To think that 17 degrees is not warm enough?

[Maybebaby10]

Staying with a family member who is refusing to agree that 17 degrees in a drafty living room is too cold!! I have a small child here with me and the said family member decided to sleep with the window open as they like the breeze. They also do not like to shut their bedroom doors so draft under our door into the ‘make shift’ bedroom all night. We are in England and it’s freezing at the moment. I am fuming and freezing but don’t want to ruin the day.

I find this interesting too - surely nobody is wandering around outside in 17 degrees in thermals, body warmers, hats etc.

Ask for a hot water bottle, sleep with socks on and roll up a towel for the door to stop the draught coming in. 17 is absolutely fine for us, we never have the heating on at night but wouldn't like a window open.

My house is kept at 22 and anything less is far far too cold for me and my toddlers. I often have it up to 25 in the winter. 17 would be MISERABLE.

I’d be so cold at 17C.

Obviously not an outdoor coat but I wear a fleece type top inside as I prefer to keep to the right temperature by layers rather than artificial heat

to go off topic - no cavity walls or no cavity wall insulation? By Edwardian times houses I would expect to have a cavity wall but with no insulation. I live in one too and agree it’s difficult to get above 18 deg.

Do people who have their houses at 22+ wear jumpers or layers?

I visited my friend last winter and she refused to put the heat on and it was 12°C inside. She had warned me she doesn't put the heating on so I had gone prepared with oodie but it was absolute misery. The bathroom had mouldy walls which she blames the landlady for and its so unhealthy. I offered her money to put the heating on during my stay but she said the utility company would up her direct debit if she changed her energy use. We are in our 40s and she earns average wage in a professional role and rents in a cheap city in the North, no reason to live so frugally. It was horrible and I refuse to visit her again, she will have to spend £100 on a train ticket to visit me instead.

Way too cold for me!

@Litlit thats unhealthy, plus she is ruining someone else’s property. She will end up losing her deposit anyway, so pointless.

At the in laws and the room I’m in is currently 14 deg

Actually, they DO feel pretty uncomfortable.
Speaking for myself.

Their house, their rules.

Might be due to damp.

And thermostat setting may not be same as a thermometer would show room temperatures to be.

My thermostat in winter is at 18 degrees. It's coolish, I don't wear a shirt and shorts, but is comfortable with a light cardigan and pants.

I switch it off at night but have an underblanket in bed and a very warm doona.

Your problem is not that the house is 17 degrees. The house is going to be way colder if it's freezing outside and you are forced to have an open window, bringing down the temperature by several degrees.

I'd be going home regardless. That's too cold for your child.

In the daytime when I'm busy, I find 17degrees fine. I like it a bit warmer (20ish) when I'm sitting down in the evening.

@Notmyreality ours is 1906 so only just Edwardian, end terrace with an east facing wall so we do get battered a bit!

17 is freezing. I personally wouldn’t stay again.

My house is Edwardian, just..built 1901. No cavity wall at all.

It depends on the child, my children wouldnt have been too cold in that situation. Like adults they are all different, presumably the OP doesn't mean a newborn

Perhaps they don't like really like guests, invited because felt they ought to, and hope you'll go home early.

Just ask to borrow warm clothes, hog the fireplace and wear a bobble hat indoors.

If your child is cold amd not just copying you moaning, go for a nice brisk walk, have a warm bath, snuggle under a blanket on the sofa with hot chocolate.

Visiting others means seeing how people live. Not expecting them to change to suit you. Bit like going on holiday someone different.

Yes, that’s my point….thermostat setting may not be what the actual temp is. I used to have a room thermometer, will have to try and dig it out. IIRC the bedrooms were always a lot colder.

Just put a flipping jumper on!

Did you pass GCSE science 😂

It might be colder than you prefer but on no one's thermometer is it freezing. Ive been to Florida in December and it wasn't much warmer than that

No, its weird but its only inside that I feel cold at that temperature. I can be outside in minus degrees in less clothing and be alright but inside at anything under 20 degrees I am cold. But in my country the recommended temperature for houses is 20-22 degrees (and in workplaces they would be in trouble for having lower temperatures unless people are doing heavy work which generates more body heat) so I'm unlikely to visit a home colder than that, its only when I visit the UK that I have to suffer, and that one winter we tried to lower our electric bills.