Is competitive underheating the new competitive undereating?

[DucklingDaisy]

I don’t mean people saying they’re trying to minimise it because of the cost, more people insisting that 17 degrees is actually sweltering and they don’t see why anyone could possibly need more. Is it unfair to assume they’re the same people who insist they’re stuffed after a small salad?

I can totally imagine that tbh

No. From the

"i have 3 pairs of socks on and am not feeling well but heating is just not going to go on for the greedy companies to make money"

"Well you just don't feel well but I am actually seriously unwell and house is at 5 degrees. Damned if I put it on! People are wimps"

"Well my house is at 3 degrees. Had 7 layers on a duvet. Bit miserable but it's good for the planet".

You can quickly spot people who have actual money issues amongst these Misery Olympics.

I have an app that shows me exactly when my boiler goes on and off.

I have my heating on for less time than that poster and yet my normally cold flat is warm all day, no hot water bottles or blankets for me.

On colder days the times go up, when it was 4c the heating was on for 2.5 hours total, but if I wanted to save money I would drop the temp to 17c. I wouldn't constantly be turning the heating on and off myself.

If you don't have a thermostat then leaving the heating on low all day won't save money, but if you let the thermostat do it's thing it's much more efficient.

@Luellie yes as others have said, the thermostat temperature will not accurately indicate how cold or hot the house feels, in some houses which get warm quickly but then lose the heat slowly if the thermostat is set at 16 or 17 it may be fine- but even then most thermostats only tell you the heat in that one specific zone. But in other houses where they warm up slowly and (often the same) lose the heat quickly and have a draft which lowers the heat in particular areas they will still be a lot colder in most areas- some may never even reach the thermostat temperature (this is particularly bad where the thermostat is is a lovely warm sunny area of the house), and if the heat is lost then it will still be a lot colder. I think of it like boiling a pan of water with or without a lid.

MN is a fickle place.

If the temperature drops below 17, people get respiratory illness.

Above 20, dogs start keeling over on the footpath.

@Orangepolentacake You don’t own a coat? Sure an example right here of what the OP is talking about, everyone

But that's the problem isn't it? It doesn't matter what anyone says because you aren't believed either way. If I had had said I had a new coat for everyday of the week, or I have coats but never wear them you still wouldn't believe me.

As it happens my post is entirely true but there's nothing I can do about the fact that you don't believe it 🤷🏼‍♀️

You will be pleased to know that I don't use chickens that last a month, or change my bedding everyday, or wash my towels after every use, that my utility bills are huge, and I don't think that one meal a day is more than enough. I just don't own a coat.

Yep. Then there's going to be loads of people discovering everything at the back of their cupboards is damp and musty because the house hasn't been heated for so long. Or lots of coughs and health issues - I remember chill blanes as a kid as back about 40 years ago we didn't have central heating then stuck out toes in front of the fire to warm them up. OMG they were torture. We have central heating to make our lives better, it's daft not to use it!

We've already seen posts from landlords really concerned they're going to end up with serious issues because tenants aren't heating the place sufficiently to prevent damp and mould.

People can sod off, to be honest. I had my heating on a couple of times in September, in the evenings in October, and from about mid November I've had it on all day. It's set to 20 degrees. Life is too short to be cold and we're in £700 credit anyway thanks to DSS moving to university.

i am not in competition!
there are reasons for not putting on my heating wilynily
you have your reasons for putting it on
our reasons dont affect each other, apart from the climate crisis!

I have started to have mine on at 18 on a timer from 7am - 8pm as I WFH. I could look at it as if I were going into the office everyday on the train, it would cost more than me heating the house while I’m home. But I do wonder why such high earners are refusing to put their heating on, why would you sit in a cold house if you don’t have to.

saving the planet

Estimates are that heating is about 19% of uk's emissions which includes workplaces so it is only few percent from houses.
In grand scheme of things, not putting heating on for environment is like farting on a windy coast. It goes poof before it has chance to make some effect.

That all will be anyway counteracted by all the building works which will be needed to remedy damp and cold damage🤷🏻 oh and all the plastic shedding of the oodies and such....

I usually work on the basis that most posters are either exaggerating or being deliberately misleading about having the heating on/doing laundry every 20 seconds/meal planning/Xmas Eve boxes...or whatever and it is entertaining from my point of view, but there are clearly people that believe every word posted and feel inadequate as a result when there is absolutely no need to as it is mostly fantasy

Indeed it is. You can spot them a mile off if you've been here a while, but you could see how it might make others feel inadequate if they're taking people at face value.

I think sometimes people are posting an ideal, rather than what they'd actually do/have done. So not blatant lying as such? Actually it still is fibbing really!

Nah, everyone is different.

I benefit from this as people are now heating their houses more to my liking. It is what it is.

We have the heating on low but 24/7. I find that far more comfortable than houses that boost the heating up high for a couple of hours a day.

My ILs were astonished when they were told that the thermostat was set to 16 - it actually feels warmer because all the surfaces etc warm up to the median temp, rather than perpetually cooling down.

This!

We have room thermometers - and in one house we rented 18 was bloody freezing and house didn't retain the heat well either. We finally realised it was extremely damp house and a de-humidifier made a huge impact - though we could have done with serval and they were out of financial reach.

In this house 15 often feel fine - but I have put the heat on because the humidity meters have at times shown it to be really damp 75% humidify despite open windows and de-humidifiers - weather repots had it worse outside for most of that week and so wet drying washing outside was non starter.

I largely think we have inaccurate thermometers (or them placed in very different locations). Most houses will be somewhere between 14 and 19 degrees without heating just now.

I am dubious of some of the 'my house is six degrees ' as the November temperatures have been high.

I did live in these kind of temperatures in 2010 when it was basically frozen from November to February but we are nothing like that at the moment.

I think you can be chilly now but that we have some way to go before proper winter hits.

And no, I don't live somewhere warm. I'm in North Scotland!

I also don't really get the "what temperature is your house?" type questions.

As has been pointed out upthread, houses are all different. The outside temperature varies depending on your location. Some houses are very draughty, some are detached with single glazing, some are very well insulated. Whether I have the heating on (or not) depends on what I have been doing. If I am sitting sewing then I will get colder a lot quicker than if I have been in the garden sweeping up leaves/doing the hoovering/cleaning the windows etc etc.

Even if you get 100 replies saying 15, 20, 22, 8 degrees (other temperatures are available) then so what? I keep the heating at a level which is comfortable/affordable for me.

Also "how much do you spend on electricity a day?" Well it depends if I am doing the washing, baking bread, using the jet washer or just sitting browsing on MN. My water is heated by gas so it will be a very different figure from someone who has an immersion heater or someone who has an electric hob.

There is no "one size fits all" and there are so many variables that the answers are meaningless.

Nothing wrong with all the threads with useful tips for keeping bills low, but knowing the temperature of the home of a complete stranger is not particularly useful (and we have no way of knowing whether it is made up in the first place anyway).

Does your boiler tell you the temperature? Mine confirms what my room thermometers say. I moved them all together to triple check and they all read the same.

It's weird because 16 and 14 don't feel much different to me but 13 was unbearable ( well I could bare it as no choice, but my god, that's uncomfortably cold!

I'm getting way too much pleasure watching my credit balance at Octopus increase each month. They insisted on putting it up but I'm not prepared to line the industry pockets any more than I have to

Except by watching your credit balance increase you're doing exactly that, surely?

MN is a fickle place.

If the temperature drops below 17, people get respiratory illness.

Above 20, dogs start keeling over on the footpath.

Indeed. After reading a post the other day warning that below 18.5 degrees precisely, blood thickens and death from complete organ shutdown will follow within days, I now suspect that some on MN are actually reptiles.

It's weird because 16 and 14 don't feel much different to me but 13 was unbearable ( well I could bare it as no choice, but my god, that's uncomfortably cold!
I feel the same, but am happy with the heating off and the house between 16-18⁰ during the day with a jumper on but at 15⁰ I'll be complaining that the North Pole itself has moved in.

Most people I know seem to have their house between 16-20⁰

I wonder if some mix up F with C temperature in their posts. Like they read something but it meant F, however, poster assumed C.
Like 18F is -7C. Then the description fully fits

Surely most people would notice the difference between +18 and -7 in their homes? No water coming out of the taps would be a bit of a clue.

I don't mean it is actually in their homes (we didn't have temp for that yet)😁 but more that they read article in F, thought it means C so now claim 18C can end up deadly.