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Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

lowtechmagazine.com

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Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#191

Post by snow_mac »

Smart and very true. But honestly, I'm lazy. I don't leave my house much. I like to keep it no lower then 72 or 73 in the day and 75 at night. I have my heating setup such that after 9 am it drops the house to 72 (naturally) then at 4 pm kicks it up to 73. 6 pm 74, and 8 at 75. Hold all night until 6 am when I have it kick down to 74.

I don't care about the cost. Sure I could spend less and yes, I use more then all of my neighbors, but I really, really don't care. Sure it might be environmentally less efficient, but I couldn't care less about my bill being $20 or $50 cheaper. I want to be comfortable. That $20 or $50 isn't going to change my life in any meaningful way, but being warm sure makes me a lot happier, every, single, second, of the day.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#192

Post by throwaway2245 »

wolverine876 wrote: post #133
com2kid wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of this keeps my hands warm. Or makes me feel comfortable. After growing up in a house with no insulation and being miserable all winter long, now for an extra ~$50 a month during the winter I get to keep my house at a nice toasty 74-76 degrees F and I'm comfortable year round.

> None of this keeps my hands warm. > Or makes me feel comfortable. I wrote, 'Keep the thermostat at the lowest comfortable temperature', not an uncomfortable one. Don't lump me in with strawpeople who tell you to be uncomfortable. > for an extra ~$50 a month during the winter I get to keep my house at a nice toasty 74-76 degrees F I agree that you can do what you want with your $50. But there are other costs too: Ou…

> But there are other costs too: Our choices creates climate change for others.

Optimising your personal heating choices has a maximum benefit of $50 per month of fuel saved in the fight against climate change, then.

That rounds to zero compared to industrial-level decisions, and requires perhaps similar mental thinking time.

I don't see climate change being fought this way, not even if engaged people make themselves feel uncomfortably cold in the winter to the point of risking hypothermia (which is already a significant risk especially in the older population).

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#193

Post by loloquwowndueo »

1996 wrote: post #167
amingilani wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I concur. My account is just as anecdotal and also limited to a specific region. That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan my entire life. A combination of poorly insulated building materials, old houses, an energy crisis, and a low GDP per capita leads most individuals to people conserving body-heat in the winter. It isn't fun, and you're never warm enough. It was bizarre for me to loun…

> That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan most of my life. Welcome here! I hope you'll like it! Is it your first winter? It's a special experience! My favorite thing in the winter is a hot Tim Hortons drink - I rotate them, because they are all quite good! > And yet, winter feels infinitely colder in Pakistan than it does in Canada. Until you go outside and try to walk in the street :)

> Until you go outside and try to walk in the street :)

There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing. Dress appropriately when going out - every Canadian 5yo has mastered that skill.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#194

Post by marttt »

idolaspecus wrote: post #131
marttt wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is too extreme, but starting barefoot running and/or taking cold showers will greatly increase one's cold tolerance.

I'm interested in the idea of running barefoot, could you share a reference or two?

I'm actually more of a cold turkey experimenter. I started running barefoot more consistently only this September (discovered it accidentally on my own a few years ago). But I can state that it has done good to my ruined knees and I'm definitely a lot more resistant to catching colds.

I have, however, somehow always loved really cold weather (I'm in Estonia, so winters around -20C are nothing too special here; this year, however, it has not gone below -7C yet. No snow yet, either.)

But I do find this guy really interesting: http://barefootrunner.org/winter/wbfr_article_110610.htm

Also, a random thread on frostbite: https://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/frostbite.1479/

And another on hookworms: https://old.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/comments/14s6m8/lea...

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#195

Post by i_am_new_here »

bobbiechen wrote: post #63

> It may sound strange to promote the use of synthetic clothing on a blog like Low-tech Magazine. However, both natural and synthetic materials have their advantages and drawbacks, and both can be a sustainable choice - even though synthetic clothes are made from fossil fuels. This is especially true when the clothing is used as a substitute for a heating system; the energy saved by lowering the thermostat is much la…

It is so obvious what he states. It is kind of (obviously) right (and also kind of wrong).

Reminds me of Timnit Gebru on (the ethics of) AI. She tackles an obviously important (academic) topic, that you can't dispute how important it is, but though ... it is so shallow that with every sentence passing you say "yes (and no)".

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#196

Post by Kluny »

wolverine876 wrote: post #180
Kluny wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No thank you. I grew up in a house with a dad who fully bought into the "wear a sweater" philosophy. He'd make us go around all winter wearing two sweaters, a hat, and shoes indoors, and I still froze. My nose ran constantly and my hands got so cold I couldn't use my computer. Now I'm an adult and I've learned that the extra cost to heat my condo to 23 degrees all winter is basically the same as my Netflix subscripti…

OK, you win, you can't figure it out. :)

Oh no, you won – you got to be smug on the internet.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#197

Post by baby »

fnbr wrote: post #54
peteretep wrote: post #11

From the comments: > Sorry, I am not buying it. Not because you haven't done good work on the article: you have. Also not because N.American homes are overheated, and the residents under-dressed: they are. I do not buy it because the Japanese live the way you suggest in the winter, and it is miserable I have a mother in Scotland and I have a mother-in-law in Canada. Worst it ever gets near my mother seems to be -5C,…

Yeah, I find that people spend the least amount of money on insulation/heat that they can. I’m from Edmonton, and the coldest I’ve ever been was the winter when I lived in London, UK, as their insulation sucks and their heating sucks. In Edmonton, that’s not possible, because you have a few days of -40C weather annually, so your pipes will freeze without proper insulation (and you’ll die). Now, it’s not comfortable l…

Oh my, London was OK, but my SF appartement was freezing cold during the winter and horribly hot during the summer. And of course no AC and a shitty heater.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#198

Post by marttt »

gwd wrote: post #138
marttt wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is too extreme, but starting barefoot running and/or taking cold showers will greatly increase one's cold tolerance.

Honestly, I think that's part of the cause of my problem. For 9 years I spent one weekend outside every month, summer or winter, rain or shine. (Military reserves.) My feet spent a lot of time hovering just above frostbite level. I think the speed with which my body cuts circulation to my feet is probably a learned adaptation from that time period.

I know nothing about our body's long-term adaption (maybe you just need another 9 years mostly indoors to re-adapt? :), so this is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#199

Post by nucleardog »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #193
1996 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That said, I recently moved to North America and have lived in Pakistan most of my life. Welcome here! I hope you'll like it! Is it your first winter? It's a special experience! My favorite thing in the winter is a hot Tim Hortons drink - I rotate them, because they are all quite good! > And yet, winter feels infinitely colder in Pakistan than it does in Canada. Until you go outside and try to walk in the street :)

> Until you go outside and try to walk in the street :) There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing. Dress appropriately when going out - every Canadian 5yo has mastered that skill.

I appreciate the thought and agree in most situations the solution is to dress better, but when it’s -40 actual temperature and hitting -70F with the windchill I’d still call it “bad weather”.

At that point you can get frostbite in under a minute. Dressing appropriately starts to feel more like putting on a hazmat suit than getting dressed to go out as any bit of exposed skin is at risk.

Even many cold-weather accessories you might have start to feel insufficient. A knit scarf or toque is great in many situations, but the cold wind will cut through it like a knife.

I remember being sent outside at recess as a kid at those kinds of temperatures. I mean, I still go outside when I have to but I don’t exactly look for excuses to leave the house.

Re: Insulation: First the body, then the home (2011)

#200

Post by sixstringtheory »

oftenwrong wrote: post #2

And if you would like to read the solar-powered version of this article: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/body-insulation-th...

Wow, this is the first time I've ever heard of something like this. Are there others? I searched and didn't find any, but did find this cool writeup about LTM's setup: https://hackaday.com/2018/10/08/perfecting-the-solar-powered...
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