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.

You do not have that right if you live in a built up area.
Go live alone on the moors or something!
If you live around other houses you have no right to make everyone sit in darkness.
As I've said people work shifts.. people might be awake for other reasons.. in the summer they might be sat in their gardens.. in the winter they might want to light up their windows and porch so they can see what they are doing when they get home or just to cheer themselves up..
If you live in a place with lots of other people you need to accept they may be living different lives.. there will always be a certain level of light and noise. You don't get to dictate when everything is dark and silent beyond reasonable levels required by law.

Yet the poster concerned confirmed that was what they were getting at? Ah well, never mind. Not worth bickering about.

pollution, cost of having the bloody things on, remembering to turn them off, take your pick. I have just logged onto my energy account and seen what heat and light for December has cost me and I felt faint. I am really careful, god only knows what my bill would be if i had lights glowing in every window. It would also mean I would get every piss head in the area peering thought the glass, so it is curtains closed for me and a small side light on.

This person is plain nasty, angry at the world and just a pain to communicate with. Just leave them be. Wish they would take a one way ticket to deepest darkest Peru 😂

People don't want others peering into their homes. Lights or a clear path of vision into the room could encourage opportunist burglary.

I heard in some Nordic countries people leave their babies unattended in the street in their pram. I guess it must be a more safe, welcoming type culture.

British people are very much 'stay off my land, don't stare at me or my house' it's all very suspicion driven I think.

It’s a wonder your stupid lamps havnt been smashed by disgruntled neighbours. There’s a baby next door ffs

How are OP's lamps going to bother a baby living next door?

@Swedegirl48 you have been very good humoured in this thread. I am sorry people have been so rude to you.

Depends where you live. It isn't like that where I live.

This winds me up so much as a night shift worker. I'm expected to sleep with blazing sunlight, people shouting and singing with not a care in the world, full traffic...
But God forbid someone have a lamp on in their window at night!!
Cannot believe how precious and uptight some people are.
You live in a built up area with other human beings. Get a grip.
Unless someone is genuinely causing a nuisance shouting and screaming, playing loud music all night.. or pointing a searchlight through your front window.. then calm tf down.
Or save up your money so you can go and live in the wilderness.

Well this isn't true, because where I live in London plenty of people leave their front window uncovered for a bit after dark in December. I put it down to "it goes dark at 4pm so feels too early to draw the curtains" but one of my favourite things is walking about in December and seeing everyone's lights, trees etc. Whole roads, dozens and dozens of houses and flats, and you can see their lights. It's lovely.

I think it sounds lovely. I wouldn’t do it as I don’t like people peering in. I wouldn’t care about the cost as it’s pennies so I find it absurd that people are banging on about that.

Hi OP. We are Brits living in Sweden and were having the exact same conversation just yesterday. I can’t imagine the kommun turning out the streetlights and almost every house has outdoor lights. It’s the Swedish way, and it makes the long, dark, days semi-bearable. the Swedes are far more environmentally friendly than the Brits in other ways.

when we go back to the UK I feel unsafe going out at night in our old hometown. Hard to see where you’re going as the pavements are awful and uneven.

My mum lives in the countryside and when the streetlights go out, the darkness swallows you whole. There are no pavements and it’s not safe to walk the dog after dark because drivers just won’t see you in time.

I’ll admit though that after many years in Sweden I’ve never gotten used to the no-curtains thing. We are the only house in our street to lower the blinds at night ☺️

Well no I want to live in northern Scotland where it’s cold and dark. I’m absolutely dreading summer here. It makes me so angry and depressed. Light and fucking noise everywhere. Everywhere packed out - no space

I don't have curtains in my living room and I never close the blinds. Nothing bad has ever happened. I think the fear of crime is drummed into us by the tabloids and 24 hour doom-filled news.

Also, as pp have said, bulbs cost very little to run.

I do 🤷🏽‍♀️

People seem to think we use floodlights or something. It’s not done in that way, on the contrary it’s very understated and we switch them off when we sleep.

Swedes and Brits are very different culturally when it comes to privacy though so that will probably explain the whole shut the curtains so nobody can see you thing. That along with not being allowed upstairs or in bedrooms in peoples homes and not being naked in gym changing rooms /swimmingpool showers/saunas plus not talking about money is very alien to Swedes.

None of them are wrong per se, it’s just a different culture.

Anyway here’s an example of an offending lit up window. It’s hardly blinding people.

Street lighting isnt bright enough to walk around with, I have to have a torch, you can see better if you walk in the road becuase street lamps are designed to throw the light into the road, for drivers. Not for pedestirans

Its a gamble as to whether you're going to go flying over uneven paving or tread in dog shit on an evening walk, the shadow walking past a parked car means its pitch black on the pavement.

ARRRGGGH MY EYES!!!

Oh I LOVE snooping into other people’s homes at dusk. It’s my no1 guilty pleasure. But generally Brits don’t like to be stared AT.

@PandoraSox I think British culture is more about the individual than society as a whole. Maybe that plays a part? I'm sure living in a big city is different from a village or smaller town though.

So sorry, should have put a warning on to use sunglasses 😌

@Swedegirl48 don't you feel vulnerable with your downstairs curtains open when you have your lights on knowing that everyone can see you? I would hate to think that everyone can watch what I am doing in my living room in the evening.

Our living room would feel very dark with the curtains open. We have light coloured curtains that reflect the light back into the room. Also, they offer a good layer of insulation against the cold. I notice it when I open the curtains in the morning just how cold it feels near the windows.

My parents taught me to always switch off lights on exiting a room. Consequently it feels wasteful to light a room if I'm not in it or if there's no valid reason for the light to be on.

Do you not have street lights in Sweden? We close the curtains so the street lights don't disturb us when we are sleeping and to keep the heat in. I don't see the purpose of having lamps in the window.

I have been burgled three times, there is open drug dealing in my area , I was seriously sexually assaulted while walking home from work a mere 10 minutes away from my home so I guess I have a lot of reasons to be more cautious than you. I have locks on all the windows, multiple locks on the front and back (reinforced) door. Once when I was in the bath I heard a loud noise, so i wrapped a towel around myself, came downstairs to find a man trying to force the window in the back room open, called the police who (it was a while ago) who arrived very fast, he attacked the police. Oh then there was the time that two youths stabbed the owner of the phone repair shop and made their escape by jumping over the wall and escaping down the communal back alley where the knife was recovered. I saw them out of my front room window and they said "ring the police and we will torch your house bitch". Hope this gives context to my comment...

We do have street light. I also close the blinds when I sleep and switch off the window lights. They are just on in the evenings and sometimes early mornings during the very darkest months.