Topic: To heat or not to heat...

[Peripatetic Phil]

My house is now between 3C and 5C ...

George, you are wasted here — you should have been born in ancient Sparta, where your feats of endurance would have immediately marked you as eligible for elevation to the highest echelon !
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** Phil.

[George]

Phil - as it is, nobody in authority seems interested, either in the energy saving potential or in how I have survived about 10 winters now and remain perfectly comfortable through knowing what I need to wear. I did question why Councils, charities and similar organisations stress the importance of heating homes to at least 18C, when some people clearly cannot afford to do so. And  a significant number of people will die. If only they knew how easy it is to compensate by wearing enough clothes.

[livo]

Brrrrrr!!!    The inside of my fridge is 3'C George.  I guess you're also saving on energy by not requiring one.  I'd be spending a lot of time in the curry plant chamber.

[Peripatetic Phil]

[A] significant number of people will die. If only they knew how easy it is to compensate by wearing enough clothes.

Given that igloos were not, in general, equipped with central heating, yet Esquimaux routinely lived in them without freezing to death, it should not take too much introspection to realise that one needs to wear more, and warmer, clothing if one is to be comfortable in an unheated house in the depths of winter.  Yet people sadly do continue to die from hypothermia in such circumstances.  Is it possible that as well as not being able to afford to heat their homes they are also unable to afford the necessary and sufficient clothing, do you think George ? 

[George]

Is it possible that as well as not being able to afford to heat their homes they are also unable to afford the necessary and sufficient clothing, do you think George ?

You are absolutely correct, and so is livo, in that I survive quite comfortably at and around fridge temperatures. Last winter, temperatures dropped as low as 1C in my house but thermometers vary so I put out ramekin dishes with water at various spots to see if any would freeze over. None ever have, yet. Maybe this winter. I think the reason I find it easy, is that in relative terms, it's not actually very cold. Eskimos, polar scientists, some mountain climbers and explorers all experience much colder temperatures. I can't be alone. There must be thousands of people in the UK, doing what I am doing but you don't hear or read much about it - only silly articles like where a family see how long they can survive without heating. A newspaper take some photos of people huddled together on a sofa with a blanket and they don't last long but it makes a good story from the newspaper's point of view. Blankets are no good. I use garments with wool, down or Thinsulate, primarily. None of the clothing was very expensive - some garments were bought pre-owned on eBay. The colder it gets, the more I wear - layering as they say.

Here's the most recent article I've seen on the subject. The author is clueless like I was at his age:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/im-shivering-cant-feel-toes-25553609

[Secret Santa]

[George]

A thread about curry leaves is probably not the best place to discuss how to stay warm but Secret Santa's image says it all. He won't stay warm. Most discussions are not taken seriously. I assume all the other members here have so much money it really doesn't matter how much they spend for heating their homes, even if it's something like £2000 per year. I certainly have better ways of spending money than burning any of it to fuel a heater.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Over the course of the past 12 months, I have spent £1558.66 on LPG to heat a 300-year-old granite cottage.  For most of that time I have been comfortable, although I have occasionally felt cold.  At the moment I am wearing (above waist) a vest, t-shirt and fleece.  If I were cold, I would add an insulated jacket, and if I were too warm I would remove the fleece.  I suspect that this represents roughly 7.5% of my annual income (USS + state pension), which seems not unreasonable to me.
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** Phil.

[Onions]

(Just to note I split off the heat-related posts; if anyone can think of a more amusing title let me know! I also wasn't sure whether to include the pic of George's weed curry-leaf factory   )

[George]

Onions - Thank you for separating out the heating related posts but why have you been so rude about my attempt to grow curry plants? Do you think photos published earlier are of weeds? Maybe garden-related subjects don't interest you in which case you could refrain from making such comments. Shame on you. I was going to reply to Phil's most recent post about heating but, instead, will now go on strike until the weed comment is removed.