Why do Brits live in darkness except for December?

[Swedegirl48]

I am Swedish and at home if you walk down a street, most houses will have lamps in some of the windows, outside lights and usually people don’t draw curtains so you can see the lights from within the houses. I was asking British DH today why Brits tend to light up their houses so enthusiastically in December, but the rest of the year people draw their curtains and no one seems to put lamps in the windows (at least not where we live which is London). I am the only person in my street who has a lamp in every window of my house and leave some on overnight too. I think I am trying to overcompensate for my very dark street.

Renewable energy still has an environmental cost. Windfarms are pretty brutal on bogs, birds and bats.
Better to use less than to burn energy.

I love fairylights on houses and warm soft lamps..
But fkn bright white floodlights can get in the bin. Especially motion activated ones.
I live in a valley and there's one that wakes me up all the time by shining directly in my face thru the curtains.. and I have dark curtains.. I don't wake up early with the sun in summer or anything.. this floodlight I swear to God it's like a police helicopter search light.. or a football stadium light.
And the worst thing is it's right across the valley so I can't pinpoint which house it's coming from exactly to go and complain!!
Wtf they trying to protect in there??
Think it must he a james bond supervillains lair. Bunch of cunts.

I think warm lamps in windows are nice.

You offered a reason to have lamps in windows is to make murder less likely. You then went on to mention serial killers twice! No one else mentioned them!

Absolutely. I fling all the windows open as soon as everyone is dressed. The back door too. After 20 years, DH has finally got into the habit too.

I did!

I grew up in Asia and thought the same when i first came to UK 25 years ago. My in laws are English - they watch TV in near darkness and always frown when i turn on their lights if it is before 8pm. Neighbours also seem to do to the same.

I think you need to read the thread again.

We have lights on inside, I hate it when we rent a holiday cottage and the lighting is dingy. I also like ceiling lights rather than faffing around with umpteen switches. I sew, knit and do jigsaws so like to see what I'm doing, unless we're having sex on the sofa, then the fact that the curtains are closed is very useful and stops us getting hauled off by the plod

That's just awful. Here the street lights are on the whole time it is dark. I've been out - not particularly late - when the electricity has been off and it's a nightmare trying to find your way around in darkness. I'm happy to walk the streets alone in the dark, but no way would I be doing it in an area with no lighting.

Millions of people in the UK light up the outside of their houses - we just call them Security Lights and have them at the door instead of in the windows. Same usage of power so not an environmental consideration like some are suggesting.

No need

I like lamps , i have only 2 in my living room at the front of the house , then one tall lamp at the back where my kitchen /dining room is .
Upstairs all the bedrooms and the upstairs hall have them and I switch them all on when it is beginning to get dark .
I wish I had more , especially in the front hall but the front hallway isn’t wide enough to accommodate a table for a lamp .
when I’m walking my dog in the dark , like to see homes with lights on , it looks welcoming

Motion lighting is so very good. DD lives at the end of a cul de sac with a picket fence dividing it and another cul de sac, it’s all very dark with no street lighting and a copse. They have motion recording doorbell. It flicked on in the early hours of one particular morning, what wild life did they see on on their recording you may ask….…
climbing over the fence a barefooted man only wearing a pair of underpants.

I'd love to see a photo of your lamps OP.

OP, do you really think posting a thread, explaining how you live in the UK, yet state ' It feels very unfriendly on UK streets' because we don't do what people do back in Sweden, was going to get you a good response?

You cannot be that dense. Insulting peoples nation and calling it 'unfriendly' is a bit offensive to be honest. Even more so all over them not having enough lamps for fucks sake. Culture yourself a bit better.

For crying out loud. It was a light hearted post! How on earth has @Swedegirl48 been 'insulting people's nation' 🙄. She did nothing of the sort. She asked a question about why Brits do things a certain way, on a British forum. Go figure!

And when people speak English as a second language sometimes the nuances don't always translate. In Sweden, it would be seen as unwelcoming to keep your house pitch black, because in our culture creating
a warm, cosy and inviting house is what you do. So to her, it feels unfriendly. It does to me too.

She then got piled on and accused of causing global warming, ruining her poor husbands finances with her light bills, her neighbours mental health and god knows what else.

Maybe YOU should 'culture yourself abit better' @Toenailz You will be telling her to go back to where she comes from next....

@Swedegirl48 maybe we do ought to 'culture ourselves' abit better, coming here with all our lamps and all sorts....

Funny thing is I got a 'window lamp' from my mum at Christmas, as she thinks my window is 'unfriendly'. But I have no flipping window sill to put it on!!!
🫣😬😅

Well someone is keen to prove that the streets of the uk are unfriendly.

I can’t imagine being so delicate that I couldn’t cope with someone doing something differently to me.

Late to the party…but I would totally join a lamp thread. I love them!

(imagine me sitting in my house with the drapes open on a winter night wit a soft glow of lights from the inside)

ETA… not in the UK, so can’t help with original question.

Culture myself a bit better? 😅Am I supposed to just post how super grateful I am to live in your wonderful nation? Is this part of why I am getting some super weird responses? A foreigner putting forward some negative views when I should be busy posting about how super grateful I am for the NhS? Well I am not. I would fly back in a shot of if I ever thought I needed medical treatment. The NHS is the most terrifying thing I have ever come across, but this thread is about lamps, so let’s keep cool 👌

Love fellow lamp lover. We need a separate thread!

This is Steve… I got him from neighbors who were moving and rewired him.

Yes, with Alexa all my lamps have names now 🤣

Wow some very uptight people on this thread! Op I love your attitude and your responses 😆
lol at the poster who said you shouldn’t be critical of the UK and expect any other kind of response from people than what you got…I mean, really?! How childish.

Also big haha to people citing the environment and light pollution as a reason. I don’t think many people protest about Xmas lights on the same basis. And I bet most people shouting about the environment don’t really do much in their day to day life to minimise their impact. Many of us have cars, don’t recycle, heating on constantly, multiple trips abroad, buying “unnecessary” shit, tv on all the time - we’re all making choices on the things important to us, and who am I to say someone shouldn’t have a lamp in every window but it’s ok for me to drive my car everywhere with just me in it?!

I was walking on Xmas day evening and there was no one around and despite the Christmas lights I have to agree with you, the houses all shut up and dark it felt very lonely and uninviting borderline scary being outside with no signs of life about. Having lamps on sounds lovely, and is not going to add that much light pollution.

(beware the serial killers everywhere though just walking around waiting to find someone in a well lit house with no curtains😂)

But I do like outdoor solar lights as I find them cheerful. I'm not keen on the dark.

I'd love more details about Swedish living Op.
I've also fallen down a rabbit hole by googling Louis Poulsen lamps!💡😀