Can You Get Ill Not Having Heating On?

chirpychick

I know that a year or so ago I read a thread somewhere that said what temperature you shouldn't really let your house go down to for risk of getting poorly but I can't find it now.
Does anyone have the information or the link to the post?


We have colds at the moment and my house is about 15 degrees but we are staying warm with blankets and hot water bottles, but having a young child I obviously don't want to risk his cold and cough turning into anything more serious.

So is there a time when it becomes better to turn the heating on for health rather than keeping it off to save money?

We are really struggling, but i'd not risk my little boy getting ill for the sake of having the heating on.

cornishchick

A quick search gave lots of different answers.
But I found this on a BBC report from 2011

Comfort cannot be defined absolutely, but the World Health Organization's standard for warmth says 18C (64F) is suitable for healthy people who are appropriately dressed. For those with respiratory problems or allergies, they recommend a minimum of 16C (60.8C); and for the sick, disabled, very old or very young, a minimum of 20C (68F).

Hope that helps X

duchy

How old is your little boy ?
I do think 15 is a bit low for a small child as young children can't regulate their body heat as well as adults.

I'd be looking at at least 18 I think in your situation....... Can you do more about insulation around windows. I find door curtains make a massive difference in retaining heat so I can put the heating on for an hour then have it off for the rest of the evening for example.

JulieGeorgiana

With babies and young children 16-20 degrees is recommended, 18 Degrees being optimum.

We set the thermastat at 18,5 and find it rarely goes below 16 in our house. I only have the heating on 2hrs first thing, 2 around lunch, 4 after dinner until bedtime. I won't leave it on constant x

aliama

cornishchick wrote: »

A quick search gave lots of different answers.
But I found this on a BBC report from 2011

Comfort cannot be defined absolutely, but the World Health Organization's standard for warmth says 18C (64F) is suitable for healthy people who are appropriately dressed. For those with respiratory problems or allergies, they recommend a minimum of 16C (60.8C); and for the sick, disabled, very old or very young, a minimum of 20C (68F).

Hope that helps X

Huh? Why is the minimum temperature lower for people with allergies and respiratory problems?

Current government advice is a minimum of 18 degrees in bedrooms and 21 degrees in living areas, (although that seems too high for me, particularly the living area bit -- last winter I was forever turning the thermostat down because I'm too hot. It usually hovers around 15-17, but maybe that's not the actual temperature of the house)

Anyway, apparently this is the current advice document thingy:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cold-weather-plan-for-england-2013

JulieGeorgiana

Aliama you misread. It said optimum is 18, which minimum for heathy people is 16. For sick, disabled, old and young it's a minimum of 20.

20 is very high though. I know on the news the government were saying 18 in bedrooms, 20 in living areas.

I am happy with 18 all over the house, and we don't get sick from that.

I think anything below 16 is not good for you x

darrensurrey

Oops. 14.5C in my home office.

chirpychick

Thanks very much,
I put it on about an hour ago and the house is now warming up very nicely.
I have set the thermostat to 19.

My little boy is 11 months.

Now the house has warmed up I can feel a definite draft coming from the front door.

We have thick heavy door curtains already, I think i need to make a draft excluder.

I have also shut the living room door to keep it warmer in here where we spend most of the day, will also keep LO's bedroom door shut so its nice and warm in there for naps too.

We have more than enough loft insulation, we have double glazing, foil behind radiators aswell so I think I'm doing all I can to keep the warmth in.

we have a 30 year old boiler that we cant replace at the moment so our bills are probably a lot higher than they would be with a more energy efficient one.

CupOfChai

20C is too hot for me! At that level I'm sitting about in summer clothes. I wish my dad wouldn't believe the news/leaflets saying that the living room should be 20C and set theirs to be that, I bake when I go to their house (he's not elderly or ill).

Gigglepig

Might also matter how dry the house is, as heat might help dry out an otherwise slightly humid house?

aliama

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Aliama you misread. It said optimum is 18, which minimum for heathy people is 16. For sick, disabled, old and young it's a minimum of 20.

20 is very high though. I know on the news the government were saying 18 in bedrooms, 20 in living areas.

I am happy with 18 all over the house, and we don't get sick from that.

I think anything below 16 is not good for you x

Oh, I got you. So 18 is ideal, but not the minimum. Since the other two temperatures are minimums, it's easy to assume the other is too.

20 degrees though... For heaven's sake, it gets colder than that in summer!

Having said that, I think the place where you're living makes a huge difference, as well as how prone it is to damp and mould-growth.

Honestly, I have no idea what temperature it is right now, or how it matches up to the thermostat. Heating isn't currently on here, I have a (smallish) window open, and I feel fine. I think I put the heating on for all of half an hour last night and then felt too hot so turned it off. I hate the feeling of being too warm so much.

My mother came down to visit at the weekend, and was complaining how cold it was, when I was actually feeling perfectly comfortable.