How cold can I keep the house safely?

pka_2

VJsmum wrote: »

We keep our thermostat at 19 degrees which is jumper and socks temperature.

When it's 19 degrees outside in the summer i'm in shorts and a t-shirt

pka_2

daisiegg wrote: »

Those of you talking about airing the house during the day, I would love to do this too, but don't you find you get loads of creepy crawlies coming in at this time of year? I keep windows open as much as possible during the warmer months as I hate a stuffy house but recently the OH has banned me from having the windows open as the amount of spiders, daddy long legs and moths invading our house is just ridiculous. Or do you just put up with them?

Get some conkers in the house, no idea why it works but my other halfs mum swears by them for keeping spiders out. Close the windows when it gets dark to stop the moths/daddy long legs.

marmiterulesok

annie123 wrote: »

This is the original source I think marmiterulesok
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12606943

My mum who was 67 at the time let her home drop to around 10c after deciding to turn the rads down to freezing mode to save money.

She didn't notice she was cold as she had hyperthermia and then a stroke. The ambulance and police said she was well wrapped up with hat/coat/gloves etc.
She uses a wheelchair now as she can hardly walk, can't speak properly/read and has carers 3 times a day to make food and do housework.

The hospital staff said inside temps re health depend a lot on the person. A young man could do push ups etc to keep warm and be fine for a while at as little as 5/6c, someone overweight will have extra insulation to keep warm but risks a stroke, children have good working systems as they are busy and active by nature and will cope well with cooler temps.
On average they told me 15c was minimum if you were able to do daily tasks etc, if you have mobility problems or other health issues or over 60 ish then 20c plus.

That's the one,thanks.

Sorry to hear about your Mum.

adelight

I was wondering about the suggested safe temperatures so did a bit of googling and found some really horrible stuff. Landlords who fit fake thermostats in bill inclusive flat blocks to trick tenants into keeping it cold to keep the bills down :eek:

You shouldn't keep a house cold and rely on electric blankets as breathing in cold air creates its own problems like stuffy noses and making it harder to fend off colds and bugs.
I grew up in a house that was usually 15-18C and we were fine. My Dad still has it that temperature and his GP believes it's fine even with his respiratory problems.
If you have central heating and a fire then I'd stick to the room with the fire during the day and have the central heating timed to come on just before bed time and again early morning so it's not too bad during the night. Even if the rest of the house is cold try to keep the room you're in at 15+. Having a hot cup of tea and breathing in the steam as it cools helps imo.

lostinrates

Adelight, I really agree about breathing in the steam of a hot drink. I am afraid I do OT keep a thermos, but rather make a hot drink fresh each time, because it's hotter and that helps.

VJsmum

pka wrote: »

When it's 19 degrees outside in the summer i'm in shorts and a t-shirt

Blimey, lucky you. 22 is my minimum temperature to think about shedding outerwear!:D

lindseykim13

A lot of reading here, some scary things to think about. My older kids spend much of their time out of the house playing and don't tend to feel the cold ( i have a fight to get their coats on) I worry about my youngest who is 3 when she naps and goes to bed the most. I have been keeping more of an eye on the temp on my little thermometer. If it falls too low I will put the heating on for my youngest, I think we are ok during the day if we are busy moving.
The blood thickening bit freaked me out-i have a few health issues so I won't be letting it get as low as 12c if i can help it!

thriftwizard

I think the wide variety of answers could give us all a clue that different temperatures suit different people/families! I'm happy at 18º & my family seem to be too, but my mother would freeze at that temperature (she literally used to go blue with purple/orange spots on the rare occasions when she ventured into the sea in high summer, which was quite alarming) and keeps her flat at about 24º. I'm flaking after about half an hour in there, but I also get chilled when OH leaves the doors wide open on frosty nights when he goes out in his t-shirt to look at the stars; he doesn't feel the cold (except when in bed) & thinks 18º is far too warm! But he's also the man who will keep all the south-facing windows tightly shut in high summer, for security reasons... Doesn't help that our thermostat is positioned round a corner from the door, in the last place cold air trickles round to!

Problems seem to arise when people have lost the ability to tell when they, or those around them, are suffering. If your kids are happy & not suffering from constant sniffles, chaps or chilblains, chances are your home isn't too cold whatever the thermostat says. But the elderly, who may not be able to feel the symptoms of cold clearly any more, probably need someone keeping half an eye on them.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Oh dear. According to the central heating thermostat thingummywotsit, it's about 10 - 11 Celsius downstairs when I get up.





I grew up in one of those idealised unheated houses with single glazing and no insulation, carpets, rugs or curtains, where my mother didn't believe heating was necessary outside the front room (where she sat all day).

It was miserable. I remember crying with the cold, icy water from the tap feeling hot. Wishing it would freeze so it wouldn't be so cold upstairs. Wishing it wasn't school holidays so I could be somewhere warm. Going to bed fully dressed (and getting a telling off because the cold was all in my imagination, as there was a hot water cylinder in my room - deep within a cupboard with a jacket and bulging at the seams with old linen so no heat ever escaped it).

And my sister nearly died several times from infections and asthma in that cold, whilst my brothers were all always ill with something or another.


Trouble is, I'm one of those people who is supposed to be in the warmer range - but I am so accustomed to being cold from childhood, I don't realise it until I'm dropping things. So much so, the fella will disappear off upstairs, come back with his fishing socks, jumpers, blankets, anything and just start putting them on me :eek: because he can feel I'm freezing cold when I can't.



Actually, my hands are like blocks of ice right now - so I'll just nip off and check the temperature in here.......it's 15 Celsius on the internal wall, according to the thingummy three foot along from the radiator. But that doesn't allow for the window vents, the extractor fans, or anything else, so I'm just going to check with the fan (that has a digital thermometer on it - it was 29 degrees Celsius in the front bedroom at night over the summer, never below 22 if the sun was out)


Oh. Ten degrees.


I'd better put the heating on.

JKJ

Ref not drying washing indoors to keep condensation at bay - what do people do then when it pours with rain for a week and they have no tumble dryer? I never know what to do for the best.