7 ms·

> 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

by 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.

wolverine876 6y ago
> 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; C'mon. We can't figure out the solutions to these problems, in a moment? :) If you can't, I'm not hiring you to wash dishes. (I.e., I believe you can.) Edit: I think there's an assumption that this is some dogmatic straw-argument. It's not; it's practical. The argument is: Be practical.
- Kluny 6y ago
  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 subscription, I recognize that philosophy for the idiocy that it is. If it's too expensive to heat your house correctly, then you have a problem with your insulation and you need to fix it. My parents finally insulated their attic and bought a heat pump this year, and for the first time in a decade I can visit them in the winter and be comfortable the whole time.
  - saalweachter 6y ago
    I bought an older house built in the era of coal heating. Popped open an exterior wall to fix some water damage and discover it was completely un-insulated. Better than finding the walls stuffed full of asbestos, I guess, but man, how was I the first person in a century to think of insulating?
    - meowster 6y ago
      You didn't think of it, just like the previous residents didn't think of it. You discovered it, when maybe the previous residents didn't. Before you discovered it, you were assuming it was insulated right? Perhaps the previous people also assumed that.
  - wolverine876 6y ago
    OK, you win, you can't figure it out. :)
    - Kluny 6y ago
      Oh no, you won – you got to be smug on the internet.
    - appletrotter 6y ago
      Rude
  - triceratops 6y ago
    > you have a problem with your insulation and you need to fix it. Amen! But imagine the savings if you have good insulation and keep the heat down! <trollface>
bluedino 6y ago
You wear long underwear, the 'hot' person can wear a t-shirt
- oblio 6y ago
  I think his argument was that the person that controls the temperature is the "hot" person. In that case... you just let the others freeze? :-p
triceratops 6y ago
> other people may come over to visit your house without realizing in advance that they need to wear long underwear; Not a problem in Covid times. But it's possible to turn the heat up when you have guests, no? Or run a space heater in the living room when they're around? > and low indoor temperatures promote mold growth. I'm mystified by this. I thought moisture promoted mold growth. The solution to that is good ventilation. If anything low temp should inhibit growth, as it does for most microorganisms.
- Kluny 6y ago
  > Not a problem in Covid times. But it's possible to turn the heat up when you have guests, no? Or run a space heater in the living room when they're around? Sure, if you're considerate enough to do that! My dad wasn't!
- oblio 6y ago
  > Not a problem in Covid times. Covid times are just† ~2 years, not the lifetime of a person or a house. †Knock on wood.
- ganafagol 6y ago
  Low temp leads to higher relative humidity and slower drying of surfaces, that's why it's increasing the risk for mold. There is a related problem when insulating your house more. If it's badly insulated, walls are cold and any dampness happens on the inside surface of the wall. You turn up your heater and ventilation and it evaporates. Now you add more insulation. Your walls on the inside are warmer. But the absolute humidity in the air is still the same, so it goes into the wall too. There is a temperature gradient inside the wall. When it's cold outside, there is a point in the wall where the relative humidity hits saturation, so the wall gets moist there. The better insulation, the deeper this is in the wall. No level of ventilation will save you here and if you don't do anything about it, you get mold inside the wall. Which you would not get without this extra insulation. The solution is vapour barriers. They need to be close to the inside of your walls to work. This is a tricky subject and part of the reason why adding insulation after the fact is hard.

by Kluny 6y ago

wolverine876 6y ago

> 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; C'mon. We can't figure out the solutions to these problems, in a moment? :) If you can't, I'm not hiring you to wash dishes. (I.e., I believe you can.) Edit: I think there's an assumption that this is some dogmatic straw-argument. It's not; it's practical. The argument is: Be practical.

Kluny 6y ago
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 subscription, I recognize that philosophy for the idiocy that it is. If it's too expensive to heat your house correctly, then you have a problem with your insulation and you need to fix it. My parents finally insulated their attic and bought a heat pump this year, and for the first time in a decade I can visit them in the winter and be comfortable the whole time.
- saalweachter 6y ago
  I bought an older house built in the era of coal heating. Popped open an exterior wall to fix some water damage and discover it was completely un-insulated. Better than finding the walls stuffed full of asbestos, I guess, but man, how was I the first person in a century to think of insulating?
  - meowster 6y ago
    You didn't think of it, just like the previous residents didn't think of it. You discovered it, when maybe the previous residents didn't. Before you discovered it, you were assuming it was insulated right? Perhaps the previous people also assumed that.
- wolverine876 6y ago
  OK, you win, you can't figure it out. :)
  - Kluny 6y ago
    Oh no, you won – you got to be smug on the internet.
  - appletrotter 6y ago
    Rude
- triceratops 6y ago
  > you have a problem with your insulation and you need to fix it. Amen! But imagine the savings if you have good insulation and keep the heat down! <trollface>

bluedino 6y ago

You wear long underwear, the 'hot' person can wear a t-shirt

oblio 6y ago
I think his argument was that the person that controls the temperature is the "hot" person. In that case... you just let the others freeze? :-p

triceratops 6y ago

> other people may come over to visit your house without realizing in advance that they need to wear long underwear; Not a problem in Covid times. But it's possible to turn the heat up when you have guests, no? Or run a space heater in the living room when they're around? > and low indoor temperatures promote mold growth. I'm mystified by this. I thought moisture promoted mold growth. The solution to that is good ventilation. If anything low temp should inhibit growth, as it does for most microorganisms.

Kluny 6y ago
> Not a problem in Covid times. But it's possible to turn the heat up when you have guests, no? Or run a space heater in the living room when they're around? Sure, if you're considerate enough to do that! My dad wasn't!
oblio 6y ago
> Not a problem in Covid times. Covid times are just† ~2 years, not the lifetime of a person or a house. †Knock on wood.
ganafagol 6y ago
Low temp leads to higher relative humidity and slower drying of surfaces, that's why it's increasing the risk for mold. There is a related problem when insulating your house more. If it's badly insulated, walls are cold and any dampness happens on the inside surface of the wall. You turn up your heater and ventilation and it evaporates. Now you add more insulation. Your walls on the inside are warmer. But the absolute humidity in the air is still the same, so it goes into the wall too. There is a temperature gradient inside the wall. When it's cold outside, there is a point in the wall where the relative humidity hits saturation, so the wall gets moist there. The better insulation, the deeper this is in the wall. No level of ventilation will save you here and if you don't do anything about it, you get mold inside the wall. Which you would not get without this extra insulation. The solution is vapour barriers. They need to be close to the inside of your walls to work. This is a tricky subject and part of the reason why adding insulation after the fact is hard.