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Comment by zdragnar | Hacker News Reader

A bit of context on where you are would help.

Here in the upper Midwest in the US, not having your heat running during the coldest winter days (-40 wind chills) means your plumbing would freeze and pipes burst in a day or two, less if it is an older house.

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I'm in the south east of the UK, but the point I'm making applies almost anywhere in the Western world; it's perfectly possible, and even healthier, to get by at a much lower indoor temperature than most people are accustomed to.

No, your point doesn't apply to anywhere in "the Western world". It depends on local weather, if there is wind or not, the amount of humidity, what kind of isolation your house has, but one of the most important is how many hours of daylight there are during the winter where you live.

We used to have a guy in my country who was telling us to wear a warmer coat during the winter to compensate for the complete lack of heat. He's no longer with as after 25 December 1989, but people still regret him.

OK, there are many places where extra clothing isn't enough, but I think most people are accustomed to an indoor temperature far higher than is necessary or healthy. It feels comfortable, but then so does morphine. Whether it's -40 or +5 degrees centrigrade outside if the temperature inside is kept at 21, reducing it to 10 will have the same effect on the people (and water pipes) living inside. Elderly & ill people need higher temperatures than the rest of us though.

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