Fuel Poverty.

We hear so much these days about how many people are suffering from "fuel poverty" and how many elderly people are dying needlessly of cold.

 

It has always been thus. Lots of people do die in the winter, just as they always have.

 

Of course it is getting more expensive to turn on your heating; and most homeowners have to make careful calculations about just how many hours the central heating system can be on, and just when to use heating appliances or stoves.

 

But what is different in this age, is the fact that houses are a great deal warmer than they ever were across the whole country.

 

In my youth very few houses had any central heating, Coal fires offered only sporadic and inefficient spots of warmth. It was quite usual in winter for bedroom windows to be covered with a thick hoar frosting of ice on the inside surfaces of the glass.

 

We did not hear anything about fuel poverty in those days. Everyone learned to live in the house as it was. They provided for themselves accordingly. More clothes were worn. More blankets were used on the beds. Hot water bottles were used at night and draft excluders were fitted on doors.

 

In modern times we have a more comfortable life than ever, but we are less resourceful and we complain a whole lot more.