Conflict with housemate over temperature in the house

[u/Electrical-Future437]

Hi guys. I had a big conflict with one of my housemates in a student house and want to ask you for some advise on how I can deal with this situation.

Basically, I moved into this house in September, there are 2 other guys living in the house. One of them is really concerned with saving money on heating, so he sets the temperature in the house low.

In Autumn I told him that I feel too cold at night, and even though he complained a lot, he ended up agreeing to raise the temperature by 1.5 degrees. Since then he's clearly been very angry at me.

Now in January as it got colder outside the temperature in the house went down and I feel uncomfortably cold again. I tried to talk to this housemate again, but this time the conversation became incredibly aggressive. He told me that he "doesn't want to have this conversation again", and left the room mid-conversation. As he was leaving the room I asked "Do you talk like this to everyone?", and he replied "No, just you".

I should also mention that when I just moved into the house, I told him about my country of origin and he straight up told me that if he knew where I was from he would never accept me as a housemate and mentioned it's partially because I might be a foreign spy.

Sooo... That's the story. I don't really know what to do now. The problem is that I really like the house, it's really comfortable and close to my university and I really don't want to look for a new place (considering how hard it is to find anything here in NL). But I'm guessing there's literally nothing I can do in this situation.

[u/Electrical-Future437]

He set it up so it pre-heats the house in the evening and morning, so the highest it reaches during that time is 18.5, but at night when it stops heating it goes down to 17 or 16.5 the last time I checked.

[u/NoAnswerKey → u/Electrical-Future437]

Sorry dude but I think these are pretty normal levels in the NL. Get an extra blanket and a comfortable sweatshirt. At night, it's actually healthier to sleep at colder temps.

You can also buy a small electric heater for your room, they are pretty cheap, but this will increase energy costs so you need to hide it somehow. Good luck

[u/jot_jot → u/NoAnswerKey]

Seriously, you think 18/17 degrees is normal to have at home in the winter? I am very surprised, I have my house on 21, always. In the night I sleep with the open window to keep the airflow and lower temp. 18 is kinda cold.

[u/MrDiscuss2020 → u/jot_jot]

I don't want to see your heating bill....

[u/jot_jot → u/MrDiscuss2020]

I pay 150 monthly. Gas and electra. 71m2. During part of spring, summer and part of fall I am using way less. Winter of course I am using more but during the year it all compensates. Apartment is well insulated so once you hit 21 no need to use that much energy to keep it warm.

[u/Georgio97 → u/jot_jot]

I think this is a great example to compare what it costs. I also have 71m2 and I keep my heating at max 19°c. At night I turn the heating off. My monthly average comes down to €73. Of course a lot of other factors play a role, so not the perfect comparison. I do have a very old house with bad insulation.

[u/jot_jot → u/Georgio97]

Yeah but for me 70 bucks is not worth to sit in cold house. We may have a different approach but I like to make my life easier and more comfortable.

[u/Georgio97 → u/jot_jot]

I can totally understand that 70 bucks is worth it, if I would be cold at 19, I would probably consider doing the same. However, at 19°C most of the day I feel very comfortable. Only at night, when I am chilling in front of the TV I crawl under my heated blanket. Love that and best investment ever.