| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| ken69 |
Heated clothingHas anyone thought of using heated clothing for indoor use and cut back on the central heating....http://tinyurl.com/lbke6 ....these are priced at £49 per garment including a charger with batteries, tho have seen them priced at £27, |
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| marigold |
Don't fancy it myself - the thought of having a "hot" jacket is somehow a bit queasy-making. Maybe that's just me 
I wear lots of layers, sheepskin booties and sometimes drape a hot wheat bag over my lap or round my shoulders if I'm doing something sedentary and it's nippy, but not nippy enough to want the heating on. |
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| judith |
It doesn't really appeal to me either - I think I would be taking it on and off all the time. I find that if I can keep my hands and feet warm, then the rest of the body will put up with most temperatures. Heated socks might work for me perhaps. | ||
| dpack |
i just wear good insulating clothes and dont do heating ,
wooly hats are very adjustable to 25 %of your heat loss . |
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| ken69 |
Blimey, dpack, you're a hardy soul, I wear a dutch type hat for outside, makes sense to wear it indoors, and I like the idea of wheat bags and hot socks.
Maybe could steal some heat from the radiators, or pop 'em in the microwave with the porridge. 
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| dpack |
the only bit that can be harsh is bathtime ,however i have had a bath in a wood fired bath in a snowstorm so indoors seems quite tame .
what i dont understand is the jeans n t shirt or skimpy frock in winter sleet .leisure sports wear for street corners in feb etc . do these folk have no sense(s) maybe it is cold weather medicine education that is needed not asbos 
yes a wood fired bath is a bit like the "canibals cooking pot " cartoon but it is ok if you sit on a plank 
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| ken69 |
Yes, dpack, done the tin bath in front of fire thing, and you've not seen life until you have icycles on your tender ickles. | ||
| tahir |
Glad to say I've not seen life 
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| alison |
Tahir
Me too 
As a point of interest dpack, how many layers of clothes do you regularly wear. I have found since losing weight I am a lot colder than when fat. |
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| puffedpride |
Heated clothing - presumably intended for the elderly and infirm? Reckon you'd be roasting with just a little moving around. And the rechargable battery still requires energy (though less I presume than heating the home). Presumably safe?!!
My humble contribution to the debate - why not wear cycling kit? No - seriously! These sheer fleeced lycra garments are purpose designed for optimal lightness, flexibility, comfort, warmth and moisture release (to prevent dampness from sweat). A pair of 'Roubaix' cycling tights under your jeans will keep your legs toasty. With heating on you'd soon be begging to take them off! In addition, bike wear is fairly unique in that you can buy weird 'bits' of clothing for specific body parts, that is useful for cyclists who want to adjust their body warmth areas quite finely while out on winter rides, as weather changes, or their exercise intensity changes. Hence you get arm-warmers, leg warmers, knee-warmers, bib shorts etc that look a bit bizarre on a non-cyclist, but could easily be concealed as 'underwear'. Check out some of the websites. Warning - some of the gear comes in utterly tasteless continental racing team colours, but boring black is still commonly available. Well. I'm off now to slather some savlon onto my chamois....... |
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| dpack |
not by the fire , on the fire . outdoors winter ..
out of the sauna through the snow and under the spring is quite bracing as well . 
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| dpack |
2 or three layers works well down to 10 to 15 degrees colder than that it needs the hat and maybe the down jacket .
my flat has not dropped below 0 so the deep cold kit is not necessary . |
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| ken69 |
Good thinking PP...got some gear somewhere..did long distance cycling in my younger days, so with keeping the hat on and hanging clothes on the radiator, and wheat bags in the microwave, problem solved.
Heated shoes aka motor cyclist kit would be worth research. |
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| Gervase |
I'm a great fan of woollen long johns and long-sleeved vests - M&S did a range of fine merino wool ones a few years back (before they went trendy and started doing all this Beckahm nonsense) and I stocked up then. Trouble is, the other 'arf keeps swiping them (and then takes the wotsit out of me for my old fashioned penchant for 'scratchy tweed underwear'. Pah!).
Marvellous stuff, though - keeps you warm as toast in the most horrible weather when all about you are shivering and grumbling about the cold. |
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| marigold |
www.inspectourgadgets.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=64
What about these?? Lots of products available if you google "heated slippers" .
I usually wear 3-4 layers in cold weather - cotton vest, cotton long sleeve T-shirt, wool jumper or cardigan (thick or thin, depending on temp), fleece jacket if necessary. Mohair socks and sheepskin slippers. Outdoors I just add windproof jacket, hat and gloves. Change slippers for shoes or boots. Maybe tights under trousers if it's very cold/windy. Mostly I only need the heating on early morning and an hour or so to warm up if I start to feel cold or need to get washing dry. Luxury is a quick blast with the fan heater to take the chill off. My health is poor, so I don't make myself suffer , but I do believe in dressing for the weather and deplore the modern habit of heating houses/offices so that the occupants can wear beach-clothes all year round. Stupid, wasteful and unhealthy  .
In winter my worst problem is cold hands, but you can't cook/knit/write etc with gloves on. I find summer much harder to deal with - hot weather makes me feel awful and I lie around with ice mats draped over me, fantasising about having a house with a deeeeep coooool cellar that I could hide in during July and August. Portable air-conditioner costs a fortune, but is life-saving..... |
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| Bernie66 |
I must admit that my way of dealing with this cold is to wear an extra layer .i.e. put another Tshirt on. Layers are the most effective heater i find | ||
| Treacodactyl |
In winter a minimum of T-shirt, shirt and woolly jumper; I often wear two jumpers but our house often doesn't have any rooms hotter than about 15°C and even then just two rooms. Of course I wear trousers if we have visitors.
Which leads me on to the point of things getting damp. How hot do houses need to be? I find ours gets a little too damp when it gets too cold. All the air bricks are clear and the house reasonably ventilated but if it stays too cold dampness does seem to form in winter. |
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| tahir |
Heated clothing...
http://www.judyofthewoods.net/images/hypocaust.jpg |
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| creeper |
I did buy my father some battery operated heated socks (fishermans ones) to keep his toes warm as he was always complaining of cold feet (something to do with bad circulation due to having TB as a kid) and he loves them.
Loads of my biker mates have heated clothes for on the bikes in winter that plug into the bike electrics and they swear by them - me, I just keep the bike in the garage until it's warmer
Out working on the field I just go with the many layers of clothing method - plus a couple of spare layers in the pick-up in case of very cold days. |
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| puffedpride |
Defeet socks for cyclists (cycling in winter gives you VERY cold feet!)
They are dear but apparently excellent temperature regulators - keeping feet warm in cold (no sweat build up that causes damp/chill) but not making feet too hot as it warms either. So they claim - I don't own any. Nobody has talked much about ACTIVITY! TV watching PC obsessing types are gonna get cold! (er, that's me at the moment!) I'm trying my cycling underwear theory out for the 1st time today. Works well, but then it IS a balmy 18 degrees in here at at the mo. Dpack - how can you bear it so cold? Don't you get a cold nose? |
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| ken69 |
It's all coming together...put your bike on a stand, pedal like mad...charge up a car battery..carry it into the house...turn down the heating by two notches.....plug in Creepers motorcycle gear, with PP's socks, and microwaved wheat bag....
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| marigold |
Changing the subject slightly, it's nice that it's warm enough here today to sit outside (wearing normal indoor clothing) with my after lunch cuppa and feel quite toasty 
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| ken69 |
Yes, Marigold, good here too in the sun and out of the wind.
Unlike most of the country it seems. Had the double glazing people round, new front door plus new back door (with side window) £1141 lowest quote,highest £1400. |