A friend, who is paid by big corporations to look after their images, was discussing the comments made by Jake Ulrich, the boss of Centrica, parent company of British Gas. Back in the summer he warned us that gas prices would rise and suggested that customers consider wearing an extra sweater.

Referring to the advice of President Carter, who, during the oil crisis of the Seventies, urged Americans to turn down their thermostats and put on an extra layer, Ulrich said maybe today it should be “two jumpers instead of one”.

My friend identified this as an example of poor media strategy. I regarded it as sensible. I'm not sure why my mate raised the subject over lunch at our house. Perhaps it was because his spouse was shivering so hard that my wife had to dig out a fleece for her? She was fine after that. Her nose stopped dripping within minutes.

I know how sensible readers of The Times are, so I am sure you haven't put your heating on yet. Oh come on, you haven't? Please. Unless you are a frail nonagenarian, or live in a windowless bothy in the Outer Hebrides, there is no need for heating at the beginning of October.

Even my wife agrees and she really feels the cold. Her fingers go white and lose all feeling and her lips turn blue. At first I thought this was a ruse to get out of standing on touchlines, but it seems to be genuine. She started our central heating boycott after it was a bit nippy one night a couple of weeks ago and I suggested turning it on. “Don't be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “Are you a man or a mouse?”

It's possible she may be regretting saying that. She woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and muttered that it was so parky she thought she was going to have a nosebleed. But she's as stubborn as I am and neither of us is ready to give the other the satisfaction of pressing the “on” button yet.

Last winter we had no choice. We lived in a house full of builders but devoid of heating, four of us huddled together in one bed wearing our clothes. There were nights when it was matter of life and death getting from bathroom to bed.

We all know the green arguments about the need to conserve energy. It is absurd to walk around in a T-shirt in a house that is artificially heated to 75F when the ice caps are melting. But there are other immediate benefits to burning less gas. You don't wake up in a pool of sweat. When you step outside you feel the benefit of the increase in temperature. You become much more aware of changes in climate, offering endless conversational gambits along the lines of: “Oh, I think it may be a degree warmer today.” And central heating is bad for your skin, I am told by this paper's beauty mavens.

The downside is that when your parents visit they complain that they are freezing. On the other hand, visiting them is like venturing into the steamy Amazon jungle. There are lianas growing up the walls and you have to go for a checkup at the school of tropical medicine afterwards.

There was an interesting moment last night when I arrived home and my wife said: “Welcome to the igloo.” I asked if she was tempted to switch the heating on. “No, of course not,” she said quickly. It could be a long winter.

Follow Damian Whitworth's progress every week

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