Aren't we getting soft...

[iLB]

the younger generation doesn't know it's born. We went to school in grey flannel shorts, whatever the weather

well i'm only 17 now and had to wear shorts to school all year round when I was at primary school. our central heating broke in november last year and still has'nt been fixed, but we're coping alright so far

 

[tyred]

We are getting soft without a doubt. People can't deal with cold anymore. As someone who grew up on farm, I remember the joys of driving a cabless tractor while being pelted with hailstones and the steering wheel coated in ice. I've always liked cold weather myself. You just need to wrap up warm.

When people's windows were iced over on the inside in the winter time, there wasn't anything liek the problems with allergies and the like because the cold killed all the dust mites.

 

[barq]

A few years ago I lived in a house without working gas/central heating. The problem was that we had no alternative means of making heat: no fireplaces, no electric fires or heaters, nothing to heat water with (unless you count the microwave) and being the kind of people who normally had gas/heating we lacked all the necessary blankets and jumpers. God that was a grim few months - even the cat was pissed off.

 

[snorri]

well i'm only 17 now and had to wear shorts to school all year round when I was at primary school. our central heating broke in november last year and still has'nt been fixed, but we're coping alright so far

Well done young man. Don't allow these old codgers away with slagging off the younger generation.

 

[Fab Foodie]

the younger generation doesn't know it's born. We went to school in grey flannel shorts, whatever the weather - I didn't get a pair of long trousers until I was 11 - '63 freeze notwithstanding. And now we have 'longs' and (heaven help us) 'base layers'. If you're cold, wear a vest!

[/Hannibal Lecter]

"Can you still feel the itching dellzeqq?"

[/Hannibal Lecter]

 

[Morrisette]

Icicles on the insides of the windows....frozen toothpaste....four jumpers.....ice slides down the front path.....a nice broken leg.....oh yes the 1980s were fun. The house actually had central heating but the oil was so expensive we couldn't afford to switch it on!

 

[Fnaar]

First time I had any kind of heating in any room other than front room was in 2nd yr at uni (didn't live in halls, you see). The Aged P's had central heating put in at home around that time too...
it was cold as kids, yeah, but can't say it bothered us, as we knew no different. Mum worked nights, so she'd come home about 6.30, get the coal fire going, put our school uniforms to warm in front of fire, then get us up... getting dressed in front of fire was fun, and still brings a 'glowy' feeling to think of it now... course we stopped doing this as we got a bit older...
now I've got 2 gas boilers churning out heat all over t'house... mind you, we keep the thermo low-ish also (17-18 C)... was at sister-in-law's house over xmas.... 24, 25, 26 was the norm! And they were still in jumpers! Me and my kids were going round in t-shirts, saying how hot it was... seems a waste to me, but each to their own, and all that.

 

[Arch]

When people's windows were iced over on the inside in the winter time, there wasn't anything liek the problems with allergies and the like because the cold killed all the dust mites.

I've heard a saying: "a green winter makes for a full churchyard" - meaning you need good hard frosts to kill off the bugs. I'd much rather have a good hard winter than the one we had last year - barely a frost, and just damp all the time....

No central heating for me either - one little electric fan heater which I move about to be near either the table (if I'm eating dinner) or the bed (where I go to keep warm of an evening). Currently, I'm usually wearing jeans, a t-shirt, a long sleeved cycling top, a fleece jumper and a knitted jumper. And sometimes 2 pairs of socks.

I've also heard a theory, BTW, that the increase in allergies might also be linked to the increasing obsession with everything being bacteria free - the immune system has nothing to do, so it starts to 'attack' random stuff....

 

[Plax]

I once rented a house that was absolutely freezing. Quite literally if you opened the doors and windows you let the heat IN. I used to sit on the sofa wearing a hat, scarf, gloves and coat inside a sleeping bag. My mother came to visit once then refused to come again. Bargin, probably why I've never quite got round to getting any heating. I bought this house 6 years ago and she has only been up twice................

 

[another_dave_b]

No central heating for me either - one little electric fan heater which I move about to be near either the table (if I'm eating dinner) or the bed (where I go to keep warm of an evening).

You might want to consider getting a convection heater, I understand they use less electricity (no fan).

 

[Fab Foodie]

5 miles down the road in Benson it was -12 last night, coldest in the UK, I thought it a little parky.

 

[Globalti]

By contrast to all the stories above by people with no heating, ours is effcient and warm, the house very well insulated and we top it up with multi-fuel stoves in two rooms, meaning that the temperature in the lounge is usually a tropical 23 degrees or hotter!

Grandma has been here for 2 weeks now - maybe she'll leave if I turn the heating down?

 

[Arch]

You might want to consider getting a convection heater, I understand they use less electricity (no fan).

I have thought about getting something like that - I've never got round to it, and wasn't sure if there was an advantage. But maybe there is, so cheers, for that, I'll look round.

I use the fan heater quite sparingly - I tend to try and place it so that it heats up just the air around me and then triggers the thermostat and goes off, rather than have it running for hours on end.

 

[ColinJ]

You might want to consider getting a convection heater, I understand they use less electricity (no fan).

The amount of power used by the fan would be tiny relative to the heating element. If a fan heater uses much more power than a convector heater, it is because it is a more powerful heater, not because it has a fan in it. If you had a very powerful convector heater, it would, er, use a lot of power ! Convector heaters are fine for taking the chill of a room, but most of them wouldn't heat a big cold room to a comfortable temperature.

 

[longers]

I was thinking along sort of similar lines a couple of weeks ago, trying to imagine life before electrickery and plumbing, especially during winter.

Pretty difficult I would think, us that have benefited from the mod cons would probably struggle and those who didn't would be trying quite hard to invent magic from switches and taps.

I've been reading a little about whaling and didn't realise that whale oil was used for street lamps.