I've now received my leaflets/booklets from BLF and this caught my eye - keep your home at a constant temperature.
Do people do this?
Has it helped?
What temperature do you heat your home to (I know personal comfort is an individual thing but I'd be interested to know)?
Do you keep the heating on at night so that your bedroom remains at a constant temperature?
I'm only recently diagnosed (just over two weeks ago) and my COPD is not as advanced as a lot of members on here but I'm learning so much I'd never have thought about.
I'm retired so I tend to have my heating on from about 7.30am to 10.30pm. My living room tends to be around 68F and I find that fairly comfortable when I'm relaxing watching TV etc. My bedroom tends to be about 65F when I go to bed and on the coldest nights can be down to about 57F during the early hours of the morning (when I need the loo!), but I stay warm in bed as I have an all-night electric underblanket and flanelette sheets which keep the bed cosy.
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SeasideSusie
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I think this is up to each person,,i don,t have the heating on in bedroom,,to hot..i keep the hall storage heater on and living room,,and thats all,,but thats a bungalow,,,got a real fire if it gets really cold,,but the dog hogs that all night,,,,really its what you feel comfortable with
I have 22 during the day and keep it on 18 at night.
Have heating on at about 18 c during the day 21 c in the evening and dont have heating on in the bedroom , just open the door an hour before bedtime to warm it a bit .
Hi, I have the heating on 24/7 during winter, about 20 during the day and no lower than 17 at night, which is the temperature you shouldn't really go below if you are elderly or frail as it's below that temperature that you can end up with hypothermia. When I lived in Sheltered Housing for a while the thermostats were set so you couldn't set them below 17. LIbby
As important as maintaining a comfortable temperature is ensuring that we have adequate ventilation. If the temperature in our homes varies from what we have set the thermostat at, we would very quickly notice and do something about it.
Not so with ventilation. As we who have lung disease should know, as the damage to our lungs progresses, so we become more susceptible to a reduction in our oxygen concentration. With the 'improvements' in house building and upgrading of older properties, we have largely eliminated draughts, and heat loss from our homes. But this has been at the expence of adequate air exchange. Outside our houses, the oxygen in our atmosphere is generally about 21%. In our shut-up houses, it can drop to as low as 14%. This is when the average, normally fit person feels the air getting 'stuffy'. For those of us with COPD, when it gets to that stage, we are in serious trouble. Think of it in terms of altitude, where fit people start to feel limited at about 12,000ft, those of us with lung problems are already in trouble at sea level.
Remember that although keeping warm and comfortable is important, so is good ventilation.
This is a very good point John. When I smoked the windows were always open as I couldn't stand the stuffiness or the smell. I rarely have the window open in now though as I'm alone most of the time and, to be honest, a bit afraid of having them open. I do have those little vents on the tops of the frames though and keep them open, which is probably not enough. I need to get some of those things that go in the frame (uvpc double glazing) to stop the window being opened too far. Does anyone know what they're called? Libby
Very good advice from johnwr.VERY GOOD INDEED.We all forget that air in your house has a hard task to get in nowadays,inulation double glazing ect ect.warm yet well ventilated,is the key to good breathing if you can manage it
Thanks John, good explanation of why I feel the need to stand near an open window every so often, practically first thing in the morning when the house has been tightly shut over night.
I always have a window open in the bedroom and the bathroom. others are opened at different times. No heating in the bedroom ever, but as with Zaney, I open the door about an hour before bed.
If I am out, the heating is turned off but it will be put on again when I come in. It heats up very quickly. It is set to come on about an hour before I get up in the morning and is turned off when I go to bed.
Average temperature when its on is about 18 -20 degrees.
Our thermostat is set at 15 degrees (Centigrade) at around 10am in the morning and doesn't go off until about 11pm. The radiators in individual rooms each have their own setting. The one in the living room is at 4 and the one in the bedroom at 2.
The body heat from two us tends to keep the temperature in the living room at around 18 degrees. All doors are kept closed as much as possible to keep the heat in and the moment dusk arrives the heavy curtains are drawn too as that helps a lot.
I don't think I could sleep in a bedroom which was 18 degrees, that would be too warm for me. I snuggle under a very good duvet and am as warm as toast. The bedroom window is open on a 'vent' setting.
Just to add to the debate, My heating is at 25 degrees during the day but turned off at night. I am not overly active and have always felt the cold, even when young. I am COPD moderate/severe and 70 years old.
yes,i think you should keep your house at a constant temperature. My doctor once told me that fluctuating temperatures were no good, especially if you have chest problems. I keep my rooms at about 21 degrees, and turn the radiator down at night just to keep the chill off the room. If its too cold i start to ache and feel strange, and if its too hot i cant breathe comfortably and start to sweat. This time of year its so important to keep a constant temperature, although i know heating bills are more, but health and comfort are so important. 18 to 21 degrees is fine. Obviously people differ, and we have to do whats right for us, but this is what i find works for me.
Just to add, yes, fresh air is very important too, and i open my windows every day,for about half an hour. and if the sun is out and the airs not damp i leave some windows on a catch which leaves it open about 2cms, which keeps the fresh air coming in.
My OH has copd and rheumatoid arthritis and I have osteoarthritis. I work part time and run the home my OH still works full time but has a blue badge. We coul not afford to heat our homes 24/7 we have our heating set to come on at 5am till 7 am and then 4pm till 10pm. Often when I am home at lunchtime as the afternoon wears on it gets very cold in the house.
Thankfully both my husband and I run quite warm (so to speak!) so luckily we don't have to have heating on 24/7 (couldn't afford that). During the cold spell, we have the heating on for a couple of hours in the morning and again in the late afternoon. If the neighbour-from-hell didn't burn lord knows what on his fire, I'd have my bedroom window open day and night all year round!!
Jude xx
I can't afford a lot of heating so just wear more clothes. It hasn't adversely affected my health (yet?)
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