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Brrr, Humbug

18th December 2013 Print

Forget brussel sprouts and doing the washing up; visiting a relative’s cold house, being forced to take shoes off and missing Christmas TV are the nation’s biggest fears about the busy festive period.

Seeing friends and family at their cold home came out as Britain’s biggest bugbear in a survey from Worcester, Bosch Group with one in four people dreading spending time in a cold room away from home.

Despite being cold, and true to the stereotype, Brits are far too polite to complain, as only 20% said they would tell their host they are chilly. The rest would grin and bear it (30.8%), make a joke out of it (16%), keep their coat on (15.7%) or just avoid visiting the cold-blooded relatives at all (4.4%).

The next biggest gripes about Christmas, from the survey of 2065 people, were missing TV specials (22%), being made to take shoes off (19%) and tolerating screaming children (19%).

It comes as no surprise then that a third of Brits most look forward to enjoying cosy nights at home over the festive period.

Here Brits will be digging out the Christmas onesies, filling up on a festive feast and lighting the fire, as wearing comfortable clothes (47.8%), gorging on a well-stocked fridge (46.1%) and being warm (34%) are our favourite things.

That said, the majority of those surveyed (54.6%) still said seeing friends and family is the thing they’re most looking forward to this Christmas and the average person will spend 13 hours and 33 minutes visiting friends and relatives at Christmas.

Martyn Bridges, director of technical support at Worcester, said: “It’s great that despite so many commitments and distractions in modern life, family and friends still rank high on our priorities at Christmas.

“Although we all love the festive season, it is clear that we don’t like being cold. A third of people said a nice warm home is what they are most looking forward to at Christmas and this can be done by keeping your thermostat between a the recommended 18-21 degrees. Your boiler should also be serviced once a year to check it is still being energy efficient.”

Worcester, Bosch Group is the UK’s leading manufacturer of heating and renewable technologies. For more information, visit worcester-bosch.co.uk.

Top 5 visiting turn-offs
1. A cold house
2. Missing favourite TV
3. Screaming children
4. Having to take our shoes off
5. Awkward conversations

Top 5 arguments at Christmas
1. What’s on TV
2. Tidying/washing up
3. The heating/being too cold
4. Who ate the last chocolate
5. Present envy