47 ms·

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

• oftenwrong 6y ago
  And if you would like to read the solar-powered version of this article: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/body-insulation-thermal-underwear.html https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/body-insulation-th...
  • sixstringtheory 6y ago
    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-web-server/ https://hackaday.com/2018/10/08/perfecting-the-solar-powered...
• xcambar 6y ago
  After 5 winters of Berlin, I have decided to treat myself proper heat tech clothing. The difference in comfort is such that I barely feel any kind of fatigue or depression that the cold temperatures used to put on me. It has changed my perception of winter and I couldn't have spent my money any better. This is a costly investment though, be warned. For the curious, the keyword that started it all: "layered clothing" and "layering".
  • afterwalk 6y ago
    Any specific suggestions on brand/tech/material?
    • loldot_ 6y ago
      Wool. A wool undershirt, thick wool sweater and wind-proof, water-proof jacket has kept me comfortable down to about -15C. You can pickup some really nice gear on the cheap from army surplus sales in Norway at least, but I think it's the same in most NATO countries.
    • THE_PUN_STOPS 6y ago
      Ditto, I am also interested on any input from others who have dabbled in the field that OP mentions. Being from the Northeastern United States, I have always just picked up base layers of various thickness from L.L. Bean, like this: https://global.llbean.com/shop/Long-Underwear-Base-Layers/516180 https://global.llbean.com/shop/Long-Underwear-Base-Layers/51... I don't think of this as a technology or expensive, though. They are somewhat pricey, but can be worn for many winters and thus have good value.
    • colebowl 6y ago
      Living in the Canadian Rockies, we regularly see temperatures in the -20c (-4f) and colder range. I'd highly recommend looking at: [1] - Outdoor Research - https://outdoorresearch.com https://outdoorresearch.com [2] - Patagonia - https://patagonia.com https://patagonia.com [3] - Arc'teryx - https://arcteryx.com https://arcteryx.com And as others have mentioned, it's all about layering!
      • ashtonkem 6y ago
        I'd also recommend Mountain Hardware. Some of the North Face's more expensive stuff is good too: my sleeping bag comes from them. Look for companies that are long standing and have good warranties. These companies have good reputations to protect, and are aware that buyers of outdoor gear tend to be very loyal to companies that treat them well. My family personally swore off Columbia after two of their coats failed us catastrophically, for example.
    • danparsonson 6y ago
      If you have access to Uniqlo where you are, they make a nice range of decent-quality thermals. Durable and tidy without being too pricey.
    • ratww 6y ago
      The suggestions by the sibling comments are great. I'm also in Berlin and I use Uniqlo's HeatTech undershirt and long johns under jeans/shirt. They're pretty cheap (€10 each) and it makes a lot of difference. I never feel cold. A good jacket is also essential. Downfeather Jackets are my favourite. Other than that it's just a hoodie between shirt and jacket, scarfs and "hand-shoes". The Coronavirus mask also helps during windy days.
      • xcambar 6y ago
        "Hand-shoes" Read "gloves". I smiled reading that literal translation of "handschuhe" <3
        • StavrosK 6y ago
          Hah, is that what you call footgloves? "Shoes"? Interesting.
          • presentation 6y ago
            In Japanese it’s hand bags (手袋), and the old school split Japanese socks are foot bags (tabi, 足袋) :)
    • m12k 6y ago
      High quality merino wool doesn't itch (at least not for most people), is naturally odor-resistant and can be super comfortable. I mostly use Icebreaker, but Smartwool and Aclima make good stuff too.
      • yarcob 6y ago
        +1 for Icebreaker. Their fabrics are a blend of wool with synthetic materials, and they are the best shirts I've ever had. Unlike other wool fabrics they are very easy to take care of. I wash them just like cotton, no special detergents needed. Not even high spin cycles seem to harm them. (But I've never put them in the dryer, so I don't know if they would survive that). They may be odor resistant, but for me they still get smelly after two or three days. A lot better than cotton, but not odor free. The downsides are that even their lightest fabrics are too warm for summer, and the fabric is a lot less mechanically sturdy as cotton. It seems to tear easily. Most of my older icebreaker shirts have a few holes, even though the fabric still looks like new.
    • xcambar 6y ago
      In addition to what's already been answered, Odlo and Ice breaker are on the higher price point, but definitely worth the price. If you have Decathlon nearby, start with them and ramp up as needed.
    • rashkov 6y ago
      If you want to dip a toe into this without spending much, 32degrees has a a pretty good sale right now. In the men's baselayers section you'll find shirts for $7, leggings for $9). I think they're one of those Costco brands. I've heard that some of their stuff pills up after a few washes, but that's not really a big deal for me at this price.
    • dclowd9901 6y ago
      Icebreaker makes extremely good thermal wear. It’s comfortable, warm, breathable and looks great. Be prepared to spend though.
    • odiroot 6y ago
      I usually wear Uniqlo heattech sweater and when it gets very cold, Uniqlo heattech undershirts. I don't like puffy winter jackets so I wear a long wool coat instead.
    • KozmoNau7 6y ago
      As others have already suggested, wool is king. I would recommend having a look at https://varusteleka.com https://varusteleka.com, they're the biggest outdoor/surplus store in Europe, and they ship just about anywhere. Their wool flannel shirts and field shirts are the best I've ever owned, as are their worker wool pants, and they have enough merino clothing to layer for any weather. Aside from the own brands, they often get very good surplus winter gear in, like thick Swiss knitted wool sweaters, Czech parkas, Finnish wool pants and so on. My current winter outerwear workhorses are a Czech parka and a pair of Finnish M65 wool pants, total cost less than €50. With long johns and a woolen sweater underneath, I have yet to encounter winter weather that would make me uncomfortable.
  • praptak 6y ago
    It can be costly but it doesn't have to. You pay extra for comfort, looks, low weight and obviously the branding. Warmth itself is cheap if you accept clothes that are a bit heavier and maybe not ultra-breathable. Adding a pair of cotton long johns and a cotton long sleeve turtleneck underneath whatever you are wearing can easily keep you warm, it's just not super comfortable and not super fashionable.
    • dancek 6y ago
      Cotton underwear doesn't work that well if your activity varies. Wear enough cotton to be warm while sitting for hours, and you're certain to be sweaty after five minutes of physical activity. And moist cotton underwear makes you cold. I tend to wear wool long johns from December to March. Decades of experience with cotton, too. Wool is much, much better.
      • mnw21cam 6y ago
        Especially merino wool. That stuff is fantastic. It's a well known thing among mountain walkers/climbers. Cotton kills.
      • praptak 6y ago
        That's obviously true. If you wear cotton, you need to be prepared to add or remove layers of clothes as needed.
    • unethical_ban 6y ago
      This is a "technically correct" post. However, the post is suggesting people in comfortable status quos change their behavior - the OP is explaining that yes, it's totally achievable to be comfortably warm in all activities indoors and out, but it costs money.
  • hordeallergy 6y ago
    Totally disagree with the layers philosophy. Way too much fuss. In mid-winter London I wear a t-shirt and a jacket. Perfectly warm. Just get a good jacket. Easy on, off, no ceremony.
    • capnahab 6y ago
      er,London is not cold.
      • lm28469 6y ago
        Berlin neither, all you need is a tshirt and a down sweater/light jacket like this: https://www.rei.com/product/871413/patagonia-down-sweater-mens https://www.rei.com/product/871413/patagonia-down-sweater-me... (or 4 time cheaper at other brands). I know because that's what I use regularly for long walks and even bike trips
        • xcambar 6y ago
          2 things: * this Patagonia down jacket is a killer jacket, it's a-ma-zing. Of course it gets the job done. * bike rides require less clothing than walking, because your body heat keeps you warm. Plus, if you're not a heavy sweater, you're blessed (as am I).
          • Germanika 6y ago
            Agreed that the jacket is great. Point is, as a Canadian I consider it a layering piece, not a winter jacket. :)
    • leetcrew 6y ago
      there's certainly a tradeoff to be made here. putting on three extra layers just to go to the store is a pain. I do find that layers are much more versatile if you're going to be spending a lot of time outside or going in and out of spaces at a wide range of temperatures. with only a winter jacket and a t-shirt, I am likely choosing between being way too hot or way too cold. my winter coat is pretty bulky, so if I'm not wearing it, I'm carrying it. when I'm going out for a while in the winter, I like to wear a cotton shirt, a wool sweater, insulated vest, a medium-weight windproof jacket, and a mostly empty backpack. if I get too warm, the vest and possibly the sweater can just go in the backpack. with this setup, I can be comfortable at any temperature from 30F to 60F without having to hold onto anything I'm not wearing. on really cold days, I swap in my heavy winter coat.
  • capnahab 6y ago
    What did you go for?,- I live in Northern Europe too.
    • xcambar 6y ago
      Sibling comments are packed with great recommendations. tl;dr; long sleeve undershirts and under jeans all day, every day. A sweater. Down jacket. Wind-proof jacket.
  • baxtr 6y ago
    Interesting. Could you share a list of products you have bought?
    • xcambar 6y ago
      Sibling comments say it all ;)
  • odiroot 6y ago
    Winters in Berlin are particularly annoying because they're very humid. The cold seems to be penetrating deep into your bones.
  • presentation 6y ago
    You can put together an array of warm layers on the cheap at Uniqlo - their ultralight down and heattech lines are very warm, well-made, and inexpensive.
• nabla9 6y ago
  Study that measured cold resistance among Finnish population found out that city dwellers in the south (Helsinki) had better cold resistance than people living in the north (Lappi). People in the cities wear thin city clothes even during winters, and freeze their ass off, while people living in much colder rural regions dress sensibly and stay warm.
  • ajuc 6y ago
    I found the same when I worked in UK. I'm from Poland and in the winter everybody wear winter clothes even if it's 5C. Homes are well insulated and heated. People in UK by default wear much colder clothes so they are more used to cold. The end effect was that me and my friend were going everywhere in coats while everybody else was in their shirts :) What's funny is that people that moved to Poland from Siberia had similar experience. They were cold in our houses because it's "just" 18C while they are used to 25-30C inside because of constant heating.
    • nickt 6y ago
      It’s a long-standing joke in the North East. https://newsthump.com/2009/02/22/geordie-man-buys-coat/ https://newsthump.com/2009/02/22/geordie-man-buys-coat/
      • leontrolski 6y ago
        Reminded me of Geordie Jumpers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOJzPXzcF_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOJzPXzcF_g
        • nickt 6y ago
          Thanks for the laugh!
    • saberdancer 6y ago
      This was one thing that stood out to me when I visited Ireland and the UK. I'm from continental Europe and I was way overdressed (jacket, ...) than majority of people I would see. I explained it away that it was a rare week where the sun was shining so people went out of their way to wear less clothing but it looked so strange to me.
• tikej 6y ago
  This is all cool ideas but sadly keeping home cool is not that easy due to problems with humidity and consequently mold. Old houses were much less airtight than modern ones. So sadly I think it’s a trade off: either modern energy efficient house with mechanical ventilation or older, rather windy and cold house. Modernising older Homes to be energy effective appears to be a lost cause. If you make them airtight there isn’t enough air movement and if you Don’t heat them, they develop condensation problems. Maybe full refitting of insulation, doors and windows, and whole HVAC system would help but this is rather unrealistic for most owners of older homes.
  • throw0101a 6y ago
    There are whole-house dehumidiers that operate separately than your heating/cooling system. Set a relative humidity (RH) range and let it work; e.g.: * https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product-category/dehumidifiers/ https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product-category/dehumidif... The air movement problem in a tightly sealed house is dealt with an HRV (or ERV) which brings in filtered fresh air, but tempers it with the exhausted stale air: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_recovery_ventilation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_recovery_ventilation These are solved problems, it's 'just' a matter of budget and mechanical constraints in fitting the equipment (existing ducting can be re-used).
    • yvdriess 6y ago
      In some regions with strict insulation building codes, balanced ventilation with a heat exchanger for recovery is mandatory. Well, almost mandatory, it can get complicated.
  • ashtonkem 6y ago
    Old houses tend to pull moisture into and out of the insulation between summer and winter, which can become a problem above and beyond the high heat bills that they create. Matt Risinger had a great video where they were rebuilding a 1930s house and you could see where all the moisture had built up and wept back out of the insulation, staining the wood behind the plaster. My understanding is the problem with making old buildings airtight is the lack of proper vapor barriers under the house, especially if it was built on a slab. For homes built on crawlspaces, you can "encapsulate" them, which reduces energy losses and improves air quality. Typically encapsulated crawlspaces are ventilated and/or dehumidified, which is supposed to stop moisture ingress into the living space.
• louwrentius 6y ago
  Sidenote: Low tech magazine runs a solar powered website: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com
• whalesalad 6y ago
  My wife and I just moved from LA (my birthplace) to Detroit (my wifes birthplace, I have lived here previously) and it sure has been a struggle to keep my office environment 'good'. I have a hyperhidrosis issue (excessively sweaty hands) that compounds the situation. I feel like homes and offices do not breath. My anecdotal napkin math would say like 10% of buildings are designed with proper ventilation, blending of outdoor/indoor air, etc... and the rest are just boxes that are slowly killing us. The furnace is below me which is good and bad in that it warms my office quick but sorta too much. I am constantly battling too hot or too cold and of course the humidity. Lots of trial/error of opening various windows to get a cross flow without letting too much hot air out. That is just temperature. I have a CO2 monitor that has been interesting. I try to keep my CO2 ppm below 800 foor good measure. For a while I was feeling like dogshit in here and I assume it is due to being literally directly above a gas furnace in an older single family home - in hindsight I wish I had a monitor that detected more gases. Anyway, still figuring out the secret to this. If anyone has tips for a glove that would work to keep my hands warm while typing I would love a recommendation. The article focuses on wearing clothing that will keep your trunk and limbs warm but I find that my hands are always an issue.
  • throw0101a 6y ago
    > I feel like homes and offices do not breath. My anecdotal napkin math would say like 10% of buildings are designed with proper ventilation, blending of outdoor/indoor air, etc... and the rest are just boxes that are slowly killing us. First off, you do not want buildings to "breathe" through air leakage. It is desirable for a 'seal tight and vent right': * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIcrXut_EFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIcrXut_EFA There are standards for the amount buildings should exchange the air, e.g., ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_changes_per_hour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_changes_per_hour Also, air temperature is only one component of feeling comfortable in a room. How warm/cool the walls are, and having good double- (or triple-) pane windows also contributes: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_radiant_temperature While you no doubt have insulation in your external wall cavities, the wooden stud has a very low value (R-1/inch) and so introduces thermal bridging: * https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/what-is-thermal-bridging https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/what-is-thermal... Modern building codes in colder climate zones mandate a layer of exterior insulation to deal with this bridging. > I try to keep my CO2 ppm below 800 foor good measure. For a while I was feeling like dogshit in here and I assume it is due to being literally directly above a gas furnace in an older single family home - in hindsight I wish I had a monitor that detected more gases. You may wish to look into an HRV (or ERV) and get some filtered fresh air: * https://www.venmar.ca/22-detail-advice-hrv-and-erv-why-choose-a-erv-energy-recovery-ventilator-.html https://www.venmar.ca/22-detail-advice-hrv-and-erv-why-choos...
• peteretep 6y ago
  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, but I am perpetually cold there as people play games with turning their heating off at certain hours and living in 150-year-old converted barns and so on. Meanwhile, in Winnipeg it seems to get to -30C on the reg and I spend all of my time there warm and cosy because if the heating goes off or the house is improperly insulated then you die.
  • mcot2 6y ago
    Had to laugh at your comment about Scotland because people in Maine do the same thing. Heat is either blasting or turned off. Very poor insulation.
    • ashtonkem 6y ago
      We had a problem with this in older Chicago apartments, usually 2 flats and quads. These buildings usually had radiator heat fired by a common boiler in the basement and city mandated turn-on dates and minimum daily/nightly temperatures. In theory each radiator has a regulator valve that allows you to moderate the amount of steam flowing through it. In reality these valves are all painted over/corroded/never worked in the first place, and all radiators run at full blast. It was not uncommon to see apartments with open windows in January to help regulate the heat produced by the radiator. Tenants didn't care because they didn't pay for the gas directly, although it was obviously built into the rents, and the land lords never wanted to spend the money to upgrade these old buildings, since the excessive usage of gas was built into everyone's rent and the upgrades were not. Then again, given the age of those windows there probably was very little difference between them being open and closed anyways. This problem was fixed when I moved into a new construction apartment which had a minisplit to heat/cool the living space. Until I found out that mini-splits have the same issue heating as ACs occasionally have in very hot summers; they can't provide any heat once the ambient temperature gets colder than the exterior coils (since it's literally an AC running backwards). That was a bad surprise.
• totetsu 6y ago
  sleeping in my delicate merino thermals is how the all got holes and ladders in them.
  • war1025 6y ago
    Buy quality wool blankets and you won't need to worry about delicate underlayers. A thick wool blanket below you and one above you, along with standard cotton sheets will keep you quite cozy.
    • totetsu 6y ago
      actually I picked up a scratchy old British army surplus wool blanket and it is indeed quite cozy.
• WClayFerguson 6y ago
  One thing that has resulted from COVID is that people purchased lots of bandannas, and I did too. Recently I realized I could just wear one around my neck even inside my home to stay warmer, which is something I'd somehow never considered before. It's more comfortable than a turtle neck imo. I think a lot of people had this same idea, and you see bandannas being worn around a lot. In public people will just think it's your 'backup COVID mask' if you have a bandanna around your neck, so it doesn't look like an oddball style choice.
  • energ8 6y ago
    Scarves are also a mainstream style choice for keeping necks warm, inside and out. Dropping the style, Neck Gaiters, Buffs, and Balaclavas are my go-tos for real cold.
    • WClayFerguson 6y ago
      Most neck warming gear is too uncomfortable (imo) to wear indoors all day, but I discovered I love bandannas specifically because 1) 100% cotton and 2) you can adjust the tightness to whatever you want, and for outdoors you can even go with 'double layer' of bandanna for even more warmth.
• hordeallergy 6y ago
  Overdo this and you will get mouldy walls.
  • throw0101a 6y ago
    Most people just install A/C and call it a day. If you live in a humid area, then a separate whole-house dehumidifier is useful: * https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product-category/dehumidifiers/ https://www.santa-fe-products.com/product-category/dehumidif... You can have a comfortable temperature 21C/72F, but a too-high RH, and since the temperature is correct, the AC won't kick in. Having an hygrometer helps with this.
    • hordeallergy 6y ago
      A/c in the context of the article?
      • throw0101a 6y ago
        Whole-house dehumidifiers are more popular in humid climate zones, which also tend to be hot/not-cold. Though there are places that are both, at times cold and hot/humid: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humid_continental_climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humid_continental_climate However, the general point stands in mostly-cold zones: it is possible to control humidity independently of temperature. Also, most people want good indoor air quality, so bringing in filtered outside air, and tempering it with exhausted stale air is becoming more common (and is part of the building code in many regions): * https://www.ecohome.net/guides/2276/choosing-between-an-hrv-and-an-erv/ https://www.ecohome.net/guides/2276/choosing-between-an-hrv-... * https://www.venmar.ca/23-detail-faq-en-what-is-the-difference-between-an-hrv-and-an-erv-.html https://www.venmar.ca/23-detail-faq-en-what-is-the-differenc... And that venting could help control humidity as well.
• scythe 6y ago
  Ah, yes, because winter isn't miserable enough. >The relationship between thermal comfort and clothing weight explains why we tend to prefer a higher air temperature to adding more clothing. [...] This clothing layer (which is actually worn in combination with briefs) has the largest potential to substitute a heating system. [...] Because it fits tightly around the body, long underwear has an optimal "pumping coefficient". When I was a child, we used to go skiing and then hang around in our long underwear. It is warm and flexible, but it's also tightly woven and form-fitting, which traps moisture inside. There's more to comfort than weight: even in a cold room, sitting with your back against the couch can accumulate sticky sweat. >Synthetic thermal underwear should be washed regularly - a process that consumes energy. This is less an issue for indoor use than for outdoor sports, because couch potatoes don't produce sweat. Anyone who's ever reworn a pair of sweatpants for a week inside knows intimately the rancid depths of this falsehood.
  • Aachen 6y ago
    > because winter isn't miserable enough. I'm sorry you feel that way. Some friends of mine get winter depression and it's a real shit thing. I can't understand, I love winter much more than summer (you can dress for it and turn on lights; try turning off the sun or take off your underwear when you're still too warm and need to go to work in summer...), but I know it is a thing :/
• dukeofdoom 6y ago
  Costco started carrying these ultra thin, stretchable crewneck short sleeves shirts. The brand I have is called "32 degrees cool", but I think they have other brands now like Bench, that sell this same blend of material, black or white color. Compared to an a cotton undershirt the difference in comfort is amazing. Basically you don't feel any of the stitches, or anything pressing on your armpits. And its super light weight. You can sleep in it, its so comfortable. And its also cheap, 3 or 4 pack for under $20.
• pjc50 6y ago
  If my wall thermometer is accurate, which it probably isn't, 18C is about right for me and 20C is "uncomfortably warm, I should have turned the heating off half an hour ago". We do adapt to these things. My grandmother never had central heating, she lit a coal fire in the grate every day well into her 80s. Then spend the next decade with electric heaters and the decade after that in a nursing home.
• gbronner 6y ago
  Living in cold home isn't particularly hard. Doing precision work with your hands (such as writing or typing) is decidedly harder in colder homes. You can wear certain kinds of gloves, but it just isn't as pleasant.
  • caeril 6y ago
    The muscles that actuate your fingers are largely located in your forearms. Keep your core out to your wrists properly bundled, and you'll be fine without gloves.
    • Aachen 6y ago
      Playing games, I can't say that I've found this to be true. I notice I lose from people that I otherwise wouldn't lose from when I: - am tired, - have very cold hands, - or just used gross motor skills (cycling for example). The effect of each of these is similar to not playing for a few months. You don't unlearn it so you're not like a newb, but your playing is hampered in some way. If my hands were unaffected by cold then this shouldn't have an effect.
• GuB-42 6y ago
  Why not both? First, insulation works both way, so if you have hot summers and use A/C insulation will help you here. Second, I spent some time in mostly unheated house, indoors tempeature around 5C. And yes, with proper clothing, that's fine, but getting to the shower is not particularly comfortable... For sleeping, I had a heated blanket which I put between the sheets and a regular blanket. Probably not recommended for safety but it worked amazingly well for the ~50W it used... until it is time to wake up. So yes, good clothing is great at keeping you warm, that should be obvious. But a well heated home is an important element of comfort.
  • blowfish721 6y ago
    Another consideration if you live in a damp climate is the risk of mold if you don’t heat your house to keep it dry.
    • tristor 6y ago
      Mold is more of an issue due to the breathability / air exchange of the house, than it is due to insulation. Insulation doesn't have to eliminate air exchange.
• lm28469 6y ago
  I've stopped using heating altogether since I moved out of my hometown (it was -20c or less in winter). When I'm cold I just add an extra layer of cloth or do a few squats or push/pull ups, heating XXX cubic meters of air is a pure waste of energy if you're healthy That being said your flat/home insulation plays a huge role. I'm living in Germany for a few years now, when it's 0c outside it's still 18c+ indoor even without any heating in my flat. When I was in California if it was 13 outside it would be 14 indoor, you could feel the air going through the doors'/windows' joints. edit: to all the people saying I can thanks my neighbours, I pay my share of the heating since it's averaged. I only have one shared wall so I doubt it changes much
  • war1025 6y ago
    > I've stopped using heating altogether > heating XXX cubic meters of air is a pure waste of energy Tell me how you feel about that when the water in your pipes freezes. Because that is sure as hell not a good time.
    • lm28469 6y ago
      Of course if you _have to_ heat then do it, as I said when I was going through -20c degrees winter you can't really escape it. I'd argue most people can live perfectly fine without heating. (not living up north / at high altitude / in cold micro climate). People don't heat their flats/offices to 25c in Berlin or London to avoid frozen pipes. Unless you live in a 1800s house there is no way your pipe would freeze here
      • war1025 6y ago
        I just looked up the yearly average high / lows for Berlin and London. I never realized they were both so temperate. They are both 10 degrees of latitude further North than me here in Iowa, yet they both look to rarely dip much below freezing. I knew London's temperature was buffered by being so close to the ocean, but I always thought Berlin was far enough inland to not have that benefit. And then on top of that they both have milder summers than here. That's all very interesting to me.
• deleted 6y ago
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• agumonkey 6y ago
  Talking about warm clothing.. recently I've seen battery powered heated jackets. And then carbon fiber sticker that can act as resistive heating elements.. but I'm not sure of the safety side (betting on the 'not safe at all' right now). Anybody ever made their own usb gloves ?
• chaostheory 6y ago
  There is one reason this doesn't work for everyone: humidity. Lived like this for a few months until we discovered mold from damp air ruined some of our clothes and papers. We immediately started using our HVAC.
• gwd 6y ago
  > Because vasoconstriction only occurs when the core body temperature falls, it won't happen if you're dressed warmly enough. While insulating your neck and feet will greatly improve your thermal comfort, there is no need to wear gloves or caps indoors. In fact, it doesn't matter very much which parts of your body you choose to insulate - the important thing is to limit total heat loss so that the body core temperature remains stable This may be true for many people, but I haven't found it true for me. My wife and I reverse the stereotype of married couples and thermostats: she was raised in an area of the world that never got below 10C in Winter, and thus no buildings ever had heat. In the Winter you just put on more clothing. I was raised near the Canadian border; so our houses were always reasonably warm. She'd prefer the thermostat at 15C. We had sort of negotiated to keep it at 19C. When I started working from home due to the lockdown, however, I had no choice but to turn up the temperature in the room I was working in: At 19C, sitting still all day, even wearing long underwear, woolen socks, and a very warm top, my feet got cold enough to get numb, in spite of my torso being almost hot enough to sweat. Maybe if I found the right clothing, my legs would keep my feet warm again. But the "torso warm therefore extremities warm" is definitely not true for me. EDIT: Just to be clear, my goal was to contradict the specific claim that I quoted, not to contradict the general idea of wearing more clothes. I've tried a couple of different solutions with the equipment at hand (like hot water bottles and thick socks) and not found them effective. The heat is already controlled on a per-room basis, so an additional electric heater would probably be a lot more wasteful than just turning up the temperature by one degree. I've been looking at woolen "boot slippers" online and looser-fitting garments. I'm sure I'll find a solution -- but all of these additional measures prove that "just keep your torso warm" is not always enough.
  • turtlebits 6y ago
    It's because you're sitting all day. Get a small foot heater.
    • dugmartin 6y ago
      Or a blanket over the legs (I'm at home at my desk in New England and I have a blanket over them right now).
• wittyreference 6y ago
  As my Siberian parents taught me growing up: There's no such thing as bad weather; there's just being incorrectly dressed for it.
  • cortesoft 6y ago
    As someone from Southern California, we have a similar phrase: "There is no such thing as bad weather" That's it. That's the whole phrase.
• mtw 6y ago
  all of this tech and no mention of warm hats. anyone living in cold countries know most of the heat is lost through the hat. and drafts! any draft will make you cold, even if you heat your home at a high 24C
  • mikestew 6y ago
    anyone living in cold countries know most of the heat is lost through the hat. Those folks think they know. What they don't know is the "X% of heat lost through your head" myth is based on a poorly-run U. S. Army study from the 50s. I'd provide a link, but it's trivial to search for one from a source of your choosing.
• bobbiechen 6y ago
  > 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 larger than the energy required to manufacture the garments. Indeed, these high-insulating garments demonstrate how valuable fossil fuels are as a material, and how foolish we are to simply burn them. I love it when a writer anticipates my questions and immediately addresses it in the text.
  • i_am_new_here 6y ago
    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)".
  • KozmoNau7 6y ago
    Still, I would choose merino wool long johns over synthetic ones in just about every situation. The amount of heat that can be conserved with such a thin layer of wool is impressive.
  • Aachen 6y ago
    What's the problem with "fossil fuel clothing" though? They don't burn the fuel to make the clothing, rather the opposite: this can now no longer be burned and turned into CO2 because it's on your body. Is it somehow pollutive to make oil products even if you don't burn them? And I mean more so than the alternative of course, because I get that so much as pumping up the oil costs energy. If it's just about the irony of wearing the biggest problem we're facing as a garment and not a real question then I see the point.
• chrisjarvis 6y ago
  I have never lived in a cold climate, but this sounds sensible to me. Much of the FIRE, "Mr Moneymustache"-esque advice around saving money contains this suggestion. I like this line: "Indeed, these high-insulating garments demonstrate how valuable fossil fuels are as a material, and how foolish we are to simply burn them." Thanks for sharing.
  • oftenwrong 6y ago
    Foolishness in the opposite direction applies in a warm climate. It is not unusual for cooling systems to be applied excessively, forcing occupants to compensate by wearing warmer clothing. In some places, there are laws against excessive heating and cooling.
• incanus77 6y ago
  I’m 43 and my dad is 75; my grandfather would be 111 if still alive (though he did live to 97). We all grew up in the northeastern US, which has cold, snowy winters. My grandfather spoke of needing to go outside, retrieve a bucket of coal, and use it to start heating the house in the morning. My dad speaks of having a pile of blankets on his bed and being able to see his breath in his room in the morning. I grew up wearing footed pajamas to bed and my dad frequently wearing a ski-type hat around the house to regulate temperature. Even today, I wear a hat at my desk in the winter, though I’ve typically lived in older, draftier houses. I wear a flannel shirt unless I’m very active in the house. I now live in a temperate climate, but still: old house. We turn the heat down significantly at night and use wool blankets. I can certainly afford to set the heater higher at all times, but it just seems like a waste when I could so easily throw on a layer, versus spending more money, fossil fuels (even with carbon offsets), and wear and tear on the HVAC system by pushing a button instead.
• danans 6y ago
  Being able to be comfortable in our homes while being minimally clothed in the winter is one of those "luxuries" of the fossil fuel age that we take for granted. The constellation of technologies needed to achieve this efficiently (with far less fossil fuels) and healthily (with healthy internal air quality) exists: heat pumps, heat-recovery-ventilators, airtight but vapor permeable house sealing materials - the standard equipment of passive houses. However, as the article mentions, today it is not available at low cost. None of this technology is exotic (as in requiring exotic materials or manufacturing processes). It doesn't need to be expensive. Even the labor for installing it in isn't uncommon - air sealing is a DIY project if one is OK with a bit of hard work. In the US at least, many industries providing these building measures have however reached a kind of equilibrium where they mostly sell it to people of higher means, which makes the global impact of home energy efficiency minimal. Other developed countries - mostly in N Europe - have started putting these into their building codes. To have any impact, home energy efficiency needs to reach critical mass in the public consciousness, and for that, the public need to start looking at their homes the way that many have started to look at their low MPG ICE vehicles, and demanding higher efficiency both from the private home building market and from regulatory institutions.
  • andys627 6y ago
    New homes are much better insulated. An interesting aspect of a "Green New Deal" would be to subsidize electrifying the HVAC & insulating our older buildings. It puts people to work, saves them money for the occupants, and reduces emissions.
    • danans 6y ago
      > An interesting aspect of a "Green New Deal" would be to subsidize electrifying the HVAC & insulating our older buildings. This is the great part of the Green New Deal that was shouted down when much of the political establishment mocked it - it would put scores of people to work in jobs in the trades.
      • litany 6y ago
• tonymet 6y ago
  I prefer to wear sweaters in the house , because when I work out the house is nice and cool.
• wolverine876 6y ago
  I expect people on HN to have already figured out the obvious: It takes much less energy to heat the area under your clothes, using existing heat, than to heat a room or building with artificially generated heat. Your body is 37 deg C. Wearing low-insulation clothing and letting that heat float away, and then heating the entire room or building to warm you up again, is absurd if you understand basic physics and think for a moment. Wear a sweater, wear shoes (that's where the cold air is). Keep the thermostat at the lowest comfortable temperature - experiment a bit and test what you become accustomed to, and you'll know for the rest of your life. Do that and you lose nothing. Maybe go a step further and wear long underwear and maybe even a hat; why not? Another way to look at it: Only use the energy that you need. Heating a building when you aren't there is silly. [0] Heating rooms you aren't in is a similar waste - if and when you can, get a heating system that segregates areas. Heating the entire room when you are in one place, and already generating heat, is also a waste. Just put on some insulation and trap the heat that's already there. All heating is local. (Edit, because people are omitting the obvious implications: The consequences, climate change, are global.) [0] You'll be fine waiting for it to heat when you need it, or just use a thermostat with a timer or remote control.
  • munificent 6y ago
    > experiment a bit and test what you become accustomed to, and you'll know for the rest of your life. Probably worth pointing out that people's metabolisms and body shapes do change throughout their life, so expect that you will have to tweak this periodically.
  • Kluny 6y ago
    > Maybe go a step further and wear long underwear and maybe even a hat; why not? Some reasons why not: you may live with other people who have different basal temperatures from yours, aren't comfortable at 16 degrees or whatever you settle on, and didn't consent to participating in your wacky experiment; other people may come over to visit your house without realizing in advance that they need to wear long underwear; and low indoor temperatures promote mold growth.
    • 6y ago
• kwhitefoot 6y ago
  > The clo is more commonly used than the tog, Really? Everyone I know has a duvet and they all know its tog rating. Never heard of clo. Perhaps he or she really meant to say "more commonly used in the US" or "more commonly used by people I know".
  • Aachen 6y ago
    Fwiw I hadn't heard of either, ever. Dutch native, living in Germany.
• 0xbadcafebee 6y ago
  A huge factor in your body temperature is metabolism. You need to constantly eat and hydrate at colder temperatures because your body is working harder to regulate your temperature. My thermostat is set to 61F, and I'm comfortable most of the time, but sometimes I'll randomly feel really cold even though the temperature and my clothes haven't changed. I eat a small snack, and suddenly I'm comfortable again. When I don't do this, I end up sweating as my body tries to raise my core temperature, and then I'm cold because I'm wet. And If I do 20 minutes of intense exercise, I often sit around in shorts and a t-shirt for an hour or more and not notice the cold. Also, the material and fit do make an impact on thermal insulation, but not in universal ways. Tight-fitting clothes that aren't good insulators - like jeans with elastic - actually end up making you colder because they're not good insulators and they increase conduction heat transfer. A loose-fitting pair of non-stretch pants actually insulates better because the material itself is a better insulator, and the air between your leg and the pants is also an insulator [less heat transfer than with the stretchy jeans]. Wool and fleece are going to make you feel more comfortably warm than most other garments, the fleece because of all the trapped warm air. But wool specifically generates heat when it's moist, even though it sheds water when wet. Wool is fucking fantastic, though I think mostly as a base or mid layer, as wind tends to cut through a lot of wool-knit fabrics. https://weatherwool.com/pages/the-science-of-wool/ https://weatherwool.com/pages/the-science-of-wool/
• bromley 6y ago
  Interesting article. I work in the field of heating/cooling energy consumption and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of the clo before. > Precisely how much energy can be saved by lowering the thermostat depends on the outdoor temperature. In temperate climates, lowering the thermostat just 1° C (or about 2°F) yields an energy savings of about 9 to 10 percent It does depend on the local climate. For anyone interested in calculating the savings you have made if you have already done something to reduce your heating/cooling energy usage, like turning down the thermostat or installing new windows or insulation, a little while ago I wrote an explanation of the process that is usually used in the industry: https://www.degreedays.net/calculate-energy-savings https://www.degreedays.net/calculate-energy-savings And for anyone just thinking about stocking up on high-clo clothing rather than having actually done it, you could estimate how much you could save as follows: a) get say 12, 24, or 36 months of energy-usage data from your smart meter or utility bills (making sure not to include any figures that were estimates made by the utility). b) get a baseline regression formula as described in the link above, which will give you an estimate of your current heating base temperature (which should be lower than your thermostat temperature). c) work out your hypothetical new heating base temperature, by reducing the current heating base temperature by the number of degrees that you intend to lower the thermostat by. d) get, say, 5-year average heating degree days in both the current base temperature and your hypothetical-lower base temperature. e) plug them both into your baseline regression formula (separately) to get i) your average annual energy consumption now and ii) your predicted average annual energy consumption if you lowered the temperature. f) compare those two figures to get an estimate of how much energy you'd save in a typical year. I will admit that estimating 9-10% savings per Celsius is a lot more straightforward :D
• comeonseriously 6y ago
  We keep our home thermostat, in the winter, set to 66. 1) It's FL, so we may hit that once per year. Our home almost never gets below 68 and it takes a few days of cold wx to get there. 2) We are perfectly fine with layering because the day, and thus our home, will warm up.
• jancsika 6y ago
  Something I've noticed is that people who try to figure out insulated clothing from first principles often fail to remember to actually measure how the garment feels on their own body.
• alkonaut 6y ago
  My house has 250mm insulation in the walls and heat exchanger for fresh air, but it's still nothing compared to modern houses (mine is 20 years old). But no I'm not ever going to start wearing shoes or thermal undergarments indoors so I can lower the indoor temp by 1-2 degrees. Most of the heating energy loss in my home is probably hot water.
• vinc 6y ago
  I live in a 150 years old farm in the middle of a forest that have no heating, it's my third winter here and the temperature goes down to 5C inside for a few months (oceanic climate, it's rarely below 0C outside), especially on cloudy days when the sun can't warm up the stones of the walls. The first winter I didn't have proper clothing and it was really hard. But now I have all the right gear and it feels very comfortable and natural. It's interesting. Also when Spring arrive I really get to enjoy it, the connection to the nature around is strong. The only issue is finding the right gloves for typing on the computer, I haven't found any good ones yet. Oh and in the morning I have to remember to quickly warm up my macbook pro otherwise the cold make it shut down. If it wasn't the work laptop I would use something else, the metal case is not pleasant when it's really cold.
  • jniedrauer 6y ago
    > The only issue is finding the right gloves for typing on the computer, I haven't found any good ones yet. Have you tried fingerless gloves? During long winter backpacking trips or situations where I'll be living without heat for a while, I take some liner gloves and cut the fingers just past the first knuckle. The gloves stay clean even with prolonged use, and you can still use capacitive touch screens and do dexterous work like typing.
    • vinc 6y ago
      I only tried cutting regular gloves but I can't touch type efficiently with them. I could indeed try liner gloves, good idea thanks!
• jedberg 6y ago
  Before kids, we kept our thermostat at 55F(13C). We dressed in layers, we used heavy blankets on the bed and the couch, and used a small space heater in the room we were in. It was ok, but kind of uncomfortable. Then we had kids and that all went out the window. Kids in many layers of clothing is hard for diaper changing, is a pain to clean when they spill, and once they start to walk, keeping them in one place is impossible. So now we keep the thermostat at 70F(21C). The energy usage is a lot higher of course, but at least it's all green energy!
• sgt 6y ago
  I live in South Africa which can get pretty chilly in the winters, but people generally don't understand insulation, so they just tend to put more clothes on, or just wear a kortbroek in the summer. Even if they did, a lot of people can't afford it. It's catching on slowly though, for example things like double glazed windows. Also, building regulations have improved and insulation is now a mandatory for normal residential houses. I'm in the process of changing all the windows in my house to double glazed, and installing better insulation above the ceiling. It makes a massive difference, and at least in my area (Cape Town) you don't need an air conditioner in summer, except perhaps a few extreme days in February :)
  • Aachen 6y ago
    FYI kortbroek is shorts in English :) Afrikaans is 'n grappige taal als Nederlander! :D Fun fact: you have an easier time understanding Dutch than vice versa, I always felt weird that you guys seemed to be fine with Dutch but I couldn't understand sentences in Afrikaans but it seems that it's not just me. Let me know if you care about the reasoning, I didn't fully get it but can probably find the original video where I learned this. Also sorry for the off topic but I figured two days after the thread mostly died (everything's so ephemeral here) it doesn't really matter.
    • sgt 6y ago
      Dutch is easy enough to read but listening in is a different story. Dutch people tend to have a strong accent in.. dutch ;-) I suspect I would get used to it if I ever moved to Holland but I have no intentions of doing that.
• nevinera 6y ago
  This strategy appears to require wearing pants.
• TruthHurts44 6y ago
  Great article This is how it was back in the days - people were wearing long and heavy night gowns at home as well as night hats. A way to heat the bed before sleeping was to pre-heat bricks/stones and put them in designated spot under the bed.
• jamesmehaffey 6y ago
  When I was in the UK I lived in a terraced house from the 1880’s with thick exterior walls. It wasn’t all that bad, but I wouldn’t say that it was very well insulated either. It was OK if you just wanted to heat one room, though I did have a decent collection of fleece sweaters and whatever. Actually, The warm summers were rough because there was no cooling, and most of my clothes were designed for cold, damp weather.
• tener 6y ago
  I realise I'm likely an outlier here, but I absolutely hate every single clothing piece shown in the article. This is because I dislike tight clothes in general and long sleeves in particular. It is also unclear how much actual savings can be achieved by lowering the temperature. I would love to see the curves ($ savings for lowering average temp by 1 degree) for modern buildings (good insulation) for different climate types.
  • DoreenMichele 6y ago
    I was homeless for a few years. That means I stayed warm at night in freezing temps by piling three people into a too-small tent (one designed for two people) and sharing "bio heat" as our only heat source. I hate long sleeves and seldom wore them. Tight clothing actually cuts off your circulation and makes you colder. The right material -- flannel, wool, sometimes knitwear -- can keep you warm even when wet. Being cleaner helps keep you warm. Eating warm cheese, like a quesadilla, helps keep you warm. Because of my medical situation, I don't have carpeting, upholstered furniture, etc. My home is a lot less prone to being too hot in summer and too cold in winter than when I was living the standard North American Lifestyle steeped in Affluenza. I keep intending to someday blog about such things, but it's always such insane drama to comment on it on internet forums that I figure there's no point and haven't gotten around to it. But we really don't talk about how our lifestyles have changed so much in recent decades and we seem to, on the whole, not wonder about things like "I wonder if a hundred years ago people were fundamentally more comfortable, temperature-wise, than they are today because their homes were more spartan simply because no one had the kind of wealth we have today?" There's a lot of things that have changed and we seem oblivious to the possibility that those large scale changes may account for some of the issues individuals are experiencing. We tend to just medicalize it and act like "You, as an individual, have some kind of personal problem."
• benlivengood 6y ago
  There's also the option of better heating systems. Radiant floor heating keeps your feet warm and allows lower room air temperature. Forced air, wood/coal stoves, fireplaces, and radiators don't heat the surfaces you actually touch.
• cedex12 6y ago
  Related question: What's the best way to ventilate an old european house during winter? I've taken up the habit of letting my bedroom windows (slightly) open at nighttime to have fresh air while sleeping. I'm unsure this is really wise ecologically since outside air == cold air, but at the same time, there is no other way to get fresh air… Any tip, or, better, professional opinion?
  • isbn 6y ago
    https://www.lunos.de/products-from-lunos/e%C2%B260 https://www.lunos.de/products-from-lunos/e%C2%B260 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTV_6-igC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuTV_6-igC0
    • cedex12 6y ago
      That's interesting. Thank you!
  • KozmoNau7 6y ago
    Low tech method: air out heavily for 5-10 minutes, 2-3 times per day, ie. when you get up, when you eat lunch and just before going to bed. Open all windows and all internal doors, really get the air moving. Because you're airing out so intensely for a short period of time, the furniture and walls don't cool down, so the air warms up quickly afterwards.
    • cedex12 6y ago
      Good idea, thanks!
• snow_mac 6y ago
  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.
  • war1025 6y ago
    Why put the heat up overnight? That seems extremely counter-intuitive to me.
  • Aachen 6y ago
    It's not about the cost for you. It's about the millions of premature deaths and impact on global warming due to pollution from gas heaters. I'm happy for you that you earn enough not to care about the money, same here, but please consider that there are also consequences for strangers as well as loved ones.
• hinkley 6y ago
  Slogans work better when there are one or two parts, but this is unfortunately oversimplified and recent building patterns have made this much worse. The first thing you should dress is the building, because it takes the longest. We have forgotten that passive cooling and heating from the environment are your first line of defense. We screw this up, and building codes now allow such small boundaries between houses that we can’t retroactively fix it on new construction. This was really driven home for me recently when I explained to my partner that I wanted to rip out the arborvitae the previous owners installed before they got too big for me to dig up. I wanted a tall, narrow deciduous tree for the south side of our house, to reduce solar gain in the summer, but to let light hit the house in the winter. She paused and said nobody had ever explained that to her before, which shocked me given how long we’ve lived together. We need to use vegetation to “eat” the sun and wind during the times of year when we want neither, then adjust our houses within that protective shell we have created. But we have forgotten how to do this, if in fact we ever knew.
• cycomanic 6y ago
  I'm German, studied in Auckland (NZ), worked in Sydney and Melbourne and am now living in Sweden. The coldest I've ever felt is Auckland and Sydney (probably Sydney slightly colder). Sydney houses are so poorly insulated, there's cm-wide gaps under some doors and windows and the only heaters are typically a small plugin resistive heater. Auckland was typically a bit better, except that the heaters were indoor gas heaters with a LPG bottle (welcome to dampness and condensation on all windows). During the day in Sydney winter it is often 18-22 degrees, so you can walk around in t-shirt quite comfortably, but as soon as the sun goes down it drops down to 8-12 and it's as cold inside as outside. Try to work on a computer when it's 12 degrees in your room (or maybe 15 if you have your electric heater on full blast). Melbourne gets much colder and insulation is only marginally better. However, apartments/houses typically have some sort of proper heating (heat-pump or centralised gas heater). You still largely heat the outside though (one of our houses was so badly insulated, that when it was windstill the house could be easily heated to ~20 deg even with ~1 deg outside, when windy that indoor temperature dropped to >10. Now in Sweden, I can easily sit in t-shirt and be comfortable. In fact my office can be heated just using my moderate desktop PC (~450 W power supply), because you don't loose the heat to the outside immediately.
• hyko 6y ago
  I can tolerate pretty cold environments, but why should I have to? The outdoors are the reason we invented the indoors. “The potential energy savings are huge; the costs are almost nil.” This is a complete fantasy. What’s actually happening here is, faced with a hard problem (heating indoor spaces in a sustainable way), they have decided to solve a much harder one (changing the behaviour and physiology of everyone on Earth) in the guise of a simple one (if only we all wore more clothing). What sounds like a simple solution is therefore actually nearly impossible, and of little use to us unless we’re facing extreme circumstances. The whole point of civilisation is that life does not have to be a survival exercise. If we can’t come up with anything better than this line of reasoning, then we are done for.
  • PurpleFoxy 6y ago
    This kind of comment gets posted on everything from low tech magazine. I think the authors intention is not to give practical ideas that could be widely deployed to the world but instead to give ideas to people who find enjoyment out of maximising efficiency as a hobby. The author is a person who turns most of the lights off so they can run their office on a solar panel hanging out their apartment window.
    • hyko 6y ago
      Well, live and let live :)
      • PurpleFoxy 6y ago
        I think it’s pretty cool tbh. I just don’t review the proposals as things to do practically and more for fun to learn about energy
        • hyko 6y ago
          Yes, I think what you’re saying makes sense.
  • oftenwrong 6y ago
• xupybd 6y ago
  I lived this way for a long time. What they are not talking about is getting sick from the mild building up around you. If you don't hear moisture builds up and mild grows on the walls. I spent so many winters where I was sick for at least half of the winter. It is not worth it.
• Niccizero 6y ago
  When I went to europe I was surprised by European houses being heated like ovens during winter, with temperatures beyond 20c in some cases. Being from Southern South America (with my native city having a climate roughly similar to that of Ireland) I was used to houses being "fairly cold" during winter, with interior temperatures of 5~10c, we just fight the cold by wearing more clothes and going to bed early!
  • Aachen 6y ago
    Do you do physical work, or how do you survive sitting still for 8 hours a day in 5°C?
• lizknope 6y ago
  I don't necessarily disagree with the article but where I live I spend far more on cooling than heating. I can walk around with minimal clothing but if it is 100F outside I am going to need to run the air conditioner. I spent $5000 on insulation upgrades and enclosing the crawlspace. The house originally had 2 separate 2.0 ton SEER 8 units. They lasted 14 and 17 years. They were replaced with 2.5 ton SEER 18 variable speed compressors that can also use the heat pump for heating. The house is so much more comfortable now. When it was 100F outside the old systems could only get the indoor temp down to 81F. Now they can get down to 70F if I want. The variable speed keeps the compressor running at a low rate to continue dehumidification without cooling too quickly. I had multiple electric bills in July/August of $300 and since the upgrades my high is $180. The crawl space enclosure with a tiny HVAC vent keeps the crawlspace at 60F in the winter which has the added benefit of keeping the water temperature reasonable and not having to wait 45 seconds to get warmer water to wash your hands. My natural gas bills for heating used to be around $110 in the winter and now they have dropped to $50. The systems are set to to use the heat pump for heating until the outside temp drops below 40F and then switch to natural gas.
• pfdietz 6y ago
  It's been proposed to heat just our bodies by flooding rooms with low levels of microwaves. No space heating or thick clothing needed. A smarter system could track us and beam power more directly.
• mixmastamyk 6y ago
  I can attest. I received some super warm, thick socks as a gift this winter and am feeling more comfortable and using the heater significantly less at home this season as a result. It's interesting that I'm otherwise dressing largely the same at home, but a pair of much thicker socks made a noticeable difference. So, get some super socks! Paid for themselves 3x already.
• interlocutor2 6y ago
  This article is a breath of insulated air after people in my Wisconsin community started installing more outdoor heaters. They want to be able to eat at restaurants all winter...