How to Keep Warm in a Cool House

Really enjoyed reading this article

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/03/how-to-keep-warm-in-a-cool-house/

I am amazed at the expectation of some people who wish to invert the seasons and refuse to put a jumper on in winter.
No wonder the world has trouble with fuel bills and climate change.

I run what the article describes as a hybrid heating solution.  Since I live alone, I'm able to tune it to my needs.  The following solution isn't for everyone, but may work for you or at least give you an idea.

I intentionally keep the air temperature in my house about 2°F (1°C) below my lowest comfort level.  Then I wear a sweater or housecoat during the day.  Not a big sacrifice.  Since I work at a computer for a good portion of the day, I want to make my office a little more comfortable.  I was using a standard 1500w electric air heater to warm that one room.

Then about a year ago, I saw a YT video with an amazing low-power solution to warm a single person.  They used a  $10 7w terrarium warming pad.  You simply put your feet on it and the warmth radiates up into your legs to make you more comfortable.  I'm using it right now.  Although the 1500w air heater doesn't run continuously, it still consumes far more power part time than this 7w heater running continuously during the day.  It also has a rheostat to allow you to adjust the power up or down (to a max of 7w) to fine-tune the heat.

Here is a link at Amazon (not an endorsement) to see what I'm talking about.  I've now been using it for 1 1/2 seasons and am happy with it.
https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Adjustment-Reptiles-Turtle%EF%BC%8CUnder-5-51inch11inch/dp/B08M9H4285

John C Daley wrote:I am amazed at the expectation of some people who wish to invert the seasons and refuse to put a jumper on in winter.

Personally, it's the ones who seem to want winter temperatures to be achieved with air conditioning in the summer that bother me!

I liked how the article admitted that different humans have different heat/cold tolerance. I can easily be wearing a long sleeved shirt, a vest, and a "jumper" (cardigan, sweater, hoody - choose your variation of English) when those around me are wearing far less. If I let my feet get cold in the evening, it can take me hours to get them warmed up again.

So for me, the idea of finding better ways to "heat the person" definitely appeals to me. I actually would prefer to have myself warm, but the air to be cooler.

There are plenty of good ideas in the article, but I may need to invent a pair of heated booties!

In the cooler months, or any time I happen to be in really cold weather, I always dress in layers.  Simply having a base layer on the skin which keeps my skin both warm and dry does wonders to keep the chill off.


I love the responses here so far!


Eric

I have throws and quilts on every chair, couch or loveseat!  As a matter of course, I use them every time I sit down, and just by covering my legs and feet and trapping that body heat, I can easily keep the thermostat down.  When I was having my sunroom built, I knew that I wanted a sauna.  There is nothing better than to sit inside it while watching the snow fall outside.  It really heats me to my core and there are a lot of health benefits. It sips electricity, so that doesn't even really count. Yes, it was about $1,000 at the time, but it was a one-time expense that I've used for about ten years now, and hopefully, for many more!  I pretty much live in that room.  My sewing machines, laptop and plants are there, and it has lots of skylights and windows, so I often will heat it using the mini-split, and leave the rest of the house a little cooler.  

I do have an appointment to have the furnace cleaned, which helps tremendously with efficiency.  I pretty much use it when it's below zero and the geothermal needs a boost, but it's been a number of years now.  In October, I have a fella coming to fix cracks in the foundation, and that's got to help with cold getting in, too!  I cook lots of soups and stews, and the moisture helps to also warm the air.

Layers are what is needed.  T-shirt, then sweater, then more clothing until comfortable.

Keeping warm in a cool house is easy.

Staying cool in a hot house is hard.

We heat mostly with wood (with supplemental heat from a couple of electric space heaters, as needed). So the living room and adjacent spaces - and the attic, where I sleep - are usually plenty warm (the attic gets too warm - I prefer to sleep in a cold room), while the peripheral spaces are cooler. We wear more clothes in the winter - usually I will have a sweater or sweatshirt on over a turtleneck, and sometimes if it's really cold, I'll add a light jacket and a hat (we live in a very drafty old farmhouse, so even the woodstove can't keep up on the coldest days of the year). My handicapped daughter has lupus and has a lot of trouble regulating her body temperature; she will keep piling on shirts and sweaters until she looks like the Pillsbury dough boy (I've counted up to twenty shirts when undressing her). She still wears layers in summer, but not usually that many. I'd really like to trade bedrooms with her - she'd be warmer upstairs - but she's also autistic, and extremely resistant to change. (I suggested the change to her just now, and she shook her head, said "Unh uh," and left the room. Forcing the issue would lead to massive screaming.)

I sit at my desk a lot, and have a heated footrest, which also gets my legs up to a comfortable level (I'm short). Keeping your feet warm is one of the most important things you can do. And keep your head and neck warm, so wear a hat indoors, and shirts that cover your neck - or put a scarf on (take a look at how medieval people dressed). I also have a heated mouse for my computer, and that makes a lot of difference, too. I had gotten a pair of heated fingerless gloves, but those have to be plugged in, which is kind of inconvenient. I've had to replace the heated footrest once (after a couple of years of constant use in the winter), and need to buy my third heated mouse - they don't last as long as I'd like. But it's well worth it to have warm feet and hands.

In summer, I keep the house warmer than in the winter - it's currently 75 F, according to the thermometer on my desk, and can go up to 80 F. In winter, it's likely to be 65 to 68 F in here. We managed okay for four years without AC, using fans and the shade in the back yard. But I have to admit that I'm thankful to have it, especially in a heat wave like we've just had.

I'd previously posted in the "Staying warm in winter (inside)" thread:

Andrew Welser wrote:
A couple winters back I was by myself in a poorly insulated mobile home, heated only by space heaters.  What worked for me was keeping room temperature very low (but well above freezing for the sake of the plumbing), which ended up around 45*f.

Extra layers of clothing: wearing similar clothing inside as I would for working outside; I'm a big fan of insulated coveralls and long underwear: people who don't work in the elements will wear coats, but often don't add leg layers. Electric blanket to pre-warm the bed. Run a space heater at a high temperature only when changing and showering.

Most of the time that I was inside and not in bed I was on the couch with micro-heaters: a electric heating pad at my back, electric throw blanket in my lap, heat emitter "bulb" in a swing arm lamp over my hands. Depending on what different things you do/places you are inside you could set up different "workstations" with different micro-heaters, or have a space heater that you only run when you're in the kitchen (for example).

All the above will help regardless of what is done to the building: better insulation, weatherstripping, etc will keep the heat inside better so the heater(s) don't have to work as long/hard to maintain the 45* (or whatever you set). The lower the temperature differential (between conditioned and unconditioned space) the less heating is required: so keeping the room temperature low, and just heating the occupant(s) will use less energy.

One thing I forgot to mention - hot water bottles. Take one or two to bed with you at night. I've used quart canning jars (wrap in a towel, so you don't get burned), but currently we have the red(ish) rubber hot water bottles. You don't need to wrap those in a towel unless you fill them with boiling water. I put one by my tummy and one at my feet if I'm really cold when I go to bed. (I cannot get to sleep if my feet are cold.) Alternatively, if you have a dog, take the dog to bed with you!

Love this topic, very practical as we are heading in to autumn in the PNW. While I am building out the tiny home, I am glamping in a small off grid trailer with a Pecron solar unit and a 500W panel. In the spirit of 'heat the person, not the room', I had purchased a carseat heater pad that plugs in to the cigarette lighter DC port on the solar unit.   (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Heated-Car-Rear-Seat-Cushion-Back-Seat-Cover-Universal-Warmer-Heating-Warming-Pad/538200508 - not an endorsement, just an example).  I chose a car heater / DC cord rather than an at home heating pad with AC plug in order to avoid the extra power AC inverter conversion draw. I am admittedly not great with math, so I tend to rely on Claude to crunch numbers and make comparisons for me (see attached). Pics are from this morning - on waking today it was 48F degrees.

With this warmer on the bench beside the table, and a blanket on my lap, it keeps me locally toasty with very little burden on my daily solar budget that has to cover warming,  lighting, cooking, and e-device charging. I can arrange the heater along the bench seat if I want to sit with feet up, or vertically with part on the floor under my feet, running up the back of my legs, across the seat and up the back when sitting. (Love the idea of the terrarium mat under the feet  Cujo- I have a seed warming mat that could play that same role if I need an extra boost!)

And Yes to Barbara about little blankets and quilts and snuggly warmth wherever it could be needed! And as Kathleen says, also a big fan of covering up all the places that seem most sensitive to the cold: gloves without finger tips are also very helpful on chilly mornings, and scarves that keep the back of the neck warm, and a wool hat.

John C Daley wrote:I am amazed at the expectation of some people who wish to invert the seasons and refuse to put a jumper on in winter.
No wonder the world has trouble with fuel bills and climate change.

I work HVAC for a campus that has some office space, and every season change we get a few people requesting set-point changes to their office where their heating set-point is higher than their cooling set-point: I.E. they want their office cooled down to 70*f in summer, but heated to 75*f in winter! <shaking my head & facepalm!>

Andrew Welser wrote:I'd previously posted in the "Staying warm in winter (inside)" thread:

Andrew Welser wrote:
A couple winters back I was by myself in a poorly insulated mobile home, heated only by space heaters.  What worked for me was keeping room temperature very low (but well above freezing for the sake of the plumbing), which ended up around 45*f.

Extra layers of clothing: wearing similar clothing inside as I would for working outside; I'm a big fan of insulated coveralls and long underwear: people who don't work in the elements will wear coats, but often don't add leg layers. Electric blanket to pre-warm the bed. Run a space heater at a high temperature only when changing and showering.

Most of the time that I was inside and not in bed I was on the couch with micro-heaters: a electric heating pad at my back, electric throw blanket in my lap, heat emitter "bulb" in a swing arm lamp over my hands. Depending on what different things you do/places you are inside you could set up different "workstations" with different micro-heaters, or have a space heater that you only run when you're in the kitchen (for example).

All the above will help regardless of what is done to the building: better insulation, weatherstripping, etc will keep the heat inside better so the heater(s) don't have to work as long/hard to maintain the 45* (or whatever you set). The lower the temperature differential (between conditioned and unconditioned space) the less heating is required: so keeping the room temperature low, and just heating the occupant(s) will use less energy.

Wow Andrew, thanks for sharing this from the other thread - 45 degrees inside as a baseline through winter - Golly, I have to admit that the thought of that setting for a long time is rough. I am expecting to be transiting out of the little RV into tiny home with a rocket mass heater (warm - yeahhh!  hot water - yeahhhh!) within 6 to 8 weeks.  It sounds like you lived within that setting for much longer. Do you mind if I ask about immune system burden with that ongoing cold environment - certainly you did a lot to keep yourself warm enough, but there is often a biological burden of chilling that suppresses immune response. Do you have any comment to share about health impacts of maintaining in that 45* setting?  And if this is too personal, feel free to decline or skip a response.

Andrew Welser wrote:

John C Daley wrote:I am amazed at the expectation of some people who wish to invert the seasons and refuse to put a jumper on in winter.
No wonder the world has trouble with fuel bills and climate change.

I work HVAC for a campus that has some office space, and every season change we get a few people requesting set-point changes to their office where their heating set-point is higher than their cooling set-point: I.E. they want their office cooled down to 70*f in summer, but heated to 75*f in winter! <shaking my head & facepalm!>

We've had serious issues with this kind of thing, with my daughter not being able to regulate her temperature well. One hot day, I wasn't thinking, and took her to a doctor appointment without a jacket - the inside of the clinic felt cool even to me, and she had goosebumps and was shivering, and on the edge of getting blue lips and fingers. Now I try to always remember to put a jacket on her when we have to go to town.

Kara Ann wrote:Wow Andrew, thanks for sharing this from the other thread - 45 degrees inside as a baseline through winter - Golly, I have to admit that the thought of that setting for a long time is rough. I am expecting to be transiting out of the little RV into tiny home with a rocket mass heater (warm - yeahhh!  hot water - yeahhhh!) within 6 to 8 weeks.  It sounds like you lived within that setting for much longer. Do you mind if I ask about immune system burden with that ongoing cold environment - certainly you did a lot to keep yourself warm enough, but there is often a biological burden of chilling that suppresses immune response. Do you have any comment to share about health impacts of maintaining in that 45* setting?  And if this is too personal, feel free to decline or skip a response.

I'm in North Texas, so over the 3-4 months of "winter", there were probably only around 6 weeks total (and not consecutive) where the outside temperature stayed low enough for the inside to be down at 45*. I had some health issues during and for a few months following the year-ish I lived there, mainly what felt like back to back sinus infections; but given that it was that cold only a fraction of the year, I mainly attributed the sinus infections to mold and/or other air pollutants encountered from living in an old mobile home; I don't recall the winter months being worse for me health-wise.

One principle that my wife and I have is to first generate the warmth from inside our body, then retain it for as long as possible, and only then afterward generate heat externally and try to transfer it to our bodies as efficiently as possible.

Concretely we use physical activity to generate heat from within our bodies. This can be done before breakfast so we benefit from the self-generated warmth the most during waking ours. We aim to alternate between strength training one day and cardio the next for 6 days of the week, and the 7th day is a rest day, so this self-generated heat early in the day is a major contributor to our body warmth and comfort.

Here are several examples:
- 45 minutes of moderate intensity strength training (we use hard sets close to our limit but without injury and efficient non-competing supersets)
- 45 minutes of moderate intensity cardio (mouvement circuit, a mobility flow of useful movements, fast walking, moderate intensity hiking, etc.)
- chopping wood or other moderate intensity activity which warms us up

As long as the exercise is moderate intensity (not light intensity) we get nice and toasty for several hours afterward.

Retaining the heat in our bodies is done with what you all have already mentioned, layered clothes, blankets, etc.

Generating heat externally is done with hot water heated on our wood stove (soon to be replaced by a rocket mass heater) and poured into hot water bottles that we hold under our clothes or a blanket. Lastly we heat 40m² (430 sq. ft.) of living space with our wood stove. We currently burn 0.55 cords per winter (living in southern France). Can't wait to build our RMH and spend lots of time on its heated bench in the winter! Should cut our firewood needs by half according to our calculations.

-Daniel & Delphine STICKNEY