Create Micro Heater Bubble - PEP BB electricity.sand.micro

Yesterday was Labor Day, and ninety degrees. Today it snowed. Time for a BB.

I work on my computer at a standing desk, so I configured my micro heater bubble there.

Heaters used:
- Incandescent light at head, desklamp (1)
- Dog bed heater (3) (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07YZQDNFQ) at:
 - Feet
 - Chairback, where I brace myself
 - Tabletop, at hand-contact, draped over the front of the desk

In the morning it was below 60 degrees, I was toasty warm, wearing a t-shirt and warm pants, even without the desk lamp on.

By midday, it was below 50 degrees, I shifted to long sleeves. I was comfortable inside the bubble. When I left the bubble, I became quickly aware that yes, it was every bit 50 degrees in the rest of the house. The primary optimization I made was to fold the "foot" dog bed heater over the top of my feet. That made extra toasty feet.

I'm now contemplating better cable management to increase portability and aesthetics of the three dog bed heaters. I've head-height incandescent lamps aplenty, so that doesn't need portability.

This is a crazy idea, but if you create a kotatsu for your home office and use a desktop computer, can you put the cpu tower under the blanket to warm yourself with waste heat?

Would that be enough?
Thoughts?

It's worth a shot!  I think in a side conversation with Paul he was ok with people attempting this BB without following the exact "musts" of the required list.

This is a great idea and I have done most of these but my desk has a keyboard drawer (necessary for me based on my height and ergonomics) and I'm not sure how to make a desk skirt/kotatsu that will work with that. I'm sure there is a way but have not thought of an elegant solution yet myself so thought I'd post here and see if anyone else had suggestions. Thanks!

My wife works from home three days out of five. She likes to be toasty warm but the only way to warm her is to turn the heating on for the whole house. She was reluctant to try the heat bubble until I sneakily installed the heated keyboard and mouse mat. She loved it. Then in went the dog warmer. That was a big hot too. Then a lovely lamp and a small oil radiator for really cold days.


Study desk in summer mode


Desk in winter mode with light, blanket, heated dog mat, heated mouse / keyboard mat and small oil filled electric radiator


Heated dog mat


Dog mat controller


Heated keyboard / mouse mat with controller in far corner


Small oil filled electric radiator

Resubmission with video and clearer list of items

My wife works from home three days out of five. She likes to be toasty warm but the only way to warm her is to turn the heating on for the whole house. She was reluctant to try the heat bubble until I sneakily installed the heated keyboard and mouse mat. She loved it. Then in went the dog warmer. That was a big hot too. Then a lovely lamp and a small oil radiator for really cold days.


Study desk in summer mode


Desk in winter mode with light, blanket, heated dog mat, heated mouse / keyboard mat and small oil filled electric radiator


Heated dog mat


Dog mat controller


Heated keyboard / mouse mat with controller in far corner


Small oil filled electric radiator

Heaters used

Heated Keyboard / Mouse Mat - on the desk under keyboard and mouse

Overhead lamp - above left shoulder

Heated dog mat - under desk

Small electric oil heater - under desk

Blanket - on lap

Lots of fantastic ideas but all still use heat, which means manufactured [FF] energy used. Here is a revolutionary idea that can work for everyone just not at all the same levels.

Our ancestors were used to doing without heat for most of their COLD days. People have become so dependent upon outside the body heat that they do not realize what the body can tolerate, ADAPT TO. A Minus 20 bag can provide all the insulation one needs to maintain the heat our own bodies produce to keep us warm. I live in a climate where minus 40 and lower is frequent thru out the winter. My house come morning is anywhere from 2C/34ishF to 5C/40ishF. I never shiver, I never go to the "new" mindset, "oh, it's cold/I'm cold" - it really is as simple as mind over cold. Now of course, not all are the same but remember, ALL WERE THE SAME BACK IN THE DAY when our ancestors all lived with this. Mental changes really do help one do physical changes.

Babies were born and raised to Inuit mothers/families in igloos, which very likely helped these kids on their way to a life lived MOSTLY in frigid temps with mostly only body heat to survive and flourish. Inuit, ... lived for days in the outdoors on extended hunting trips, moving to new locations, ... .

Try it, it works! Don't let cold control you, control the cold, partially, with your mind. I walk outside in cold weather with only underwear/shorts to perform needed tasks as a way to steel myself. [In a very rural area]

Takigyo, done in Japan and by many First Nations peoples.



If you think you are cold you'll be cold, think the opposite, don't dwell on cold like we moderns do and you will find yourself rarely, if ever, actually being cold. Learn to rejoice in cold. Mother Nature gave us all a very good furnace. Learn to use it as it is designed to be used. The mind, used correctly, is a fabulous thermostat.

In the old days houses were much smaller, so less to heat.  

A long robe and thick wool socks are wonderful in a cold house.  A 2 liter soda bottle full of warm water in your lap when setting helps.

When I was a kid we lived in Germany for several years.  The only heat was in the kitchen.  It made for closeness, because everyone was always in the kitchen.  Our water heater was coal fired and we fired it up for bathing, which warmed the bathroom for a bath.  The rest of the house was unheated.  Most of us kids doubled up in beds and hot water bottles or warm  bricks or rocks were loved.  

The secret is heavier clothing.  Wool is great.  If it's itchy, get something between your skin and the wool.  Heavy socks.  My wife and girls have complained that womens clothing is just too thin (and have terrible, tiny, useless pockets).  

"If your  toes are cold put on a hat" (and scarf) - this old adage works because most (90+%) of our body heat is alleged to be lost at the back top of the neck and back of the head. I'm a dyed in the wool advocate (pun intended). I prefer a wool knitted beanie cap (Navy 'watch cap'). Wool is great as one of several layers - wool and layering creates air pockets that become heated by the body and retained via the layering (just like house insulation). Sleeveless down vests make a great under-layer, too, especially considering we need to retain our 'core' body temperature (as a priority over extremities, for example). And ditch the ice cold drinks for Pete's sake - no sense wasting body heat (and energy) warming cold food and drinks to body temp... hot toddies anyone
Cheers

Mick Fisch wrote:When I was a kid we lived in Germany for several years.  The only heat was in the kitchen.  

What did your coldest winter days get to, Mick, C or F, I am bilingual? What temps did the cold parts of your house sit at during the coldest OD temps? What were the heated kitchen temps?

Terry

What did your coldest winter days get to, Mick, C or F, I am bilingual? What temps did the cold parts of your house sit at during the coldest OD temps? What were the heated kitchen temps?

I was a kid and I don't think we had a thermometer in the house, but I'm guessing most of the house was in the 30's to 40's (F) most of the winter.  It was enough to make you hands ache after a while.  The kitchen was probably in the 70's (F), it was comfortable and warm.  there was an attached living room but it was cold enough that we didn't use it.  We dressed warm, wore heavy pajamas and sometimes wore sleeping hats to bed.

My mom was surprised how cold the houses were in Germany (she was from Arizona and Southern California, although we had lived in South Dakota also).  She was really surprised at the short sleeves and shorts in what seemed to her freezing weather.  

It seemed like all of the german kids had red chapped cheeks.  One of the neighbors said it was from leaning over the stove warming up on cold mornings.

An interesting side note was that we accidently broke the plaster on the wall one time and the insulation was bright yellow straw, no clay slip or anything.

To save energy we only use the heat pump from 'Fall back' until 'Spring forward'. It only heats one room. Outside temps drop to 5-10F. Indoors hovers at 60-65F with the heat pump, and can dip to 50F without.

The first layer of protection is warmer clothing; wool socks, sherpa slippers, a cashmere cardigan, and a wool beanie.
The second layer is a felted wool blanket that tucks around my legs, the heat from my laptop, and sometimes an incandescent lamp over my left shoulder.
The third layer is a cat.  He takes up the space from my knees, down to my toes.

Cozy and warm for hours and hours.

Would this meet requirements, with pics and video?

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- create a microheater bubble
  - document your comfort after one hour with the air temp is 60 degrees F
  - optimize bubble so you can be comfortable, sitting still, for three hours at 50 degrees F
  - must have one incandescent directional light
        o close to head, but not in your eyes
        o light is not in the eyes of anybody
        o easy to turn on and off
  - must have a dog bed heater
        o a style that will not overheat
        o easy to turn on and off
  - must have a lap warmer
        o couch or chair can just be a blanket
        o desk must be a kotatsu
 - desk must have
       o heated pad under keyboard and mouse, or
       o heated keyboard and heated mouse

If you can get the room down to 50F for the 3 hour test, it sounds like you might be one dog bed heater and a heated keyboard/mouse away from having the requirements met.  Unless you're at a desk where you'd also need the kotatsu

I am a disabled single mom on a small fixed income. Degenerative discs in my neck and lumbar spine, and arthritis in other joints. My body hurts when it is cold. My hands take the brunt, so painful. If I can't get warm in the living room soon, I will head to bed, and throw the covers over my head. I just can't take it.

Second Test: 1/12/24
It is F-ing cold outside, low of 12F, high of 22F, subtract for windchill, and the heat pump is shutting down often. The doors to other rooms are shut, the curtains are drawn at sundown, and yet the 20x20' living room is only getting up to 50F-55F.

I did some research and learned about Japanese Kotatsu, a table with a heater underneath either charcoal or electric with a large blanket overtop to hold in the heat. And instead of refusing because of price, I started thinking about how could be made from things I had around the house already.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Kotatsu.svg/330px-Kotatsu.svg.png

Everything centers around a heater. I wanted something that didn't make abrupt temp changes and this tiny oil-filled radiator fits the bill. We usually use it in the hut for xmas tree sales, but the season is over.

Went searching for a large blanket and found a wool mattress pad in the 'make something with it' pile.  It's large enough to go over my lap and touch the floor, capturing the heat from the radiator just like a Japanese Kotatsu.  My laptop fits on my lap so I can keep working. The laptop itself heats the space between my laptop and the blanket and is a great place to keep my hands warm.

I layered up: 2 shirts, leggings and yoga pants, and a thick bathrobe over it all, added a wool hat, and compression gloves.
Sat down, turned the 3-way lamp on, flipped the blanket over my lap, and over the radiator like a tent. Working and sipping on hot cocoa with peanut butter.

Within a few minutes, the cold-pain fades away, and my fingers flex again.  Warm and satisfied for hours, even when the temp is so low.

Verified Video Link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhXefDfZd78&list=PLdHWagSaNUjbtUSli83EPaFNtgerjTv_z&index=2&t=25s  

Jennifer Markestad wrote:
If it gets super-cold I can add one or more of these layers: Long underwear, a boiled wool coat, a thick wool hat, fingerless gloves, a reheatable pillow, an oil-filled heater, and a bottomless hot cuppa.  My body functions best between 67F and 77F. Anything below 50F indoors and I'll turn the heat pump on, even in April.

Cozy and warm for hours and hours. But now it is time to go work outside. Thanks!

Verified Video Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhXefDfZd78&list=PLdHWagSaNUjbtUSli83EPaFNtgerjTv_z&index=2&t=25s

I cannot afford an electric heating pad nor a heated dog bed.  We make do with layering and the heat pump. But thanks...

Here is how my massage clients and I stay warm when it's cold outside for a fraction of the cost of a space heater alone.

 

I use these micro heaters:
1. Ceramic electric heater that keeps the room at 50-60°
2. Incandescent light keeps chair or chest warm
3. Heated blanket keeps "desk" warm
4. Seedling matt keeps feet warm on the floor
5. Regular blanket keeps lap warm
6. Tiny rice socks for hand warmers.