- not had any heating on since February - it is set to come on at 14 degrees. Maybe flat living is the answer! I am in a t shirt.

As a child we had frost inside the windows of our Victorian house
I room was heated with a 4 bar elastic fire and we had an AGA in kitchen
Went to bed in pjs, jumper and socks, hot water bottle each night and wrapped up in 2 duvets -like a snake

You just get used to it.

I grew up in a house without heating
Aga in kitchen
Electric fire in 1 room-out playroom/tv room
There were fireplaces in most rooms but they didnt have coal fires lit in them except the dining room at Christmas.
No heating in bedrooms

@TheOnlyBeeInYourBonnet I've lived in both (well NZ, not Aus, but same thing 🤣) I think it is more damp in the U.K. & that does make it feel colder. It also just depends what you're used to. I lived in this house for a few years before I put the CH in. It was flaming freezing & windows dripping. I HATED coming home from work knowing it would be bloody freezing & that there was no point putting the oil filled radiator on because by the time it heated up the lounge, it would be time for bed, but the house feeling cold & damp was sodding miserable.

the first winter after I had the CH was bliss!! Just bring about your program it to take the chill off the house before I arrived home.

the 'what temperature?' Things is a POINTLESS bloody competition. Where people have their thermostat makes an enormous difference. If I put my thermostat on the little table by the radiator and set it to 18, it'll be warm. If I put the thermostat (set to 18) by an open window the house will be roasting because the radiators will be pumping out heat to try to get to 18°.

Enjoy your summer ☀️ 🍹 😊

For people working at home, the best, cheap method to keep warm is to do 20 jumping jacks every ten minutes.

I've lived in rental properties where there's been ice on the windows on the inside when it's particularly cold. I've also experienced seeing my own breath inside my home as I breath out. Putting a jumper on makes no difference as long as your face and hands are really cold. I use fingerless gloves on my laptop when the temperature's like that, but they don't really help. To feel warm extremities (hands, feet) need to be warm, but you can't really cover your face, or cover over your whole hands if you need them to work with. Now, if I can afford to have my thermostat turned up, I will.

@BogRollBOGOF Jumpers and other clothing rely on trapping your body heat. If you layer up when you're warm, they're pretty useful.
When you're cold, your body will direct blood circulation and heat to the core and leave the extremities to go cold. Layering up at this point isn't very effective because there's not much surface heat to retain, and an external heat source will help.

This! As I tell my children every year when we go camping. Put your jumper on before you start to feel the cold. It's much easier to maintain the body heat you already have than try to generate it when you're cold.

Did he notice how cold you get? Can you change the thermostat? I want to give you hug after reading that!

We bought an old house no heating for a year bar the log burner. Think I got acclimatised. For the next 20 years heating on morning 2 hours evening four hours.

I open windows in the winter during the day when cleaning, never heat the bedroom. Since menopause ten years ago I still am too hot at night. We have put a log burner in this year in our newish home. I missed it.

House at 20, mid terrace, would prefer 23 def, heating off.
i have Parkinson’s, and not working affects my walking badly, so much for the more active bridge if only…….
my ex DH used to want heating at 15 fars too cold

Well, the programme (I listened too) had scientific data. Meaning the 23C was some kind of average and the scientist stressed not everybody needed the same temp, but the majority do. And it was for someone sedentary and from what I could tell it was in shorts and T-shirt. So everybody saying they're fine at 16C with jumpers, oodies, a heated blanket and a water bottle, isn't actually ok at 16C!

Interestingly it was also said that women should control the thermostat because men can be fine at temperatures women are comfortable at, but less true the other way around. Again, as an average (so if you're different, that doesn't disprove the data!).

18 degrees for me
19 tops.
Can’t bear
a stuffy house.

25 degrees, I’m flaked out in front of a fan

My mum
used to have the house at 13 degrees C

Insanely, awfully cold.
Breath pluming- Wretched.
It was after Dad died and she couldn’t afford to heat the place ( Big old house)
She wore coats indoors.
gloves.
hat.

Thankfully downsized to a 2 up, 2 down pretty terrace, so neighbs keep her warmer.

I hate how these threads turn out. There's inevitably a kind of sneering disdain for anyone who feels the cold and prefers a warmer house. Almost as if preferring warmer temperatures makes you some kind of inferior weakling.

I live in a Victorian property and put the heating on for the house as much as myself.

Well if they don’t want to put a jumper on, then put the heating on. But stop moaning about the prices.

I agree with your post @TheOnlyBeeInYourBonnet. I'm in NZ and it gets pretty cold here in winter, but most of us just heat the room we spend most time in. I'm warm in bed with no heating in the room - and most of us don't have double glazing. I have a heat pump now, but before then I never turned any heating on in the mornings before I went to work.

I could have a jumper on, but if my hands or feet are cold then I can't warm up. And it is impractical to wear gloves all the time. I am lucky it hasn't been cold yet, so I haven't had to put the heating on, I'm still doing the school run in a t-shirt - when it's not raining. Also I am perimenopausal so running hot quite a bit lately.

I'm freezing so I'm using my fan heater, I'm on a low wage. Luckily I happen to have built up a big credit with my gas/electric since ex moved out as usage went down but I kept paying the same £200 a month. So I'm chuffing using it. I only heat one room. Jumpers and socks etc just don't cut it in my draughty house.

Yes, a hot water bottle makes all the difference.

A knit hat at night is quite nice too.

I can't help but think that as there are homeless people literally freezing living on the streets, we can cope being inside our homes with layers, blankets and hot water bottles.

I'm not saying it isn't cold and uncomfortable when you can't afford to heat the house. I am in this situation myself, we are watching every penny on the smart meter, but there are definitely people worse off out there.

YANBU, op. But there are people who just don't want to hear about it. Clearly.

Ideally there'd be no energy poverty, people would never have to be uncomfortably cold or at risk of illness because of money.

And at the same time, power would be punitively expensive for well-off people who heat every corner of their house to 23 degrees 24/7 so they can sit on their bums all day and 'not wear outdoor clothes' while destroying the planet.

That's my first order of business if I become PM!

I’ve put the heating on briefly a few times in the last month. It doesn’t feel cold enough to have the heating on yet, and if I’m sitting I have a blanket and if I’m moving it isn’t cold. Normally, I’d have the heating on in November because it was a lot colder but the world is heating up and that’s really bad.