London
It is 8.11am Sunday, and I look out of the window and I see a cloudy grey day drizzling with rain. I like it, a nice change but also it is warm in my flat. yet, I don’t have the heating on.
The outside temp according to the weather website is 10C, but inside my flat according to this NHS thermometer which is given free to warn old folks about low temperatures says 18C, ‘comfortable house temperature.
It makes me wonder why no one ever advise others who are facing huge heating bills to just switch it all off. Have no heating at all.
That would drastically reduce the bill to zero.
What not to like, right?
So why have no one suggested it?
Well, I am going to do just that, and be the first to suggest it and hope plenty more will give it a try.
Start small, as it were.
In my case I thought I shall start 5yrs ago by not switching heating on till January, as most of the time jan and feb are the most cold months.
Then jan, feb came and I kept putting it off switching on the gas heating, until winter was over.
That made me realise that it is possible to weather winter without heating.
It is this gradually dawning of what is possible, and shedding all the preconceived ideas that seem to be brainwashed into us; that it is possible to have no heating and be quite comfortable…
Then you start finding ways that will keep you warm.
Like for eg, coming back from a walk outside… you find yourself really warm, so much so that u have to shed some clothing.
Then drinking or eating a very hot soup or meal does wonders … you literally sweat and have to shed clothing again. U get a bonus too, in that cooking a meal warms the place up.
These two may be sufficient to keep you warm all winter.
But then u also learn which clothing are more effective in keeping you warm. Fleece !! Is the short answer in my case.
And hoodies, and scarfs, and gloves and socks. And wear layers.
And draw the curtains to cover the windows at night.
Then I noticed my body beginning to adapt to low temperatures, so much so that I don’t notice it being cold anymore. I would open the windows a notch in the day time to keep the flat fresh and allow ventilation.
The temperature gauge can list 12C indoor temperature and I don’t notice it. It is not often it gets to 12C, even with no heating on, I guess the flat is well insulated and I think it gets heat from the neighbouring flats, esp downstairs flat.
So I suggest u give it a try. Switch off the heating. Or maybe u already are doing it. In which case I would love to hear your experience.
Is there anyone else who just don’t require heating on at all?
I have a feeling you have to be quite an independant person, willing to try new things, and very determined. either living alone, or owns your flat, and be quite strong minded so that even if u have someone else living there, you are the boss in it. It’s likely u dont have children. i think you will be in your 50s upwards. this may surprise others, as most people think old people are the ones least able to withstand the cold, but older people are sometimes the ones who are the most thrifty, having lived in an age when they know about scarcity and want, so plenty of older folks are determined individuals and frugal. well, i think that is the profile of those likely to be in the no heating club.added. i think u will be living in a flat rather than a house, and in the city and its suburb, rather than in the countryside.
i have been googling, and found this link to how to cope with no heating. i haven’t found anyone anywhere in the world living in cold countries who dont have heating at all out of choice. I am unique it seems. Looks like i am the only member of the no heat club. haha.
Tags: Electricity, fleece, Food, gas, london, no heating, Utilities
alifesgayventure 
I can deal quite well with no heating (I was brought up in an old house with no central heating, just fires) but I can’t cope with humidity so I have the opposite problem – trying not to turn the A/C on all the time!
hi lottie, it is an interesting point u brought up. you move from cold to hot countries and vice versa in your travels, so the fact that u cannot cope with the heat and the accompanying humidity suggests to me that it is a problem quite common for most people who come from temperate climates living in a hot country to have to switch on the A/C. it means there is no choice. it may not be possible to live without it. i think if i were to live permanently in the tropics, i could cope without A/C but i will have to use the fan. (though i wont bet on not using the A/C, as the last time i was there, ages ago, i found having the A/C on is so nice i would be tempted to have it on, esp during the daytime). But whether using the fan or the A/C i will have to use electricity… unlike now, living in london, i can live without any heating at all. not even once switching on the electric heater through even the coldest part of winter. when i first came to live in uk, i thought i would never get use to the cold. now after living here for so long, i find i cannot get use to the heat of the tropics.
Yes you’re right about older people being more likely to withstand cold, because they grew up without heating. However I’m afraid it pushed me the other way and I remember a childhood of being cold and being told to ‘run around and warm yourself up’ or being dressed in so many layers of clothes that I could barely walk. I always vowed that when I grew up I would not be cold, so I’m afraid I won’t be joining your no heating club.
The first winter I was in China was like that too; I have vivid memories of sleeping in my coat and not washing for days on end because it was too cold to undress in the bathroom.
you have added an extra point to why some do not take up a no -heat lifestyle.
it does seem the children of those poor families are affected differently. like you, they vow never to have to be deprived like that ever again if they can help it. some of them go to the other extreme, of turning up the thermostat high, because being cold reminded them too much of their cold childhood.
i think the same story applies to food too… children who have known hunger always in childhood, vow never to have that, and they stuff themselves with food when adult. it is like they feel having lots to eat and unlimited is a sign of wealth. just like having lots of heat is a sign that they have arrived and become wealthy.
i wonder if those who buy lots of things and surround themselves with things are those who have a deprived childhood where they never have anything of their own…
it does seem that what you experienced growing up, do influence your attitude to a lot of things when an adult.
i am surprised that u would chose north china and not south china after that cold childhood. how come u never want to go to a hot country like s.e asia?
No I didn’t realize how cold it got in China. I certainly didn’t realize that there would be no central heating (not that people wouldn’t have it but that it actually wouldn’t be permitted by law). Most of the countries I’ve chosen to live in have been hot. I still don’like cold.