'They' did actually turn the whole heating system off at RAFC over Christmas and New Year in 1973 when the country was having the 'winter of discontent'. Some of us had to come back a couple of days early and found that the whole place had cold-soaked. There was no hot water, no heating, no food. The idea was to save money! We used to drive around for a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon with car heaters on max in the freezing fog to keep warm. Eventually 'they' turned it back on and we had burst pipes, water streaming down the walls, carpets ruined..... Allegedly the repairs cost well over twice what it would have cost 'them' to have keep the heating system ticking over!
Big picture....blah....different budgets....blah....I hear what you say....blah....purple jointery....blah blah!!