Comments on: How to stay warm in a cool house: 20 tips

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:50:05 +0000

In reply to Jade. Hey, glad this post and its awesome comments thread are still finding readers! Yes, it's getting to be that time of year again in the northern hemisphere...

By: Jade

Jade — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:03:22 +0000

Thanks for all the helpful tips… i especially liked really one of the comments talking about the tumble dryer… i used to do this and it kept me very warm. I have also used fingerless gloves…. they work a treat and don’t cost an arm of a leg. However i recently read an article about how condensing boilers can save a lot of money, whilst allowing the thermostat to be changed in a number of different rooms – which is obviously great for warming up your bedroom right before you go to bed and letting the rest of the house get a bit nippy whilst they are not in use. I couldn’t find the article i read… so i just put a link to the website which offers the heating system.

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:51:31 +0000

In reply to David Harmon. I suppose that must be where the Koreans got the idea, then.

By: Clive Hicks-Jenkins

Clive Hicks-Jenkins — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:01:19 +0000

In reply to Dave Bonta. An Aga is an iron range. Hot plates on the top, and a hot oven and a slow oven underneath. It's never turned off... they burn full-time. Ours runs on oil. A great comfort!

By: David Harmon

David Harmon — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:44:53 +0000

In reply to Dave Bonta. The "medieval" Chinese had heated beds, though I don't remember the name -- brick with channels built into them to conduct heat from a fire. (Presumably they had blankets or such to cushion the brick). Some of my college reading suggested that they would basically live on those whenever they were home, entertaining guests there etc..

By: christine

christine — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 03:55:42 +0000

I like the thought of taking in the morning air after a hot bath, all bundled up, of course.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:56:30 +0000

In reply to Lucy.

Great link Lucy, I just ordered a Fleece cozy! Shipping isn’t that bad for that.
http://www.garbtheworld.com/items/g0126.shtml

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:26:57 +0000

In reply to Clive Hicks-Jenkins.

Thanks, Clive! You’re right — I was thinking that I had enough for a whole blog post of tips from VN readers, but really there’s enough for a small book here. Thanks for sharing your own strategies. What is an Aga — a radiator, perhaps?

By: Clive Hicks-Jenkins

Clive Hicks-Jenkins — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:46:13 +0000

A staggeringly good response to this post Dave. You could produce a manual of staying warm with everything learned here!

I don’t have much to add that will be of use. I put my clothes on the Aga to warm before I dress, and I wear my favourite sweater with a hood to bed. The hood has the added benefit of shading my eyes when pulled down low, necessary on clear nights with a full moon, the brightness of which would otherwise wake me up. We have no curtains. I’m not a fan of curtains. But we’ve got inside window shutters on the ground floor… very solid and original to this old house, now restored and snug fitting, and they greatly add to the cosiness of rooms once closed. We need them too, as double glazing couldn’t be fitted to the historic windows without compromising their appearance. Maybe one day we’ll add similar shutters to the upstairs windows too. That would work well to insulate the rooms at night.

Stay warm my friend!

By: Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:10:10 +0000

In reply to Lucy. Hot potatoes in the bed! Lucy, that's a poem you need to write.