Comments by "Phyllis Glassup" (@PhyllisGlassup2TheBrim) on "Why Japan Doesn't Heat Homes with Central Heating in Winter" video.

I live in England. I lived without central heating for years. My pipes didn't freeze. "No central heating" is not the same as "no heating" i.e. unheated. The home is *clearly heated. You wouldn't live with no heating, you'd live with no central heating. You'd still have space heating and the temperature in your home wouldn't drop below freezing. Ergo, your pipes wouldn't freeze.
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@dgillies5420 That was rather rude. Perhaps you can enlighten everyone about where they are supposed to install this fibreglass insulation given there are no cavity walls and no loft space.
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@mfraye12 Oh I see you made the mistake of thinking I have only lived in England. I grew up in northern Germany and lived in Canada too. In Canada, to economise we would turn off the central heating and use only the log burner with chopped up skids which we could get for free. Those little wooden north American/Canadian homes will heat throughout from just the log burner. No pipes froze. In northern Germany in rural areas, older homes had no central heating either. A large solid fuel stove in the living room or kitchen was all there was. No frozen pipes there either.
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@mfraye12 I would suggest then that living in a building such as you describe, indicates a design flaw which doesn't take anything into account. What if the electricity goes off? If the home is insulated enough to retain heat, the pipes shouldn't freeze. Of course, being raised up off the ground with a crawl space under, means that pipes in that place will freeze even if lagged. Our house on the beach strip in Hamilton had no basement. But it was an older house so if we lost power, the house was still cosy, I could still cook and heat water for hot drinks and washing. To live in a house where it means a catastrophic collapse and damage if you have no heating, is down to bad planning and design.
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@mfraye12 Ohh the benefits of modern 'convenience' lol.
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@AlisonBurns-tc8gn Feeling cold is relative though. I'm happiest and most comfortable at about 15C in the house. My bedroom has to be much colder so I sleep with windows open all year round. I don't mean open a crack. I mean wide open. I get snowed on. When I had no heating at all. It averaged between 8 and 9C indoors just from the body heat from me and the dogs. I'll admit that stripping off to shower in 9C isn't nice lol. But I know people who need to be 21C indoors. I'd die!
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I found it very interesting and have subscribed. I am a 70 year old woman in England.
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I lived without central heating for years here in England. However, I am old and have only 40% lung capacity and was seriously ill with pneumonia every winter. I was very lucky that my government installed a new, eco friendly, air source heat and hot water system for me this summer. Plus 6 large solar panels to generate electricity in the summer. I turn off radiators in my bedroom as I prefer to sleep cold. Because I had no central heating for many years, the average comfortable temperature for me is 15C, which is too cold to people who visit me from their very warm homes. I think I prefer life with central heating now I'm old.
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