I recall reading that Japanese homes had no central heating and searched the web for articles on how they keep warm. I found a mother jones article that was published in 1976 that was very enlightening. An excerpt:
As you might have suspected, we did wear more sweaters and other such garments indoors than folks need inside a centrally (over)heated U.S. home. You can look upon our need for the extra layers of clothing as a nuisance if you choose but I found it quite pleasant to wear them. Besides that, as I’m sure you know, medical authorities almost unanimously agree that the reduced temperature change encountered when moving from a cool house to frigid outside winter weather is much less of a shock on your body than the change encountered as you move from a hot house to the same
outside weather. You’ll probably stay much healthier, in other words, if you spend the winter going back and forth from a 50° F building to 30° outside conditions than if you go back and forth between a 70° building and 30° outside weather
