This is evident from the responses to a call from RTL Nieuws on Facebook.
Take Fiona. “Every day,” she sighs. She is her adolescent girl who always turns the knobs and “is always cold”.
How do you solve it? Returning the thermostat each time. “And to warn you to stay away from it. But teenagers are selectively deaf.”
Secretly on the buttons
Same scene with Brenda Goorden. He prefers 19 degrees. “And my husband 21 degrees”, she lets know. “So we regularly sneak buttons when the other person doesn’t notice. I’m not a cold person. My husband is.”
Fighting over the thermostat is obviously not just something this time. Three years ago, research has already shown that nearly half of Dutch couples get agitated at times. Even if there are appointments, one in five secretly turns up the thermostat. High energy prices are now adding a new dimension.
Even if Brenda is still good. You have a permanent contract that lasts almost three years. “It’s a great luxury these days. So it’s not a necessity, but saving a little bit doesn’t hurt.”
‘The children didn’t like it’
Many other commentators lack this luxury. Hanna Rudolphie de Bruijne’s thermostat is set to 10. Now it’s still doable, it’s 19 degrees inside. “But we have already said that we will go to the sofa with sweaters and blankets, and we will be in bed at 8:30 pm. We watch TV there.”
The children “didn’t like it very much at first,” he admits. “But now that they’ve seen the news, they understand. Yes, all the lights go out too, only the TV in the bedroom goes on.”
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Turn the thermostat carelessly?
Sometimes it’s second Central to the environment wise and sometimes unwise to turn the knobs:
Not wise: With underfloor heating, the water temperature is much lower than with normal radiators. As a result, it takes a long time for your living room to warm up. The efficiency of your central heating boiler or heat pump does not work as well if it has to heat the house significantly in a short time. So don’t turn the thermostat too much!
Not wise: Turning off the heat completely at night can make your home too humid. Even with underfloor heating it is good to keep the temperature between about 17 and 18 degrees. In a well-insulated house, heating is not necessary or should not be turned on at night.
Well wise: Set the heating to 15 degrees at night, one hour before going to bed. (If you only have underfloor heating, better not to touch it too much, 18 degrees is fine (see point 1)). This saves on gas consumption. It takes energy to heat the house in the morning, but not as much as it would take to keep the house warm all night.
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It’s the same at Joyce’s house. There are 18 degrees with her. “If it’s too cold in the evening, she puts on a sweater and a blanket on the sofa,” she replies via Facebook. “Or she watches a movie in bed at 9pm.”
Others also choose to curl up under blankets in cold weather. “I’m afraid the maternity wards will get busy in nine months,” someone jokes.
“He doesn’t understand that we have to pay attention”
It’s not quite arguing yet, but there is some irritation in Sabine’s house now. Her partner wants “Dominican temperatures” in the house, she says. “And I’m from Alaska. Yeah, I always lower it and he always raises it. He doesn’t understand we have to pay attention.”
They both think completely differently. “Yes,” says Sabine. “I want to be aware so that my bill doesn’t get out of hand. He says: I’m not going to sit outside in the cold. But he also thinks he should be able to wear shorts. I think we should just have a vest. But this isn’t. in contrast”.
‘Best irritant’
It is striking in the reactions: it is mainly men who want to keep the temperature high. “I’ve always been the coldest in the house,” says Geja. “My husband was always exciting. Now it’s suddenly the other way around. I see it as a case of being angry. Quite irritating.”
Haliema likes cold too, and her husband likes heat. “I always win.”
Finally: Tanya. He says very wisely: “17 degrees here in the house and for now it will remain so. There is no question about this, it costs even more energy”.
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