Keep warm in the winter by wearing five or six layers of clothes indoors

MovingForwards

Same as I said on the linked thread.

I've only lived in properties with DG for the last nearly 6 years. GCH I had for the first time in my previous rental and I've got it in my flat; prior to that it was a single gas fire in the lounge.

For me it's normal to wrap up and in winter I wear bed socks, slipper socks and a pair of slipper boots, fleece PJs, vest and a fleece dressing gown with hood, I also have a few dedicated blankets and a hot water bottle. 

I do use my GCH when it's really cold, 15 minutes in the morning to take the edge off and a couple of 'bursts' in the evening, possibly for 6 weeks of the year.

There wasn't really any option growing up. All of my school friends did have CH, they even had home phones and even when I left the family home, I just happened to live in similar set ups.

I'm 46, disabled and it's a hard habit to break out of. I expect it's hard for those who are used to flicking a switch; excluding those with health issues.

liberty_lily

Although my parents could easily afford it, owning their house outright since the 1960s and my father running a successful business, we didn't have central heating at home till the early 1980s when I was about 13 (my father was forever trying to persuade my mother to have it installed but she refused to agree for many years) and just had a parkray (sp?) in the main living room and an electric fire in the other. We wore lots of layers in winter and I don't recall being particularly cold as a child (born 1967).

DH and I have oil-fired central heating in our detached home in rural Carmarthenshire but rarely use it - I believe we had it on three times last winter. We topped up 500L of oil just ahead of Christmas 2021 and still have some left 😉

Instead we light one or both of our two wood burners (we have our own supply of wood which we cut/store/season ourselves) and just add another layer of clothing, although I don't think I've ever needed more than four layers. We have a goose down duvet on our bed and whilst we wear pyjamas in winter, we only need to add a thin cotton throw when the weather turns cold - the duvet gets so warm almost instantly.  We never have the bedroom rad on.

I've never understood some people's 'need' to have the central heating on at full pelt whilst swanning round the house in summer clothes in the depths of winter! 

Otoh, we know someone (single dad in his 40s) with a 4000 sq ft house who has their oil heating on constantly in winter, heating every room. They are at work (not WFH) all day and their one teenage DS is as school. Last winter they were topping up 2500L of oil EACH MONTH 😳 They have several wood burners and their own supply of wood to burn, but never use these. They wear shorts throughout the winter. Fortunately they have more money than sense, lol 😆 

RobM99

I grew up in a home where it was so cold, when we spoke our breath came out as ice and we had to melt it over the candle to hear what we were saying. (Ha!)

Seven layers? Crikey I couldn't bend my limbs with that much. I'd look like an arthritic penguin.

The good old hot water bottle is King here. When really cold I use two - one with no cover for instant heat, one in a fluffy blue cover (I'm a man's man), that releases heat slowly and for much longer. But use them properly, don't put boiling water in them, they could burst. Not good. I boil ½ kettle and top it up with cold water, use that to fill; I find it  gives about the right temperature for me. Cost? About 4p.

BUFF

RobM99 said:

I grew up in a home where it was so cold, when we spoke our breath came out as ice and we had to melt it over the candle to hear what we were saying. (Ha!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

RobM99

BUFF said:

RobM99 said:

I grew up in a home where it was so cold, when we spoke our breath came out as ice and we had to melt it over the candle to hear what we were saying. (Ha!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE

Yes, great sketch, that!

JuzaMum

My daughter is autistic and struggles hugely with the feel of clothes on her skin. Layering creates more sensation which distresses her more. She has also been hospitalised due to breathing problems due to asthma with seasonal colds. I have the house heated in winter much more than the rest of the family needs. Layering up is not practical for us all

Slinky

I wear several layers in the winter, but find it so depressing putting them on and dragging them off day after day during the winter. I loathe winter. I remember the summer of 1976 which was so warm, the following winter was really mild and 1977 was also fairly warm. We can only hope for a repeat of those weather conditions to help in the forthcoming months.

tteedd

It is good to see that nobody on here gets accused of being hard hearted or worse just for reminding people that they can live without central heating.

You've heard this story already from others but I can confirm that my parents house was unheated most days in the winter. We were not hard-up but that was the way most people lived in the 50s. We put the boiler on for hot water every evening and only had a fire in the dining room when there was snow on the ground or ice on the windows.

On some boards, if you suggest that if you are young and healthy and you cannot afford the heating, you turn it off you are the devil incarnate.

kipsterno1

TELLIT01 said:

I'm of an age where, as a child, the only heating in the house was the open fire in the living room.  At night, an extra blanket was put on the bed when it got cold. 

Did that extra blanket have two sleeves, shiny buttons and spend the rest of the year wrapped around the hot water tank? The good old ex army greatcoat 😂

retiredandskint

What I remember as a child, growing up with only a coal fire in the sitting room, is the pain and misery of chilblains.