Recommendations for all natural bed warmer

Jan White wrote:Around 7 or 8pm my body starts shutting down for the night and by the time I go to bed I'm usually freezing.  I can't stand wearing pyjamas when I sleep.  Socks are borderline.  A duvet or super thick mattress topper under the bottom sheet helps a lot in keeping things warmer.  Fuzzy sheets so they don't feel so cold when you first get in are good.  

If the room is quite cold, but under the blankets is warm, I find I sometimes have trouble regulating my body temperature.  In those instances, a toque with ear flaps fixes the problem.

Hot water bottles are great.  I didn't know there were metal ones!  I'd recommend going with one of those if you decide to try it.  The last hot water bottle I bought smelled so strongly of rubber that I had to hang it in a drafty porch for a couple YEARS before I didn't get a raging headache from the fumes.

I agree that another living body is the best bed warmer.  Luckily, my husband's body does the exact opposite of mine - by bedtime, he's burning off all his extra energy from the day and is way too hot.  I get to put my cold toes on him to cool him down.  So maybe you guys just need another partner - must be a hot sleeper

Having slept with two people and being between them, I can attest that it is an effective means of great for the person in the middle. The folks on the side not so much, and polyamorous relationships are notoriously messy from my experience. Though they are a vegan solution, so thanks for that!

  After suffering for years, I started using rice filled cotton bags (or even socks with a knot tied off) that have been heated by (ack!) microwave oven, placed around where my feet rest, creating a toasty cave under the covers. I started with two and now am up to five at my feet and one for my hands. I think I'll try setting them in the electric oven on its lowest setting when the weather cools off.

Yeah, I agree I prefer natural textiles, but in winter, getting to sleep can require extreme measures and compromises. I figure at least the natural materials next to me, and the synthetics can be in other layers. I'm one of those who, if I get into a cold bed with plenty of covers I can lie awake and uncomfortable for several hours, and my feet do not warm up. Around 2 or 3 I'll fall asleep, and wake up in the morning with warm feet, tired, so that's not a good option for me. Been there, done that, way too many times. Yes of course I wear pj's, wool socks, and hat to bed in midwinter.

I used a hot water bottle (or two) for years, and occasionally a hot rock wrapped in a towel (that still has the scorch marks on it). Metal water bottles are not as cozy for the feet as the standard rubber bottle, though. I had a rubber one with an atrocious smell when new, but it went away after a few days of use, and besides I don't smell it when it's way down there under 3 blankets with my feet.

When I moved to a place with mains power, I started using an electric mattress warmer (marketed as electric blanket here). I have a cotton sheet over it, so I'm not right against the polyester. If you don't like the idea of the electric current next to your body, you can preheat the bed and covers, and then turn it off when you get in. It's rated just 100 Watts, so really very very little power use. I find it incredible, really wonderful.

Heating the bed with an electric pad, hot water bottle or hot stone uses much much less energy than heating a whole room. Like one tenth or less.

S Bengi wrote:Rescue Rabbit = Rescue Dog

Any type of electric heating pad will have metal wires wrapped in insulative plastic/silicone.
If so just get a greenhouse heating mat and then place a regular old fashion mattress pad.
DIY style

Plus side: greenhouse heating mat is waterproof, can have temperature controls with degrees (not relative settings 1-10) and a sensor to provide feedback, it stays on. Useful in the spring for seedlings (can also use your electric blanket for same.)
Minus side:  greenhouse heating mat stays on (electric blankets have a safety shut-off timer), more expensive than electric blankets, it's a rubber mat with a fat cord on the side (might not be physically comfortable)

I wear a hat in the winter, warmer pajamas, socks if it's really cold (though I often kick them off). More blankets on the bed, flannel sheets.
A good mummy sleeping bag is cozy, and impossible to be stolen. (there are models that zip together too)

We have always slept in an unheated room with the window open and after many years of discomfort I use heated rice-filled cotton bags at my feet with one for my hands.

my idea is to get /build a 4 post bed with quilted curtains round the sides and top that way the air volume around you that needs to be heated is smaller like a little blanket fort or like the old Scandinavian cupboard beds in a small enough space your body heat will be enough to heat it. in one small apartment that I rented the room was barely big enough for my queen size bed maybe a foot of space between the bed and walls to walk in the winter my boddy heat and the heat given off by my laptop were enough to heat the room was always a shock as to how much cooler the rest of the house was when i got up in the morning

another idea is to build a water tank under the bed that you pump through a wood stove then you have a big thermal mass to reradiate the heat through the nite

For people thinking of trying the heated rice pack: It tends to be a "moist heat" which where my sister lives is fine as her house is very dry in the winter. Where I live, the humidity is very high in the winter, so adding more humidity to the bed would be counter productive. At times I've actually put the bed warmer on for a 1/2 hour in the morning to "dry the bed out". Now we have a dehumidifier that can be turned on for an hour or so if things get really bad and although it uses electricity, it adds a little heat to the room and provides a contribution of "distilled" water for clothes washing.