what temperature do you keep your Living Area?

i recently bought a cheap blanket for my legs when sitting downstairs, internetting, as now; it's made such a difference. i sit across a 2-seater, legs up, can just fit with back against arm rest, am short, with screen on knees.
thanks for concern, M.

here's some more ideas for keeping warm
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jan/14/cold-as-ice-how-to-stay-warm-without-whacking-up-the-heating

welbeck Life on a small income can be so difficult, especially in the winter months. DD had to live without central heating one winter, no stove or open fire either. She swore by her electric blanket, each night she put it on for half an hour, got into a warm bed and her life was complete!

18-19 but if the fire is lit it’s even toastier. Underfloor heating in kitchen is fab

About 20C also- but more keeping cool for us. I think it is over 30C outside. Send some rain over, please!!

It's funny, I remember a thread here about a month or so back about keeping windows open. There were 3 or 4 pages of replies with almost everyone having doors and windows open at all times! I don't think I replied to that thread but I remember thinking these posters are a tough bunch to be freezing all the time when heat is available at the flick of a switch!

We keep ours around 20c and turned down at night to 16 or 17. Mind you we live in one of the rainiest towns on the west coast, so really feel the damp if heat is lower.

thanks to those who have shown concern.
growstuff and monica are nearest the mark.
the thing about living on one's savings is that one doesn't know for how long or for what they might be needed. so eking out seems best policy.
i am not financially street-wise, and have missed out on things in the past, but it's no good looking back.
i follow the micawber principle.
anyway, i would give the same advice myself, but my situation is not amenable to improvement at the moment. and i am ok. enough to eat, warm enough.
thanks, and take care everyone.

On at 7am. 15* most of the day when I’m moving around doing stuff. Up it to 20* once static, usually mid afternoon these days. Off at 10pm. I’m quite warm enough at night under a winter weight duvet and only have the heating on at night if it’s really cold, which doesn’t happen often now I live in the South!

DD in Thailand is complaining bitterly about the cold as it’s currently down to 12 or 13 c during the night - and they have no central heating or even carpets! Meanwhile we are smugly basking with a thermostat set at 20 from about 7am to 10pm

I have a chart from age uk which advises 18.5 minimum for elderly or body temp can drop dangerously even if you feel warm.

My heating is switched off at bedtime unless it may be frosty overnight and it is cheaper to keep the heating on low than pay an emergency plumber. (I am Scottish).

During the day it is on at 18C and occasionally I switch it to 20C. Every radiator upstairs is on at 3, whereas in my living room the heating engineer told me to put the two radiators on max and it has made a difference. Before I was permanently cold.

GillT57

Welbeck forgive me if I overstep, but if you are having to live on £10 a day, you may need a benefits check? You should be entitled to pension credit at least. That's if you are in the UK.

It depends whether she's a pensioner. That's what people of working age are expected to live on.

Ours is set at 22, because I/We are home mostly now it’s on from 06:30 to bedtime, I have Raynauds and feel the cold. We are very fortunate and can afford the cost.

Wellbeck I do not want to be intrusive, but when I worked for Age Concern (as was) we often came across older people on very low incomes because they had capital in banks and building society that exceed the level they could have and claim benefits.

If you asked about these savings and suggested that if some of it was spent on making their home more comfortable they could possible double, even treble, their income by being in a position to claim Pension Credit, Council tax benefit, even Housing Benefit, they would often refuse, saying that these savings had been put aside for a rainy day. Suggesting that they were currently seeing out a monsoon, so perhaps the moment to use the rainy day money had arrived, would be rejected. So I would leave them living in dire poverty because of their decision not to touch their capital. A decision they had every right to make.

I will ask no intrusive questions, Wellbeck, but if you recognise the scenario, and you may well not, please think hard.

Attendance Allowance, a disability benefit is not income related, so if you think you may qualify, contact Age UK and they will guide you through completing the forms.

Very interesting thread - I find anything over 20 suffocating. So maybe husband is nearer the norm.
Maybe it depends on the climate where we grew up?

Thank you all for replying. Yes, Monica it is hyperthermia that my daughter keeps on about and and has sent me various articles.

Problem is that I do not feel the cold very much. Cannot sleep in a warm atmosphere, so heating is off at night and I only have a 4.5 tog duvet. My flat is quite warm, and only if it gets very cold at night -below 0 degrees outside, do I need anything in addition to that.

Due to mobility problems and COPD, I do not do a lot except for housework and cooking. Do about 10-15 mins of gentle exercise each morning. Otherwise I do spend most of my time in my recliner chair, on laptop, listening to radio, watching tv.

In the past, I would be going out most days to things like U3A meetings, but they are on zoom now.

So, yes, I will try to be more careful and put my heating on during the day and keep an eye on the temperature, not allowing it go below 18 degrees at any time indoors.

Wellbeck, I have Pension Credit and some Attendance Allowance. As I have no mortgage, although do have maintenance agreement for my flat, I can live well within that and really do not have to consider a little extra cost with regard to heating. If you are on just £70 per week total income, then you really do need to find out how you can top up that income.

The temperature varies.

We have a room thermometer which has been known to register 10°C on cold mornings. Only heating we have is log burner+ back boiler (which is loaded up each night before we go to bed) and also a range which give additional heat in our one room cottage when the oven is on.

So, until the fire gets roaring again, I'm in lots of thin layers and get busy. We are both really active and the layers soon come off. The living area is part workshop for me.

One big advantage. The fire's hot water tank is behind our bed on the mezzanine level. Very warm up there when I go to bed.

Some would say, get more heating or get the cottage insulated. Thought about it 6 years ago and the plans to improve the cottage would have spoilt its looks. So we've now almost built a super energy efficient bungalow that will have a Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery Unit. Constant temp and a dramatic improvement to the indoor air quality. Roll on next winter.

Welbeck forgive me if I overstep, but if you are having to live on £10 a day, you may need a benefits check? You should be entitled to pension credit at least. That's if you are in the UK.

21

Welbeck without intending to, you are falling for one of the fallacies of wrapping up protecting you from cold.

No matter how well wrapped you are, if you are breathing cold air, it is going to cool you down from the inside out and you could end up with hypothermia. It is a mistake many older people make and why the death rate from hypothermia among older people is so high.

I am not someone who likes to be over heated and we normally have the thermostat set at 18.5 during the day. At night it is set at 15.5, for just the reasons given above. it means most nights of the year the heating is off all night, but in the recent cold snap, it has come on again on several nights.

Yes, I agree MOnicas advice is correct. Personally, I feel the cold and typically wear 4 layers and keep my living area around 22 degrees. I’m fortunate to not have to choose between heating and eating though I am concerned about the cost. Being cold makes me miserable though.

that's interesting Monica. getting wet and cold is risky; if that was me i would have got into a warm bath on return home.
i operate in farenheit. i do feel a bit chilly sometimes when i wake if my room is in the low 50s. but i wear thermals in bed plus winter pyjamas and thick socks or wellington liners which are v comfortable. i do not like too much heat, it makes me feel imprisoned.
62 F would be ideal for me. 68 F would feel too hot.

Oh, Monica has just explained it very well!

Horses for courses, isn't it. Ours is a constant 21 from 6.30 - 10.30. Going into my neighbours houses is like walking into a cooler room.? They are not wrapped up in fleeces or big cardigans, not one throw in sight.
But they just don't feel the cold.

We like ours at about 21/22deg. Cooler in the bedroom, of course.

Isn’t there a danger in not being mobile and not heating the room enough that hypothermia can set in without the person being aware? That might be what your dd is concerned about.