“Keeping warm in Lithgow is very important,” Professor John Dearin of Lithgow Medical School said. 

Dr Dearin said he knows of a “handful” of cases each year of elderly people going to Lithgow’s emergency department with hypothermia, which occurs when your body cannot produce heat at the rate it is losing it. Body temperature falls to below 35 degrees. 

He said cases of hypothermia can be life-threatening and complex to treat, as the condition can lead to cardiac arrest, kidney failure or subsequent infection.

“We get a number of elderly people in each year that are severely hypothermic, they've become so cold they’ve become unconscious,” he said. 

“This can happen because either they’ve had a fall, and have been found on the floor a day later, or they have inadequate heating, either because they can’t afford to put heating on or they’ve lost the cognitive function and don’t know how to put it on.”

The World Health Organisation recommends household indoor temperatures of 18 degrees, and a few degrees above that for elderly people.

Indoor temperatures of under 16 degrees can increase the chance of respiratory infection in the elderly, under 12 degrees can cause increased blood pressure and prolonged exposure to temperatures under 10 degrees can cause hypothermia. 

A quick survey of visitors to LINC’s ‘Flo’s Kitchen’, a weekly social activity for elderly people, raised the issue of how many people in Lithgow are keeping their houses warm. 

Domenico Inzitari and Bryan Williamson said that using central heating allows them to keep their homes at exactly 18 degrees. 

“I’m a self funded retiree so I can afford it, even though the bills are getting bigger each year,” Mr Williamson said. 

Those with access to wood burners said it was easy to heat their whole house, even if fuel is costly. 

“Nothing is expensive when you’re cold,” Clem Gibson said.

“My son brings the wood up to my house so I’m lucky.”

A few conserved energy by heating just one room. Both Garry Ether and Peg Peachman wait until the afternoon to turn heaters on in their lounge room.

“I have a gas heater in my lounge room but it doesn’t heat up the rest of the house,” Mr Ether said. 

“If I was wandering around the house all the time then I would want better heating. But sitting in front of the telly having a gas heating on is a big benefit in winter.”

“I open the door to the bedroom to warm it up a bit,” Ms Peachman said, who like Mr Ether, relies on a quantity of quality doonas and blankets to keep her warm through the night. 

“I’m quite happy,” she said. 

A woman in her nineties, who asked to remain anonymous admitted her house was “freezing”. 

Since becoming legally blind, she cannot operate her gas heater and is also worried about the cost of using it.  

“I can’t see to do it. I don’t think it’s fair to ask people to come at night and in the morning to put it on and off.”

She uses an electric heater but said it’s not effective heating her old house with high ceilings – instead she opts to end her days at 7.30pm. 

“I put my electric blanket on and go to bed.”

Frank Butler, 68, who has acted as an advocate for pensioners in Lithgow, has been living in his lounge room since last winter, as he finds his bedroom too cold. When we visited it was 8 degrees. 

When at home Mr Butler stays in his bed most of the day and turns his electric heater on for half an hour a dozen times a day to save money.  

“There’s no insulation,” he said. 

Dr Dearin recommends those who cannot afford to heat their homes seek help from a charity like Salvos or Lifeline or “have a conversation with a community social worker.”

Studies also suggest the importance of eating proper meals, wearing warm clothes, pre-warming beds at night and doing some physical activity to keep warm indoors. 

Related stories