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Comment by isoprophlex | Hacker News Reader

The article opens with a +18% increase in heating prices, and talks about the problems people have with paying their heating bills.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, gas prices went from 0.70-0.80 eur/m3 to 3.50-4.00 eur/m3

I spoke to someone at the collections department of a utility company. They expect total carnage as people start to skip on paying their bills. Government support notwithstanding, the coming winter will be hell. People on or below the median income will be hurt by the coming 300-400€ increase in monthly costs.

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As a fellow European, my reaction was the same. Energy prices still seem very low in the US compared to here.

I could afford to pay the extra 400 euro/month. But it feels like a perverse luxury now that there are many people who can't afford it. And it's basically throwing money in the gas furnace, which I'd prefer to invest into something useful. So instead I'm sitting in a room at 16 to 17 degrees C, wearing extra layers (including thermal underwear), under a blanket, sipping a hot beverage.

I'm living the 17 C life too, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Took a week or so to get used to it.

Working behind a computer is still annoying though, even when standing at my desk I'm still too immobile to keep warm. 8€ usb heated gloves help a bit, but still. Otherwise it's not so bad.

Try a far infra-red heater. They heat bodies, rather than space. Hung on the ceiling over a desk, they are great balance between expense, space-heating and keeping warm.

Cold hands/feet are a consequence of your body deciding that it needs to reduce blood flow (which implies heat loss) to those extremities, in order to keep your core temperature stable with minimal energy expenditure.

Therefore, heating your torso might work better than trying to heat your hands.

Googling for electrically heated garments typically leads to some dodgy looking cheap products though. I would have a look at body warmers sold by power tool brands to go with their battery platform. E.g. I already have LXT batteries for my Makita power tools, so I'm considering buying something like the DCV202Z vest.

Buy 3 adult onesies. Wear two at a time, you hardly ever need to wash the outer-most onesie. Alternate the other onesies as you wash them. Sleep in the inner onesie.

You want your onesies to have feet, at least that's my preference.

When I was a student in Edinburgh, I lived in an old tenement with super drafty windows and super high ceilings. Trying to heat the place was pointless. I gave up and just wore two onesies whenever I was inside.

In the winter I used to wake up and see my breath, I'm not sure how cold it got, but definitely colder than 17. I think that was the indoor temperature on a cold summer day.

That sounds... character forming.

At that point it almost makes financial sense to fly to a warmer country in the winter months.

The bird strat.

If only we (most of us) didn't have a raft of responsibilities keeping us in place.

Yeah, drastic measures are suddenly not so crazy sounding anymore. I wish I was being hyperbolic but the situation is very bad indeed... I think government support is the only way ~25% of the country can get through.

A friend, with a very conventional house, is suddenly looking at a yearly bill of over €6000. Up from €1500 last year. Many people simply don't have that kind of money, especially in a period with crazy inflation.

In many ways we have done that to ourselves.

We blocked and shut down nuclear power plants, we blocked shell fracking and places like Groningen gas field. Then we partnered with Russia for our energy needs. Now we are partnering with places like Qatar.

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