171–180 of 335 posts
What about your lungs? There is a reason tropical animals die with respiratory diseases when using heat pads in their inclosure over warming the air.
I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…
The energy savings from spot cooling with fans can be incredible compared to AC. A garage AC unit consumes ~1300W while a 20” fan consumes about ~150W. My startup, Following Fan, has built a person-tracking 20” fan that uses computer vision to automatically stay pointed at the user as they move around. This technology provides the location agnostic benefits of AC with the energy consumption of fans.
I have read the article couple of years ago and I do not burn stove all the time, just put a sweater on or turn on electric blanket.
Frankly I have got used to 'cold' and it just doesn't bother me anymore. I sleep much better when it is cold inside the cabin but warm in my bed with electric blanket (20W). As long as the temperature doesn't drop below 12C (54F) working on a laptop or reading with a sweater on is comfortable. I do not enjoy excesively heated living rooms in the city.
The other article on lowtech magazine mentions that the average temperatures in our houses have been raised over last couple of years significantly (due to better insulation, heating etc). I do remember that when I was teenager no one had been sitting in a living room with a t-shirt on but rather in a sweater as in winter the normal temepratures in a living room used to be 18-20C and in the sleeping room 16C. Nowadays it is more like 24-26C for most people I know.
Heat properly insulated spaces. I don’t want to walk around with piles of movement limiting and suffocating clothing inside my own living room. The problem is not what you heat up, it’s how well you insulate it from losing its heat. In Australia where I live, insulation is non-existent in the average home/apartment. Even simple things like tinted windows (for hot days), double pane windows and floating floor is missi…
I also think that drastically lowering the temperature in unmodified buildings will create other problems like mold because you move the dew point so the moisture generated by residents will condensate in problematic places, e.g. inside insulation.
Later, the ice slowly melts. Drip, drip.
One concept I've toyed with for a while is a laser blanket. A ceiling mounted infrared camera measures the temperature across your body, and an infrared laser automatically goes and "paints" any part that is insufficiently warm. No idea if it would be comfortable at all, but fun project.
One concept I've toyed with for a while is a laser blanket. A ceiling mounted infrared camera measures the temperature across your body, and an infrared laser automatically goes and "paints" any part that is insufficiently warm. No idea if it would be comfortable at all, but fun project.
An issue with keeping yourself warm with clothing is some hotspots get too warm, and others too cold. Like the armpits usually get too warm, but your exposed hands too cold. If your slippers have sheep's wool in them, like ugg slippers, then they often sweat a lot or feel a little wet while simultaneously feeling cold at times, or warm enough. Most sweaters are also not designed to keep your armpits a little bit cool…
We can sit and imagine problems with every course of action, and never step forward.
In my life, I've never had the quoted problem and I've never heard anyone else say it's a problem. On my list of things to worry about, this ranks near the bottom. No clothing I know of has special cool spots, beyond outdoor recreation equipment (e.g., mountaineering gear with pit zips), yet somehow we all do fine. I expect our bodies adjust fine to such variations.
> While if the room is all one consistent warm enough temperature, you don't get these cold & hot spot effects.
That doesn't add up: No clothing (with the exception mentioned above) has such cooling spots. If our bodies couldn't adjust, a constant temperature would be the same, sweater or not.
EDIT:
> If your slippers have sheep's wool in them, like ugg slippers, then they often sweat a lot or feel a little wet while simultaneously feeling cold at times, or warm enough.
It's incredible that Ugg sells any slippers!
An issue with keeping yourself warm with clothing is some hotspots get too warm, and others too cold. Like the armpits usually get too warm, but your exposed hands too cold. If your slippers have sheep's wool in them, like ugg slippers, then they often sweat a lot or feel a little wet while simultaneously feeling cold at times, or warm enough. Most sweaters are also not designed to keep your armpits a little bit cool…
Last December, Nevada County Ca, where I live, had a massive snow storm that knocked out power and snowed people in for 1-3 weeks. I wound up huddled in my apartment with 45 degree heat for five days or so. With enough sweaters, I was a comfortable temperature. Aside from what you mention, since basically you providing your own heat for yourself, you have to put or take off layers depending on physical activity. And…
That (and 45 degrees) are strawperson arguments against turning down the thermostat a little and putting on a sweater (and let me recommend shoes). My sense is that many people generally (I don't know the parent commenter) shoot down any individual action, because it's individual action - it's reactionary, ridiculing any 'liberal' idea.
I've been thinking about the inverse problem. I live in a very warm city. Air conditioning (cooling spaces) is the norm, but tons of money are spent with installations, maintenance and the monthly electricity bill. The new houses are designed with zero consideration about ventilation, designers seem to take for granted that you are going to buy an AC system. Oftentimes, a very simple change in the project would be en…
I had family members who lived in a home in the deep south that was built before air conditioning was common. It had a large fan in the ceiling of a central hallway that vented the air from the inside the house out through the attic. This was an industrial grade fan that moved a huge volume of air. At bedtime, they could open the bedroom windows and turn on the fan and a stiff wind would blow in through all the bedro…
Fans like this aren't nearly as effective if either of these conditions is not met — then you're just pulling in air that is somewhat less uncomfortable each night, instead of getting truly refreshed.