Frost | “Sickly foaming” – A family mother talks about surviving in an oppressively cold home

The previous ones the winters have tested those who live in a terraced house in Kirkkonummi Laura Rusthol Bear.

“The whole winter season is unbearable [kylmyyden vuoksi].”

Rustholkarhu has five children, two of whom live with him in a terraced house. The other children have grown up and moved in on their own. Until about a year ago, there were four residents in the apartment before one of the children had time to move out.

The children are allowed to keep their room at 20 degrees, but the temperature in the kitchen and living room is around 16 degrees. It's even colder at the floor level. The temperature in Rustholkarhu's bedroom is 17 degrees.

Rustholkarhu works in the social sector, where, according to him, the pay is very poor. It is not possible to heat an electrically heated home any more.

Remote work and in distance learning, the fingers get frozen and the claws are used. A merino wool layer, neck scarf and beanie are also helpful. In addition, he wraps a blanket around himself. Rustholkarhu doesn't find a battery-operated thermal neck scarf very functional, although there is one.

Grain bags that can be heated in the microwave are also helpful, and can be tucked under a shirt to warm the body.

Woolen socks alone are not enough, but they have furballs as their companion.

Power the price, the coldness and the low salary have made the fifty-something single parent think about changing both the profession and the home.

Owner-occupied housing has considered renting, but selling an apartment also has its own work. When the rest of the children move out of the house, he plans to move to a smaller apartment.

You can't give up your car either, because according to him, it's essential for getting to work. There are jobs in different parts of the capital region.

Currently, Rustholkarhu says that in addition to full-time work, he does gig work and studies.

The cold is also incompatible with rheumatism.

“I have cramps all the time. My joints and everywhere hurt.”

Situation is also mentally burdensome when a skilled person with a higher education and a long working career cannot afford to live at home.

“It's really humiliating.”

Working days have stretched to 14 hours, Rustholkarhu says.

He would like the standard of living to be at least somewhat “normal”.

In addition to heating, frugality can be seen, for example, in food. The idea of ​​going out to lunch with colleagues comes up very rarely. Rustholkarhu estimates that he might visit a lunch restaurant with his colleagues once every six months.

Rustholkarhu uses claws for remote work. Picture: EMILIA ANUNDI

One hundred square the home is on two floors, and in addition to electric radiators, an old air heat pump helps.

Before the price of electricity rose, Rustholkarhu heated his home to 22 degrees, but in the past couple of winters it has no longer been possible. Now, during the winter months, electricity may cost a total of around 400 euros per month, including transmission fees.

The fixed-term electricity contract ends in about a month and a half. The freezing cold of the past week and the electricity price spikes are not directly behind the coldness of the home, but rather the sum of many things.

Rusthol bear describes the situation as “sickly foaming”, so that, for example, children's showers do not drag on too long. The water in the water storage tank is heated by electricity. He has also tried to compromise on his own showers. You can hardly use the sauna due to the high cost.

Rustholkarhu says he doesn't need a particularly warm home, but would like a tolerable temperature in the apartment. He can't say the exact steps. It would be suitably warm if you could sit in woolen socks without a hat, gloves and blankets while working remotely, and if you could go to the bathroom quickly with bare feet at night.

Rustholkarhu keeps part of his terraced house at 16 degrees. Picture: EMILIA ANUNDI