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BBC advice - @Before you crank up the thermostat, try these tips to keep you and your home warmer for longer" - AIBU to be sceptical about the "tips"?

82 replies

nepkoztarsasag · 25/10/2026 01:03

Just posting this here without comment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqr7yeed1ed7o

Cora Harrison, a woman with short brown hair and glasses in a navy jumper, adjusts the temperature on a thermostat to 18 degrees

How to heat your home without turning on the heating

With storms hitting parts of the UK and the clocks going back, here are some practical ways to cope with falling temperatures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqr7yeed1ed7o

OP posts:
PimblePumble · 25/10/2026 01:09

I agree with them.
I have a fleece under my sheets and have for years, thermals are a good idea, and I much prefer warm food when it's cold anyway, my bedroom is also alwats the warmest room in the house because it gets all the sun.
It's better than MN advice that would have you wearing 12 jumpers in December before you dare put the heating on low.

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:13

Blankets over doors and bubble wrap on windows is very Viz Top Tips. And if your toddler is cold, put the heating on. Don't force the poor freezing mite to choke back her tears and perform a dance routine for you.

nepkoztarsasag · 25/10/2026 01:13

<adopts Little Book of Calm voice>

"Insulate your windows with bubble wrap"

OP posts:
KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:18

nepkoztarsasag · 25/10/2026 01:13

<adopts Little Book of Calm voice>

"Insulate your windows with bubble wrap"

Lol! 🤣

"At mealtimes, eat hot food" I guess is useful advice for someone who has never visited earth before, but most of us got our head around the concept several hundred thousand years ago.

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2026 01:23

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:13

Blankets over doors and bubble wrap on windows is very Viz Top Tips. And if your toddler is cold, put the heating on. Don't force the poor freezing mite to choke back her tears and perform a dance routine for you.

Edited

I've lived in houses where we had to do did that sort of stuff.Blush No bubble wrap, so we put cardboard over the windows.

nepkoztarsasag · 25/10/2026 01:26

"Eat hearty winter meals to warm you through"

OP posts:
KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:27

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2026 01:23

I've lived in houses where we had to do did that sort of stuff.Blush No bubble wrap, so we put cardboard over the windows.

And in your opinion was that a sufficiently good set-up to warrant the BBC recommending it?

TempestTost · 25/10/2026 01:29

I live in an old house, these things all work really well imo. We have abig curtain over the front door and in bedroom windows. Close the doors to rooms we aren't using. Electric blankets. Long johns. We also have a fan to move heat from the wood burner to the front of the house.

People got use to cheap heat, but these are the things people always did before that was available.

My top tip - if you are cold in the night and have to pee, don't hold off. Go, you will be warmer after.

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:30

"Who needs central heating when you can eat a potato instead?"

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:33

My top tip - if you are cold in the night and have to pee, don't hold off. Go, you will be warmer after.

You'll spend money washing the bedsheets though. And your big hairy bedfleece.

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2026 01:35

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:27

And in your opinion was that a sufficiently good set-up to warrant the BBC recommending it?

Yeah. Winter is awful in a draughty, single glazed house. Some people need to do what they can with the stuff that they have. Why not give them advice?Confused

Mumtobabyhavoc · 25/10/2026 01:36

Not on the list:
caulk all the cracks around windows and doors, re-seal windows;
install door sweeps;
Keep doors closed throughout your home;
only heat the room you are in;
layer blankets on your beds;
invest in a few sets of good quality "long-underwear and socks" ie those worn as base layers when skiing;
spend time out where it's warmer, cafe, library, etc.

Winter heating costs are bloody outrageous.

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:38

nepkoztarsasag · 25/10/2026 01:26

"Eat hearty winter meals to warm you through"

OMG who actually uses that expression hearty meals?

I was totally put of Slimming World 25 years ago because in my first session she kept pratting on about "hearty stick to ribs meals!" I'm sure it was scripted.

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:39

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2026 01:35

Yeah. Winter is awful in a draughty, single glazed house. Some people need to do what they can with the stuff that they have. Why not give them advice?Confused

There can't be many still with single glazing?
Double glazing has been a thing for 40 years

Theunamedcat · 25/10/2026 01:40

Have a cat he will join you on your pillow and act like a white noise machine/hot water bottle

Theunamedcat · 25/10/2026 01:41

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:39

There can't be many still with single glazing?
Double glazing has been a thing for 40 years

My neighbours landlord has just this year replaced the single glazed window at the back of the house i have double glazing and it currently feels like my windows open its useless

TooBigForMyBoots · 25/10/2026 01:44

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:39

There can't be many still with single glazing?
Double glazing has been a thing for 40 years

There's still far too many. Double glazing is definitely a thing, but landlords are under no obligation to supply it. Or replace it if the unit blows.

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:47

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:39

There can't be many still with single glazing?
Double glazing has been a thing for 40 years

10% of homes apparently so no not many. Mostly in conservation areas.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 25/10/2026 01:51

Newname26 · 25/10/2026 01:39

There can't be many still with single glazing?
Double glazing has been a thing for 40 years

We have triple.

TempestTost · 25/10/2026 01:00

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:33

My top tip - if you are cold in the night and have to pee, don't hold off. Go, you will be warmer after.

You'll spend money washing the bedsheets though. And your big hairy bedfleece.

lol.

SquirrelGG · 25/10/2026 01:15

Why on earth would you be sceptical about the tips? They are all perfectly sensible. I've used a woolen underlay on top of my mattress for decades.

LindaJonesJustCantLiveMYLifeNSoul · 25/10/2026 01:19

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 01:30

"Who needs central heating when you can eat a potato instead?"

Not just any potato
A hot potato.

ChristinaPaigeDoesNotApprove · 25/10/2026 01:59

TempestTost · 25/10/2026 01:29

I live in an old house, these things all work really well imo. We have abig curtain over the front door and in bedroom windows. Close the doors to rooms we aren't using. Electric blankets. Long johns. We also have a fan to move heat from the wood burner to the front of the house.

People got use to cheap heat, but these are the things people always did before that was available.

My top tip - if you are cold in the night and have to pee, don't hold off. Go, you will be warmer after.

Explain that last tip please? I'm intrigued.

PinkWaffleMaker · 25/10/2026 02:14

I think it a bit silly. Draught proofing can substantially improve things in older houses though but that isn’t ’put bubble wrap against your windows’.

But I’m also aware that I can afford to just put the heating on and have a newborn so also feel quite justified in not holding off or having it a degree or two lower than is comfortable. In different circumstances I might be clinging onto every word of articles like these.

KeefTeef · 25/10/2026 02:45

LindaJonesJustCantLiveMYLifeNSoul · 25/10/2026 01:19

Not just any potato
A hot potato.

... while pissing the bed, snugly cocooned in bubble wrap and cardboard.

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