Cold Snap Brings New Challenges For Many Households

As I write this on a Wednesday evening, 7th December 2022, I look at my phone to check the temperature outside and it tells me it is -2 degrees C. Today has been a very cold day and the weather forecasters are predicting it is going to get even colder over the next few days , bringing us frost, sleet and maybe some snow.

Concerned About Paying The Bills

Many households are of course very worried about putting on their heating due to the big rises in gas and oil prices, caused in the main by the war in Ukraine. They are concerned that they won’t have enough money to pay their bills and so are keeping their heating on as low and as little as possible.

However people are being urged to turn their heating on during this particularly cold spell, as there are big health risks in having too cold a home. The recommended temperature in a home is a minimum of 18 degrees C, as with anything below this most people have to work hard to stay warm, which can put strain on the bodies of the elderly, the most vulnerable, and people who have pre-existing heart or lung conditions, leading to possible heart attacks and strokes.

Heat The Living Room During The Day And The Bedroom At Night

So if people are struggling to heat their homes due to the rise in energy prices they are being advised to heat their living rooms during the day and then heat their bedrooms during the night so they are not heating up the whole house at the same time. Experts also advise that several layers of thinner clothing is more effective in keeping you warm than one layer of thick clothing, and that regular intake of hot food and drink can also help to fight off the cold.

Temperatures At Work

In the workplace there is no actual minimum temperature set by law, nor is there a maximum temperature set, however there are guidelines that suggest that the minimum temperature at work should be at least 16 degrees C, or 13 degrees C if employees are doing physical work. Having the workplace too cold to be comfortable would surely backfire on employers anyway, as there is very little chance they would get the same productivity out of employees whose mind was on staying warm rather than the job at hand.