Come on, admit it, who’s turned their central heating on?’, the Facebook post reads.

I do a quick scroll through the replies, which vary from those who have had it on since early September to those who are putting it off indefinitely, fearful of skyrocketing bills (with some justification since the energy price cap rose by two per cent last week). But I resist the urge to write anything myself.

You see, we don’t have central heating at all in our 18th-century house in the Cotswolds.

It’s a fact that never ceases to amaze people. Many seem to think I’m joking when I tell them, or presume we live in some sort of primitive hovel rather than our perfectly ordinary-looking four-bed house. I can understand why they think it odd but, after almost 15 years, I have learned to live without it and can’t imagine having it now.

At first, yes, it felt unconventional at best. We moved in a few weeks before Christmaswhen our son, now 16, was still a baby and I remember the shock of what felt like a big, draughty old cottage after our cosy two-bedroom London flat.

But the stoic, ‘put another jumper on’ mentality I grew up with soon kicked in and I adjusted to it quickly. Besides, the big open fireplace and wood burner were the features I’d loved the most when we first came to look round it. I’m not sure I’d have bought the house had that fireplace been blocked up and replaced with a radiator.

We weren’t freezing – or not all the time. Back then we had a couple of old-fashioned night storage heaters which, although they looked very dated (think 80s-style cumbersome, beige blocks), did the job pretty well.

They heated the kitchen, the landing and half of the living room. The house felt lovely and warm as toast in the mornings and it wasn’t until late afternoon that it started to get chilly. We put an electric heater in our son’s room and got quotes from local electricians to see how much it would cost to install central heating. But the nearly £6,000 price tag – after being maxed out with a mortgage and having just taken maternity leave – was a stretch.

Then there was the upheaval of having floorboards taken up and the house invaded while I was trying to work from home with a baby. So we decided to leave it and reconsider later.

Only, two more babies arrived in the following few years and we never really got round to it.

Fast forward to today and we still haven’t. I’m told it would cost about £11,500 to put central heating into my kind of house nowadays and possibly more, depending on the number of radiators and type of boiler. What with the increase in the cost of living – not to mention clothes, shoes, activities et al for three children – we never seem to have the spare cash to do it.

Out of the four night storage heaters that were fully operational when we first moved in, just one, on the upstairs landing, remains. Yet we have survived, mostly quite contentedly. A combination of several strategically placed electric heaters, a large wood burner and, of course, lots of layers has seen us through even the coldest of rural winters.

And, boy, have we saved money. The average annual cost for central heating in a four-bedroom house can vary significantly but estimates suggest we’ve saved £1,000 a year at least.

Over the years, I’ve cultivated quite a range of strategies to deal with the cold. I’ve accumulated an eclectic array of thermals, for example, from Uniqlo to the marvellous Heatgen range at M&S and the more pricey cashmere blend joggers from The White Company and fake Ugg boots.

Then there are weighted blankets, including the faux fur ones the kids use for watching telly on the sofa, and hot water bottles, which I renew every year. We also rely on the warmth of two labradors and a cat who love to drape themselves over any nearby bodies with wild abandon. They are like living hot water bottles.

I know people think that wood burners are the devil’s work, but ours is a godsend in the colder months. We have a chimney sweep in the village who recently gave ours a good clean and checked the lining and the flue. We are still working our way through a pile of logs from an old tree we had to cut down last year.

Aside from the lovely glow we get in the sitting room, the wood burner also costs next to nothing so it’s a win-win. That said, I do have some concerns about the air pollution and exposing the children to it. I was alarmed to read a recent report by Birmingham University which showed that wood burners produce more air pollution than road traffic.

To conserve the heat from our wood burner and stop the cold sneaking under our wonky, old doors, we have lined curtains and have a selection of draught excluders. Our loft, too, is insulated with 8in foam padding to keep the heat in the house.

And yet sometimes I do suspect the temperature we are used to indoors during the winter is quite unusually low.

I don’t have a room thermometer but I have noticed that friends who love to come over for a barbeque or drinks in the summer are often reluctant to visit in the colder months. ‘Why don’t you come to us again this time?’ one recently said.

Another suggested meeting at a pub instead. And I remember coming back last winter to find my poor sister shivering under two blankets after the fire had gone out. She has never volunteered to babysit again.

My children on the other hand are hardy souls, and completely used to living without central heating. We put on the electric heaters in their rooms before bed, but try not to use them for more than a few hours a day. So in the depths of winter their rooms really are quite cool.

I’d even go so far as to say I now find staying in warm, centrally heated houses quite oppressive. I’ve got used to seeing my breath on cold mornings and hopping over the bathroom floor to get to the shower – we have an electric immersion heater for hot water, in case you’re wondering.

If we ever come to sell our house, we may have to bite the bullet and shell out for central heating. But in the meantime, I’m thinking about splashing out on a cashmere-blend blanket for this winter. That and an open fire plus the cat are much more cosy than a radiator. Honest.