Cold Homes

Why are English homes so cold?

English winters are not very cold. temperature rarely drops below zero and snow-free winters are common. However, average temperature is below +8 degrees from November until March and so every home is equipped with gas-fired boiler and radiators in all rooms. This includes flats: instead of single heating system for whole building, each flat has its own boiler.

very important feature of English boiler is timer. In most English homes heating goes off at 11pm and only comes on again at 6am, but we sleep in warm pyjamas under thick duvets so we don’t notice cold. During daytime people also prefer to put on another jumper instead of turning up heating. My parents only heat their home to 17 or 18 degrees in winter, and at night it often falls below 12.

This attitude to heating goes back hundreds of years. most of England’s forests were cut down over 1000 years ago and so people didn’t have access to abundant firewood, like in Russia. Instead, we burned coal and peat, which are expensive and dirty. As result, people tended to heat their homes just enough to get by, but not enough to feel comfortable.

gas-fired central heating appeared in second half of 20th century – my Grandpa installed his system with his own hands. It is much cleaner and not particularly expensive. However, attitudes to heating have not really changed. For my mum and her friends, cold home is kind of status symbol and they take pride in having coldest home. This is because frugality is one of greatest virtues for middle-class English people and switching on heating for longer than absolutely necessary is considered ‘extravagant’.

So if you ever visit England in winter, make sure to take lots of jumpers with you! And don’t ask your hosts to turn up heating.