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AIBU?

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Original poster

Student house of freezing teenagers - heating on? No

177 replies

Uneek · 23/11/2022 21:12

My DD lives in a student rental with 5 others, with rent and bills split evenly between them. A couple of them are refusing to put the heating on. When my DD has suggested having it on with the thermostat set at a low temp, one of them said she should just put another jumper on. When DD said she would buy a plug in electric heater for her bedroom, the 'put another jumper on' student said she would not pay towards the electricity for the heater as it costs more than gas.

This has turned into a competition to see how long they can go with no heating. 'Another jumper on' student even suggested seeing if they can last until Christmas!

Has anyone else come across this issue? Suggestions on how to stop a war breaking out in this house and allow them to defrost...

OP posts:
ancientgran · 23/11/2022 22:30

Happened to one of my kids, they were in the coldest room as they had a huge single glazed window but the others wouldn't budge. We found another student looking for a room from January so we got that sorted and rented her a small flat, cost us a lot but it was making her ill. Annoyingly she later found out that some of the most militant ones had small electric heaters in their rooms.

Lockheart · 23/11/2022 22:30

Ah uni. I remember we refused to put the heating on before December, it was an unwritten house rule!

This is nothing new tbh. Students have never had a lot of money. She can get an electric heater for her room and contribute more towards the electric bill, no need for any arguing.

FeelingwearyFeeelingsmall · 23/11/2022 22:32

I think people are being a bit over dramatic here. Unless there are specific health issues being cold won't do them any harm. Most people over 50 grew up in houses that never had the heating in because CH was for the wealthy only. We got by with unheated bedrooms and bathrooms and just had coal fires/gas fires in the main living rooms. Plus the occasional paraffin heater/calor gas heater. Most of us oldies have stories of being able to see our breath indoors and making patterns by pressing pennies into the frost on the inside of our bedroom windows. Most of us led normal healthy lives and lived to tell the tale.

KatherineJaneway · 23/11/2022 22:33

How about agreeing set times in a day when the heating can be put on? I lived in a bedsit with pre-determined heating, maybe that would work here.

PyongyangKipperbang · 23/11/2022 22:35

The thing is that some kids really do have to watch every last penny as their parents cant afford to contribute to their uni upkeep. I couldnt as my marriage had just ended when DD went to Uni and I was keeping me, 4 kids and a mortgage on one wage. As it was, her bills were included but if they werent, she would probably have felt the same and kept the heating off as long as possible as even an extra £10 a month would have been difficult to find.

So I do have some sympathy for her housemates if they are in that situation.

AliceMcK · 23/11/2022 22:36

Electric blanket, throw and foot warmer. Keep them in her locked room. Also keep filling the hot water bottle and wheat pack.

ancientgran · 23/11/2022 22:36

QS90 · 23/11/2022 21:47

Is your DD young and in good health? If so, no harm will come to her either way.

If I were her I'd just buy an oil heater for my room though, never mind what the No Criac Jumper Patrol said, if it's really that chilly.

Actually if it's cold and damp with mould it might well make her ill.

PyongyangKipperbang · 23/11/2022 22:37

And lets face it, there are more than a few people on MN who havent not the heating on, not because they wont but because they cant. I dont tell people my house is like an icebox and I spent a weeks worth of electricity money on Primark knock off Oodies for the me and the kids as they will keep us warmer for longer than a weeks work of electric. I say that we dont feel the cold......

Babyroobs · 23/11/2022 22:38

If they can't pay extortionate heating costs they don't have much choice. I'm not sure how some students manage without parental support. My ds's loan isn't enough to live off and pay rent we have to help him quite a bit.

Pigriver · 23/11/2022 22:38

Ugh I had a housemate like this. Called us all wimps and swanned around in a vest to prove we were being silly. She was a right tight arse and saved every last penny then ended up buying a house outright at 26. Made us all bloody miserable.
Other classic student housemate types included the one who wouldn't buy loo roll and kept his own stash, the one who wouldn't even leave his plate in the kitchen in case someone used it, and the others who couldn't give a flying fuck, would leave the heat on and all windows open, the one who moved out last and didn't do her portion of the cleaning and lost us all the deposit. Don't think I ever shared with anyone sane (must have had at least 15 housemates over the years)

TheMarzipanDildo · 23/11/2022 22:38

FeelingwearyFeeelingsmall · 23/11/2022 22:32

I think people are being a bit over dramatic here. Unless there are specific health issues being cold won't do them any harm. Most people over 50 grew up in houses that never had the heating in because CH was for the wealthy only. We got by with unheated bedrooms and bathrooms and just had coal fires/gas fires in the main living rooms. Plus the occasional paraffin heater/calor gas heater. Most of us oldies have stories of being able to see our breath indoors and making patterns by pressing pennies into the frost on the inside of our bedroom windows. Most of us led normal healthy lives and lived to tell the tale.

Yeah but presumably they don’t have a usable chimney so no fires. Currently OPs daughter has no way to heat her room whatsoever.

dubyalass · 23/11/2022 22:39

Oh god, memories of fighting over the heating with a housemate - he refused to have the heating on, and everyone else pandered to him. We had a huge draughty house but single glazing and no draught excluders or insulation. Ice on the inside of windows. Fuck it was cold. I recall coming down one morning after a party, someone had left the front door open and it had snowed overnight - there was a snowdrift in the hall!

ancientgran · 23/11/2022 22:40

FeelingwearyFeeelingsmall · 23/11/2022 22:32

I think people are being a bit over dramatic here. Unless there are specific health issues being cold won't do them any harm. Most people over 50 grew up in houses that never had the heating in because CH was for the wealthy only. We got by with unheated bedrooms and bathrooms and just had coal fires/gas fires in the main living rooms. Plus the occasional paraffin heater/calor gas heater. Most of us oldies have stories of being able to see our breath indoors and making patterns by pressing pennies into the frost on the inside of our bedroom windows. Most of us led normal healthy lives and lived to tell the tale.

I used to work in a very old building, it was hard to heat and prone to damp. One winter I developed a cough, it went on and on, GP sent me for an xray, I had antibiotics, eventually I had as asthma inhaler.

I had a holiday and while I was off my office was decorated, as they stripped the paper off they were showered with spores from black mould. The wall was treated and redecorated. The heating was improved. I was cured.

Cold damp building do make people ill.

TheMarzipanDildo · 23/11/2022 22:41

ancientgran · 23/11/2022 22:40

I used to work in a very old building, it was hard to heat and prone to damp. One winter I developed a cough, it went on and on, GP sent me for an xray, I had antibiotics, eventually I had as asthma inhaler.

I had a holiday and while I was off my office was decorated, as they stripped the paper off they were showered with spores from black mould. The wall was treated and redecorated. The heating was improved. I was cured.

Cold damp building do make people ill.

Show quote history

And this

WhirlyTwirly · 23/11/2022 22:41

We didn’t even have heating in my 1st year when I was a student 🥶 I had an oil filled radiator (freezing attic room), we had a prepaid key and I just offered to contribute a bit more. TBH it didn’t use much electricity. I left it on low all the time. Could your DD do similar?

To be fair, I’ve not had the heating on much yet, it’s not that cold here. We do have economy 7 though so it’s on for an hour in the morning between 5:30-6:30 am. It’s also in for an hour early eve depending on how cold it is.

Aquamarine1029 · 23/11/2022 22:41

What are these geniuses going to do when the pipes freeze?

ClaudineClare · 23/11/2022 22:47

FeelingwearyFeeelingsmall · 23/11/2022 22:32

I think people are being a bit over dramatic here. Unless there are specific health issues being cold won't do them any harm. Most people over 50 grew up in houses that never had the heating in because CH was for the wealthy only. We got by with unheated bedrooms and bathrooms and just had coal fires/gas fires in the main living rooms. Plus the occasional paraffin heater/calor gas heater. Most of us oldies have stories of being able to see our breath indoors and making patterns by pressing pennies into the frost on the inside of our bedroom windows. Most of us led normal healthy lives and lived to tell the tale.

It was shit living like that though and people got ill from the condensation and mould. We were supposed to have progressed, but now things are going backwards. It is unacceptable.

PeppermintyPatty · 23/11/2022 22:48

Our student house had ancient storage heaters which didn’t really work, and massive single glazed windows. I had a small fan heater which I used sparingly and spent a lot of time in an enormous thick dressing gown, with thick socks. I slept in a hoodie. Ultimately I was fine.

GnomeDePlume · 23/11/2022 22:51

@Bigbadmama Hull 1986. I dont think student accommodation had improved.

Agapornis · 23/11/2022 22:52

To the PPs being all nostalgic, is not having had central heating 40-50 years ago relevant right now? Do you feel young people should suffer/live the same way you did? Having central heating is progress, no?

Get your DD a heater for the day and an electric blanket for the night.

ChillyFingers · 23/11/2022 22:57

I was quite relieved DS was going into halls this year (nice new building) with utilities included thinking at least he won’t have to worry about being cold. Surprise, surprise, the heating system has been ‘broken’ for the last 2 weeks and he’s been freezing.

Ameadowwalk · 23/11/2022 23:00

My daughter’s house has a clause which says that they need to heat the house to a minimum temperature. So no arguments, the thermostat is set to that temperature.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 23/11/2022 23:03

Staying warm: What does an unheated room do to your body? www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501

SomeBeings · 23/11/2022 23:04

Mummyoflittledragon · 23/11/2022 22:24

If you go for the discreetly buy a radiator route, I have just bought an oil filled heater from screwfix - 1.5kwh. It came in a plain brown cardboard box with no indication of the content. The cheapest was £30. I bought the programmable at £35. Delivery is a bit hefty at £5/6 though but I got it on a next day.

That would be about 50p an hour to run. That would soon add up but maybe the OPs daughter could offer to pay for using it.

Justtheonethanks9099 · 23/11/2022 23:07

realmsofglory · 23/11/2022 21:53

just put it on and F**k the others

That's the spirit!!