Suggestions for staying warm indoors?

[catherine]

We're keeping our thermostat low, which is great, and I'm fine with it. But one of my "tools" for staying warm is what I call my Ugly Robe. When I'm feeling a little chilly--even with my pants, socks, turtleneck, and thick hoodie on--I tell DH I'm going to go put on my Ugly Robe, which is a thick fleecy old worn zip-up robe I've had for years.

It works wonderfully to keep me warm, but I'm not comfortable looking this shabby all day. I remember when I used to visit my stepfather's grandmother, she'd be sitting on a lounge chair with her foot up on an ottoman and her slippers had a hole cut out so her toes could peek through and it kind of grossed me out. So even though I'm home all day working, I don't like this habit I have of not caring what the heck I look like.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what I can wear that really helps keep the chills away so I don't have to rely on my Ugly Robe?

[JaneV2.0]

Silk long johns, fleece.

[lessisbest]

Get up and move more often.... About every 30-minutes I'll do a few laps around the living room and kitchen, or go up and down the basement stairs a few times. We usually keep our home around 62°-65°F (no heat in the bedroom) and I'm a firm believer in wool socks and a hand-knit wool shawl around my shoulders. In extreme cold I'll wear thermal underwear (or the bottoms of an old pair of pj's), and double-up on the socks. You can also add some cayenne pepper to your diet, which stimulates the circulatory system. Make warm lemon water with some cayenne pepper in it. Women are often cold because they are low on iron. Add some molasses to that warm lemon water for a shot of iron, or have warm milk with molasses.

[profnot]

If my feet are warm, I'm usually warm. So I place an electric heating pad where I place my feet when working on the computer.

A frugal version of this is what I do for the dog when she comes with me in the car: I sew together 2 washcloths leaving an opening to add uncooked pinto beans or barley. Add beans / barley then sew shut. I microwave this for 1 - 2 minutes until warm. You could put this under your feet. I put it on the passenger seat in my car 15 minutes before leaving. It warms the interior of the car and is nice for my pug.

You could use it for your hands, too.

Then you can wear nicer warm clothes, like silk long johns under twill pants. I like long sleeved T shirts with flannel or nice shirts over. A beret or knit cap helps you stay warm, too.

One caution: one time I came back to the car from a quick chore getting milk and the pug chewed through the fabric & ate some of the barley. Good thing I wasn't gone long!

[herbgeek]

Hubby gave me a usb powered seat warmer (plugs into my computer) a couple of years ago, and some days it really makes the difference in staying warm. Merino wool/fleece/silk underthings help too.

[Miss Cellane]

More layers, but thin ones. And consider your choice of fabrics, as well. I suspect a lot of what you are wearing is cotton or a cotton blend. Instead look for wool, fleece and silk.

For longjohns, consider knit silk. Very thin, slippery so your other layers of clothes slide easily over it. Or CuddleDuds makes a two-layer cotton and nylon (I think) set of longjohns. There's also the new washable wools, which add a very warm underlayer.

Then layer over your base layer. A turtleneck plus a flannel shirt, wool if you can find it. A wool sweater or a fleece hoodie. Some wool socks.

You could easily end up with 4 layers without a lot of bulk--a silk tank top, turtleneck, flannel shirt, thin wool sweater.

I find that if the back of my neck feels cold, I feel cold all over, so sometimes I just wrap a wool scarf around my neck and get on with my day.

My seriously cold weather pajama top is just a long-sleeved silk undershirt and an old, somewhat holey cashmere cardigan. Toasty.

You might also consider creating a "warm room" in your house with a space heater or wood stove. When I was freelancing from home, my oil bill shot up quite a bit, because I wasn't saving all the oil from when I turned the heat down when I went to work. So I continued to keep the whole house at 60 degrees, but got an oil-filled space heater and kept my office at 65. It made a world of difference. The space heater added about $30 a month to my electric bill for three months of the year, but saved at least one oil tank fill-up, which averaged about $400.

[rosarugosa]

I'm another fan of fleece (as noted previously, I have quite the collection of fleece shirts in pretty colors. This is what passes for glamour during the winter in the Northeast). I won't keep the house too cold though, as long as we can afford to heat it.

Herbgeek: I love the idea of the USB seat warmer, I think DH would love one of those!

[Float On]

I'm not a fan of fleece.....it gives me static electricity. I get fly away hair and then get shocked when I touch door knobs.
I've got an ugly robe too (actually 2 of them) polo men's flannel. So comfy and warm. I also use a heating pad when I'm watching TV or knitting. Keep it under my throw that I always grab when I sit on the sofa and it keeps me warm. I also take the heating pad to bed with me since my DH doesn't get home till 12:30 most nights.

[Mary B.]

I work at home, and while it's warm in our living room where my Mom usually sits, it isn't very warm in my office. Like Catherine, I want to look relatively decent while staying bundled up, and I have a few not-yet-mentioned tricks.

When I'm going to be sitting for quite a while, I hold a hot water bottle on my lap. It's unobtrusive, and really helps me warm up. You need to take care not to have it be too hot -- they really can burn -- but they're as useful as a heating pad and of course don't use electricity.

I work at a stand desk most of the time, and find I don't get as cold when I'm standing. A bit of movement while I'm working really helps, as others have noticed.

For really cold days, I have a heating pad in the shape of a horseshoe that goes around my neck.

For clothing, I find I need a complete base layer. For me this is usually leggings, socks that pull up over the leggings and a long-sleeve t-shirt that comes down well past my waist. If it's super cold the leggings are my ski leggings; ordinarily they're just cotton. Over that layer, I wear (usually) a skirt on the bottom, and a sweater on top. The next layer above that is one of two long wool sweaters.

For internal warming, I usually drink hot water as I work.

I am, you may have guessed, a wimp about cold!

[kib]

Pads you heat in the micro like profnot's are also good as seat pads or neck warmers. Hot tea. Hot shower. Someone once gave me a wooly scarf that had the ends sewn up into pockets - good place to tuck my chilly hands or keep a pen, tissue or whatever. My final standby is putting on a hat. If you really do care what you look like at home, perhaps a wig or scarf instead.

[JaneV2.0]

Oh, definitely get a space heater. The one near my computer is a small, sturdy metal one with a fan, and I practically sit on it during the few months that it's really cold.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I doubt that space heaters are cheaper to run than central heat though. Alright like I said the heater is so old it's probably not safe, so I use a space heater, only the electricity bill - more than in summer for the window box A/C. Depends on what you are comparing it to though, whether or not it should be natural gas is CHEAP, so if that's the comparison, it's not favorable toward using an electric space heater instead (granted I have a slight "tip" added to my electricity bill for green energy).

[Gardenarian]

This is my first even mildly chilly winter in a while.

Intensive unpacking and furniture moving keep me pretty hot. Like chopping firewood, moving warms you twice. :)

I've been spending a lot of time out of the house (hiking, dog walking, going to the library and various events and lectures.)
When I've been out all day ( with heat at 62 at home) I go ahead and put it up to 70 for a couple of hours. We also have a gas fireplace, and it's nice to be able to come in all cold and get warm right away, without heating the whole house.

I also have a big wool bed jacket with buttons and capacious pockets (I call it my fuzzy wuzzy) that I wear when I'm home alone and not moving about. It's an Irish wool cardigan that was a big man's size, but got put in the dryer at some point. Not icky or unattractive IMHO. Check out the thrift stores.

I wear fingerless gloves when using the computer.

I'm really grateful for our very comfortable, not-too-big bathtub. Nothing gets out the chill better.

I have a nice lap dog, and she's a great warmer too!

[Yarrow]

We're keeping our thermostat low, which is great, and I'm fine with it. But one of my "tools" for staying warm is what I call my Ugly Robe. When I'm feeling a little chilly--even with my pants, socks, turtleneck, and thick hoodie on--I tell DH I'm going to go put on my Ugly Robe, which is a thick fleecy old worn zip-up robe I've had for years.

It works wonderfully to keep me warm, but I'm not comfortable looking this shabby all day. I remember when I used to visit my stepfather's grandmother, she'd be sitting on a lounge chair with her foot up on an ottoman and her slippers had a hole cut out so her toes could peek through and it kind of grossed me out. So even though I'm home all day working, I don't like this habit I have of not caring what the heck I look like.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what I can wear that really helps keep the chills away so I don't have to rely on my Ugly Robe?

Since your Ugly Robe works so wonderfully to keep you warm why not trade it in for a new Pretty Robe that will keep you just as warm, and look good doing it! :)

[catherine]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone! Love the silk long-johns idea. I didn't realize silk had heat-trapping qualities. The space heater/heating pad/beanbag ideas are great, too. And I may just shop around for a new Pretty Robe. It really is like wearing a blanket around all day.

I just saw BIL outside--he said his furnace isn't working! It's 5 degrees outside, so until he is able to get his stuff together and come to our house to await the heating guy, I'll pass along to him some of these suggestions.

[Tussiemussies]

I have a couple of robes. One is made out of fleece and keeps me much warmer!

[Tussiemussies]

Catherine, I have also heard and read about making your own space heater from a candle and terracotta pot. I don't know how effective it is, although i think I first read sbout it on this site. I csnnot copy snd paste urls on this Kindle, but if you used the words as I described it a lot of pages come up....christine

[ApatheticNoMore]

Catherine, I have also heard and read about making your own space heater from a candle and terracotta pot.

that sounds flammable. Even space heaters have warnings on them, but if you use an electric space heater in the normal fashion I figure they're fine, a candle and a terracotta pot though ... I don't' know about that. I've never used the oil space heaters, but I know I dislike the space heaters that don't blow the air out, they make my skin crawl. So I get the kind with fans.

[lessisbest]

that sounds flammable. Even space heaters have warnings on them, but if you use an electric space heater in the normal fashion I figure they're fine, a candle and a terracotta pot though ... I don't' know about that. I've never used the oil space heaters, but I know I dislike the space heaters that don't blow the air out, they make my skin crawl. So I get the kind with fans.

ApatheticNoMore, you might want to do a little more research about Terracotta pots used as a space heater so you understand exactly how they work, and I'd suggest everyone have at least one for emergency heat. They are warmed with a few candle tea lights, but I would only resort to using one in an emergency, and I would be sure to use bee's wax tea light candles, not the inexpensive toxic paraffin wax ones. We've used one in the small guest bathroom during a long power outage during an ice storm to keep the room "warm". Done correctly, it actually worked very well for the small space. As an emergency heat source they are quite safe when done correctly. But as with all open-flames, keep them away from curious children and pets, although in this case the tea lights are covered by the pots. Any time you have open flames, keep a fire extinguisher handy.

All electric space heaters are not created equally and some are much safer to use than others. When choosing one, make sure it is covered by your home owner's insurance - not all of them are. We use a Sun Cloud Infrared Heater that heats our living room, dining room and kitchen (http://ingramswaterandair.com/c1500-cloud-portable-electric-heater-p-573.html) and is safe enough to use it doesn't void our insurance (we checked). When we tested it with a Kill-A-Watt Meter, it cost around 2-cents per hour (tested for 543 hours - total cost for electricity $14.81). We purchased ours locally, and over the years have purchased 3 of them, giving them to our adult children. Sun Clouds do not dry the air, which makes it a more comfortable heat than other electric space heaters. Three years ago we didn't use our home furnace at all, just the Sun Cloud and our Solar Heat, with an occasional use of our gas fireplace on really cold evenings or mornings. The oil-filled heaters give off toxins and have been known to eventually leak. We had neighbors keep an oil-filled heater behind their sofa. It kept it really warm, but it eventually leaked and was a mess! Those are my experiences.

[catherine]

I read about the terra cotta pot/tea light thing when I was researching "off the grid" ways to heat our hoop house in the winter. It looks like an amazing idea, but I never actually tried it. However, I do have the terra cotta pots that I bought for that purpose. We never carried out our 4-season garden so I never got a chance to see if it does work.

As for safety, I don't know why I would have to worry any more about a pot/tie light setup than I would about having a number of tea lights lit in my home, which I often do.

I think it's a very cool idea though. My husband said that when he was in the Marines stationed in Norway, in winter, in a tent, they would use one single candle to keep the tent warm and it was amazing how effective it was.

[lessisbest]

I read about the terra cotta pot/tea light thing when I was researching "off the grid" ways to heat our hoop house in the winter. It looks like an amazing idea, but I never actually tried it. However, I do have the terra cotta pots that I bought for that purpose. We never carried out our 4-season garden so I never got a chance to see if it does work.

As for safety, I don't know why I would have to worry any more about a pot/tie light setup than I would about having a number of tea lights lit in my home, which I often do.

I think it's a very cool idea though. My husband said that when he was in the Marines stationed in Norway, in winter, in a tent, they would use one single candle to keep the tent warm and it was amazing how effective it was.

While reading about the terracotta pot space heaters, I ran across information about someone who tried to heat their small green house with them and it didn't work for them due to the large volume of space, but a small hoop house might work well. At least you could use the inexpensive tea lights since you wouldn't be breathing the toxins from them. We made several of these and gave them as Christmas gifts. Our daughter lives in Tennessee and she called yesterday and said she had her terracotta space heater ready in her small powder room in case they lost power during the storm. At least she would have one small space she could keep warm in.

One slight drawback to using open flames, including kerosene heaters, oil lamps, candles, Mr. Heater Portable Heaters (which is a propane heater with an open flame safe to use indoors), 100-hour emergency oil lights, etc. - they consume a lot of oxygen so make sure you have a window cracked for oxygen exchange if using a number of them in a tightly closed room, and you may want to place a portable carbon monoxide detector on the floor (carbon monoxide travels down, not up like smoke) to be safe. There are also alcohol stoves you can make with an aluminum soda/pop can and even heat from burning cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly as emergency heat. Another interesting emergency heater can be made using a new paint can, stuff a roll or toilet paper inside, and fill with rubbing alcohol (http://www.bing.com/search?q=paint+can%2Froll+of+toilet+paper+heater&qs=n&form=QBLH&pc=U162F&pq=paint+can%2Froll+of+toilet+paper+heater&sc=0-14&sp=-1&sk=&cvid=8a20e728d1ea426d8f800e93d4b89b44)

[Tenngal]

We're keeping our thermostat low, which is great, and I'm fine with it. But one of my "tools" for staying warm is what I call my Ugly Robe. When I'm feeling a little chilly--even with my pants, socks, turtleneck, and thick hoodie on--I tell DH I'm going to go put on my Ugly Robe, which is a thick fleecy old worn zip-up robe I've had for years.

It works wonderfully to keep me warm, but I'm not comfortable looking this shabby all day. I remember when I used to visit my stepfather's grandmother, she'd be sitting on a lounge chair with her foot up on an ottoman and her slippers had a hole cut out so her toes could peek through and it kind of grossed me out. So even though I'm home all day working, I don't like this habit I have of not caring what the heck I look like.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for what I can wear that really helps keep the chills away so I don't have to rely on my Ugly Robe?

I have a homemade rice bag, given to me for a Christmas gift several years ago. It has been very cold the past few days and my feet never get warm.
I warmed up the rice bag last night and put my feet on it.........also hehind my neck.........put me to sleep last night.

[Packratona!]

I am freezing right now, I finally had to put on socks and change from shorts and sleeveless to sweatpants and a shirt with sleeves. I usually only have to do this once or twice a year for a couple of hours but this year has been COLD!

[sweetana3]

I have on socks, sheepskin lines leather slippers and still need to have a thick blanket wrapped around my feet. Husband has knee wraps around both knees to keep them warm. This has been a brutal winter.

[frugal-one]

Really cold here. Wind chill -25° F. I went to bed last night in sweats with long johns under plus a heating pad and was not overly warm. Have been working all day and still have long johns and 2 sweatshirts on. Can't even imagine shorts and sleeveless?>?>?

[Glo]

This winter temps are much colder in NE OH. We've moved our furnace temp to 72. When I'm sitting around watching TV or reading, I'm covered in a wool blanket. This is the first time I've suffered from the cold; never used to bother me. Getting old I guess.

[maryellen]

These items get me through a long cold winter at high altitude with a thermostat set low:

lightweight long underwear
lightweight fleece - tops & pants
lightweight down sweater (I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned down - it's the ultimate emergency body heat trapper.synthetic fiberfill may also serve the purpose for less $)

Last year I discovered the newer "plush fleece" robes. These are somewhat silky. Pricey in catalogs, but very affordable in discount stores like Target & Costco. I will never go back to a regular fleece bathrobe.

[larknm]

DH and I dress indoors as if it were outdoors. For me that's flannel-lined jeans, a turtle neck, a hoodie, a jacket and a wool cap. Then when we go out I put on one of DH's jackets over my own jacket and add a neck scarf, mittens and earmuffs--that's for when we take our dogs running daily for an hour. It's so windy here, that really gets to us outdoors. Usually we've had only windy spring months, but this year it was winter too and that's so long.