Do You Feel Guilty About Putting The Heating On?
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
December 13, 2009 10:06am CST
Our heating system is quite old and - if we had the money - we would replace it with new radiators, boiler, etc.
At the moment it is very cold here in the UK. Near freezing temperatures, so, obviously the heating has to go on for longer than it would do normally.
Do you feel guilty if you have to do this? Do you worry about your next gas/electric bill or do you think, "Oh, stuff it, worry about it when the bill comes, I don't wanna freeze to death!"
We have the latter mentality but do keep a watchful eye on useage because our last winter bill that came in during January (when everybody is skint of course) was huge! I'm hoping it's going to warm up but the forecast said it's going to be even colder by the end of the week. :-(
2 people like this
5 responses
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
18 Dec 09
I do not feel guilty about putting the heater on in our house if it is cold in here. I do not keep the heater set very high anyway, but we went for years in an old mobile home that was poorly insulated, and it was virtually impossible to warm it up when it was really cold outside. I spent several years not having a choice but to sit around being cold all the time. It got so bad at times that I would leave for work early and just wait there until time to go to work, because it was better for me to sit at work than to sit at home being cold. Now that we have a good house, I don't mind putting the heat on at a reasonable level, because we suffered for a long time without being able to really warm up our house...
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
18 Dec 09
I am so pleased that you are able to put the heating on "at a reasonable level" as you put it. So cold here at the moment, our central heating is on but I feel like exercising on the spot 'cos I've got thin socks on. Must buy some thicker ones!
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
19 Dec 09
well I live in NW Florida, so we don't have too many months of really cold weather, but there are usually several weeks out of the year that they temperature doesn't get out of the 40's for us here. Although we have a much milder winter than some people in other locations do, there are some days that it just seems down right impossible to get warm. It is especially hard to heat your house if your home has poor insulation in it, which was the case in our old place. This was the major factor in my wife and I purchasing our new place when we did. We purchased our house in early October a few years ago. We could have gone a little longer in the old place, but the more I thought about going through another winter in that old house, the more I knew it was time to move on to something better. I couldn't stand the thought of another winter in that old house.
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
14 Dec 09
Hi Janey,
I would not mind if my electric bill will be huge that having a hospital bill plus you being confined due to a complication brought about by the cold weather. i kno if there's a way for us to save power so that our bill will not shoot up--but i will not sacrfice one's health for that. at least i enjoyed the warmth of it and i am still healthy.
I hope weather will get better now there my dear friend--it can always change!
@msfrancisco9369 (10002)
• Boston, Massachusetts
15 Dec 09
nice that you're hospital bills if you got sick like hypothermia it is free. here in our country, getting is a NO.NO! Hospital bills are really high-so expensive. you are lucky enough for having such a good medical service in UK.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
14 Dec 09
Hello again!
I never thought about the "hospital bills" scenario. We take our NHS for granted at times, here in the UK. If I had to go into hospital suffering from...I dunno, hypothermia or something, it would be free. The "ER" series (when Clooney was in it) never failed to amaze me because medical insurance was mentioned every week. The "patients" were more worried about that than what they had been admitted for, a sorry state of affairs!
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Dec 09
hi janey nope as I do not have to pay for it, the center does inded. People would not stay here if they were freezing so
we just turn our space heater up and let it warm up the place.
my rent that I pay each month surely includes the cost heating.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Dec 09
Hi!I am pleased that your rent includes the cost of heating your centre up. It does ease the feelings of guilt I am sure.
Stay warm my friend:-)
@dodo19 (47066)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
13 Dec 09
I do somewhat feel guilty for turning the heat on. Ever since it started getting cold, our electricity bill has been the same, but at the same time, I'm kind of worried about using too much electricity and energy, and a bit of the bill. However, I don't want to be cold either. I don't really want to freeze.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Dec 09
That's exactly how we feel. It's worse during the week because my husband is at work, I'm at home trying to find a job, so I try to leave putting the heating on for as long as possible because it's hubby who is paying for it. Sorry state of affairs to be in, but true nonetheless. :-(
@dmrone (746)
• United States
13 Dec 09
Hi! Yes, at times i do feel guilty for turning the heat on or up, especially with the costs of gas being as high as they are. The economy has been a factor in how often we turn the heat or air on. The costs seem to be going through the roof, and we try to keep our costs to a basic amount, but the weather has been all over the place lately so it is making it difficult.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Dec 09
Yes, I know what you mean, although December here in the UK does look set to become colder than of late. We are a nation of moaners when it comes to the weather, we're either too hot when it's sunny or too cold in the winter and there's no happy medium lol. Gas/electricity prices have evened out a little bit but it's still miles more than - say - 2 years ago.
