Heating a whole free-standing house to comfort in long sleeve t-shirts and jeans (68F/20C) in a cold climate is a luxury that’s only a few decades old, especially taking into account how much average houses in the US and Canada have grown over the past century. Open floor plans are also a modern extravagance in cold climates.

Before that: smaller houses, closed off rooms, wearing sweaters inside all winter, sitting around a fireplace/stove most of the evening, and using thick down comforters half the year (if you could afford one).

> Also a return of the proper coat as casual indoor wear?

Can you honestly see droves of people doing this by choice? I can't.

When was a proper coat last casual indoor wear? 200 years ago it wasn't. In a cabin with a fireplace you don't need this.

The ‘beauty’ of hyper expensive fuel is most will happily do that over the alternative - going bankrupt and/or freezing to death.

And those cabins were always a minority over folks in the cities. Being able to afford to hire someone to bring wood or coal is different from just going outside and chopping down whatever looks ready. (Though really you need to season it, and that takes time)

It certainly isn’t everyone that is so poor that it is a concern, but Dickens used the theme for a reason.

>Can you honestly see droves of people doing this by choice? I can't.

If it's either that or dying I can see most people choosing the former.