View Full Version : Tips for keeping warm in very cold climate.
Husband and I are encountering our first winter living in Northern Ontario (North shore, Lake Superior) and to say the least it is very cold! -30s this week.
Any tips for staying toasty at home (especially at night)?
We have the same temperatures here most of the time. Even with global warming :):):~)
socks
fleece pants/trousers
t-shirt
flannel robe
slippers
I also have a smallish fleece throw that I can wrap over my shoulders. A friend always has cold hands and she wears fingerless gloves in the house, especially when she is working on her computer.
In the bed, I use one of those thermal blankets, cheap kind, with lots of open weave. Over that goes my very old, kind of thin but not raggedy, so soft comforter. Lots of people think that the thermal blanket goes on top, but it needs to be between your body and something with a tight weave. Before I moved to this drafty and old Victorian, I use a flat sheet on top of the thermal blanket.
This place is drafty enough to keep the air fairly moist, but if you have dry air you will feel colder. Humidify.
You could also get a few medium-sized dogs. Get some that to not shed and will use a litter box, because otherwise you will have to take them outside for walks a couple of times a day. Outside. Where it is even colder. Windier, too. Brrrrrr.
rrrrr is the code thingy for the ambulance, I guess. I was only shivering. :D
fidgiegirl
1-22-13, 11:49pm
LOL, the ambulance almost never shows up on purpose, only the in the middle of shivers or growls. :D
Hello drbond!! We are also freezing, though sounds like you are winning us. Coldest temps in four years in our area. Brrrr! ;)
I haven't done it, but a rice bag heated up in the microwave would be yummy in bed. I must always wear socks most of the year, but especially now. Also sometimes a hat.
A cuddly DH helps. :)
Hang in there, it has to break sometime!!! I hope you will hop over to the Introductions Forum and tell us a bit more about yourself.
ETA: Hey! Why didn't my "brrr" make an ambulance?! :)
Hey Fidgiegirl! Long time reader, first time poster.
We moved to Northern Ontario in September 2012. Moved from Ottawa to avoid a huge mortgage and a career path I was not enjoying (federal civil servant) despite the cushy benefits and job security...and of course to live simpler lives. We bought our house outright and it feels great! The real estate market prices in northern Ontario are extremely affordable compared to down south. Of course, the job market here is limited but there are pros and cons to every situation!
I wear heavy socks, slippers, undershirt, sweater, sometimes a sweatshirt over that, a beanie, (even to bed) and usually some kind of extra long leg warmers and sometimes fingerless gloves and sometimes I still can't get warm! And I'm not in Ontario!!
-30C here in Winnipeg, too. I hate it. But I don't cheap out on heating costs any more. Right now we have electric baseboard heaters so can at least vary the temperature between rooms. When I had a house with a gas furnace, I'd have a space heater in the bedroom on a timer for about 3 hours. I just need to be warm enough to fall asleep, and then it can get colder over night. I always sleep with a hot water bottle until July or August and it's so hot even a sheet is too much.
Square Peg
1-23-13, 2:55am
My saviors:
turtle neck layer
wool or fleece sweater
take a really hot shower, this can warm me up for a few hours
drink hot tea
electric blanket
Wearing a winter scarf all the time
Don't underestimate the power of the Snuggie (http://www.snuggieblanketfortwo.com/snuggies/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-snuggie.jpg).
Well, I do not have that kind of cold. But I would imagine that what I wear in winter here (an uninsulated place that gets down just about freezing in the winter -- also, no central heating, just a little gas fireplace that does a decent job, and we are in shadow from 2 pm onwards which chills the place) would probably do the trick.
Once home from work -- since the house has been unheated all day -- I put on a pot of water to make hot beverages: tea or ginger/honey/lemon. This also helps heat the house a bit, because we like to avoid turning the heater on if we can. We then change into our jammies.
I wear silks, then cotton flannel pants and long-sleeved T. Then, I put on my wool layer -- merino wool sweater (it's long -- tunic length, with a nice cowl neck), wool socks, wool beanie, and fingerless gloves. We also have wool baby blankets (got three before DS was born -- so we each get one and it's comfy lap blanket.
We cook dinner (which warms the house), and then if it's still chilly and/or really wet (it's very damp here), then we turn on the fireplace for about an hour. We often have to take off our merino layer for this.
our bed is mattress, wool mattress pad, cotton sheets, winter weight quilt, and wool blankets. The wool traps the heat in the bed. DS also has a sheepskin (i'd like to get some for DH and I down the track). We all sleep together, and I put the merino layers back on after we turn the fire off (after about an hour or so), and then get into bed with those layers.
Wearing a hat inside and particularly to bed is really important. makes a huge difference in how warm I feel. :) It's great. I usually take the gloves off at night, because they don't feel comfortable on my hands -- but I'll wear the rest of my wool layer. :)
I love wool.
Wildflower
1-23-13, 7:01am
Thermal underwear saved me once when our electricity was off for days due to an ice storm. It was frigid weather and the only warmth we had was from our fireplace, but that wasn't much. So yeah, I recommend thermal underwear highly, along with thermal socks, and lots of clothes/blanket layering.
Eating hot soups and drinking hot beverages is very helpful.
Taking a hot shower or bath is very warming too.
This will date me, but we have a waterbed with an electric heater with temperature control. The best thing ever for cold weather! Old hippie here. ;)
That is some terribly cold temps up your way. Here it is 11 degrees this morning and the house feels so chilly.
Dress in layers. That's the key that I have found that works. Lots of thin layers work much better than one heavy layer. Long underwear or cuddle duds are a must! Then layer over that a few layers. Layer your bed as well. Sheet, then thermal blanket, then fleece blanket and then a heavy quilt. Don't forget to wear a cap, especially a night. Layer your feet as well. Cotton socks and then a layer of wool socks over that.
Hi from Minnesota! I keep a hat next to the bed so that if I wake up and am cold during the night, I can pull it on.
Wool and fleece. Lots of it, in all layers. In chilly weather (20s Fahrenheit) I wear silk longjohns, but in frigid weather (0F) I wear wool longjohns, and they are amazing. I had to go out last night for DD's choir concert and did not even feel the cold (it was below zero F).
Sock liners are a thin, comfortable way to get one more layer on your feet. The warmth of layers is the air that gets trapped, so 2 thin layers could be better than one thicker layer, depending on the weave and fiber content.
My winter "slippers" are a cheap pair of boots with a soft, fleecy lining. I like to wear shoe-like slippers anyway.
Exercise. When I get chilled at home I will hop on the treadmill or run up and down the stairs.
Plastic on the windows - eliminates that drafty feeling from the cold air moving off of the windows. The plastic traps an insulating pocket of air against the windows and makes a huge difference in comfort level in our house.
We received an electric throw for Christmas. I've been using it to warm our beds in the evening. It feels luxurious to get into a heated bed! Also, we use flannel sheets and many layers. Sometimes my feet get cold even with socks on, and then I find that putting a fleece throw around them inside the bed helps.
Also, this winter I began keeping a few spare fleece throws in the car. When it's super cold, it takes the car a good 20 minutes to start producing warm air, and by then my toes are usually numb. But with a fleece blanket on my lap - even one that is initially cold from sitting in the car - I stay comfortably warm until then. It's all about trapping the heat where it is - next to your body - rather than letting it escape into the chilly space around you!
Miss Cellane
1-23-13, 8:48am
Layers, as everyone is suggesting. If you are mostly indoors, silk long johns are great (they aren't so good if you will be outside and doing lots of physical activity). Then a shirt and sweater over that. I have a lovely sweater-knit wool shawl that goes over everything when it gets really cold.
I also have a "warm room." The temperature's usually set to 60 degrees in the day, 55 at night. But I have a space heater in one room that keeps it at about 65 degrees. This does add about $30 a month to the electric bill for three months a year, but it saves about one tank of heating oil a year, and that's about $400-$500, so it works out in the end. This allows me to work from home in comfort--hard to type when your hands are freezing.
Also, try to identify your "cold spot." For me, it's the back of my neck. If I'm cold, I'll put a scarf on. Once my neck feels warmer, I feel warmer all over. My sister's cold spot is the small of her back--she uses a heating pad there when she sits down and it warms her.
You could try moving around every hour or so--doing a few jumping jacks, running up and down stairs--anything to get you moving and the blood flowing.
And the Suggie--someone gave me one for Christmas a few years ago. It works. It'd dorky, but it fits over all the other layers and does add warmth.
fidgiegirl
1-23-13, 8:58am
Wow, guys, I never thought to use my Snuggie in bed, have only ever used it on the couch. Will give it a try!
You know, now that I think of it, I always used to be nice and toasty in this big grandma nightie I had. I got rid of it for fashion reasons - oh, the errors of youth! - and it's one of the few things I regret decluttering. That thing was cozy. Warmer than PJs. I might have to get me another! :)
decemberlov
1-23-13, 10:16am
Reading this post reminded me of when I was little and mom had very little money at all. She use to sit us in front of the stove after she baked (or sometimes even if she didn't lol) to soak up the heat from the oven. I still leave the stove open to heat up the kitchen after cooking if its chilly :~)
SteveinMN
1-23-13, 11:21am
I still leave the stove open to heat up the kitchen after cooking if its chilly :~)
Yup, I do, too. I'm also more willing to use the oven than I am to use the slow cooker or steamer because the oven throws off some heat as it works.
A couple of things people have not yet mentioned:
- If you don't already have a setback thermostat, get one! Even good ones aren't that expensive, and they'll pay for themselves in less than a year up here in the North. We set ours for 60 degrees most of the day but at 67 for weekday wake-up times. It's a great compromise between saving energy and waking up happy.
- We have a passive electric heater in the bathroom that goes on when we go to bed and has the bathroom nice and toasty by the time we troop in for showers and dressing the next morning.
- My DW lives in down throws, electric throws, battery-powered vests, etc. It may not be the most ecologically sound way to go, but considering what her gas/electric bills looked like in her house before we married, considerable progress has been made.
Sharing body heat is my personal favorite. 98.6 + 98.6 = something that beats the heck out of a wool blanket. :moon:
First things first, a big warm welcome to you, Drbond!
Ensuring the house is always warm and comfortable, is our biggest UN-frugal infraction. Thermostat is dropped way down at night, thanks to goose-down duvets! Got to have goose-down duvets in Canada! LOL!
Slippers, too! Mainly for cushioned foot-comfort (more than anything).
Aside from that, I, too, practice leaving the over door open whenever I'm cooking/baking! Love sitting in the kitchen (early in the morning), sipping my coffee, and feeling the warmth of oven heat!
Simpler at Fifty
1-23-13, 3:47pm
We keep our heat at 68 24/7 in the winter. We run a humidifier in the living/dining area. That makes it feel warmer. We wear slippers, a sweatshirt or fleece jacket to feel warmer inside. It has been -20 the last week so we are really feeling the cold. DH has arthritis in his spine, shoulders, wrists and hands. Being cold is not healthy for him.
Mrs M I don't consider keeping our home warm and comfortable an 'unfrugal infraction'. :)
Kestra. Please tell me about the Selkirk area.
I have an old junior high school friend who has lived there since her and her family moved there (late 70's), and until recent, I had no idea what the area was like, but after doing a quick Google search, it looks so depressed and old. Kind of made me sad...
Sharing body heat is my personal favorite. 98.6 + 98.6 = something that beats the heck out of a wool blanket. :moon:
Yeah, so how come it always turns out that us 120-degree-body-temperature types marry the 70-degree-body-temperature types?:doh:
-30's!? o my word...i feel like such a wimp now =\ ive been moaning since eary Dec about the cold (UK)...well, i think it was the coldest december for 100 years or something...the coldest something for 100 years...and to be fair our house is unusually cold, i think its because we live on a rock and dont have wall insulation. I have thin skin also. I cant think of anything else to justify my wimpiness...
Anyway, i have these fleecy blankets i wrap around me int he house (you can get these fleecey blanket poncho things also i see at the chemists). I also sometimes wear a chullo, which keeps my head and nose warm, and 3 pairs of slipper socks. Also i have one or 2 hot water bottles in bed and a little plug-in radiator right near the bed which i switch on an hour or two before going to bed to warm the area up...what else do i do...o vests, i wear vests and layers. Also eating pancakes wit syrup and tea and biscuits is important for keeping you warm (so says me). O, dal actually is good for creating a cosy body feeling. I like mango dal best, but usually share it with my mum so i can only put 1 chilli.
thought of you: coldest village in the world (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266374/Oymyakon-coldest-village-earth-Temperatures-drop-71-2C-locals-wear-glasses-freeze-faces-school-shuts-falls-52C.html)
Sharing body heat is my personal favorite. 98.6 + 98.6 = something that beats the heck out of a wool blanket. :moon:
Part of the reason why we still like sleeping with DS is because he is a tiny furnace. He goes to bed about 2-3 hours before we do, so the bed is super warm when we get in! To get him to sleep, one or both of us cuddles up and reads on the e-reader and he passes right out. Then, with the wool trapping the heat in, he'll continue to sleep and heat up the bed.
Then, we crawl into bed and it's toasty toasty.
Kestra. Please tell me about the Selkirk area.
I have an old junior high school friend who has lived there since her and her family moved there (late 70's), and until recent, I had no idea what the area was like, but after doing a quick Google search, it looks so depressed and old. Kind of made me sad...
Well, it depends what your tastes are. I've only been there a couple times but know several people who live in that area. I like the size of the town - big enough to have all the amenities but small town feeling. Close enough to the city to commute for work, but far enough away that housing is a bit cheaper. Like Winnipeg there are definitely parts and times of year when everything looks old and depressed. Nothing looks good here in April, but in the middle of summer it's nicer. I hate how flat the land is in Winnipeg and Selkirk is the same, from what I remember. There isn't even the tiniest natural hill anywhere.
But, anyhow, nothing any more depressing about Selkirk than any smallish town in Manitoba. I haven't been to BC in over a decade so can't compare it to what you may be used to.
Yeah, so how come it always turns out that us 120-degree-body-temperature types marry the 70-degree-body-temperature types?:doh:
I hear ya, although I'm guessing DW's feet are closer to 0* that 70*.
I can't offer too much because we (unfrugally) keep the house warm, at least compared to some people. Anyway, wool is great, the duvet is essential and I have discovered that two minutes in the microwave for my Magic Bag (like a rice bag, I think) turns it into a wonderful bedwarmer that actually keeps throwing heat for hours. It was well worth the money when I bought it five years ago to address an injury, and now it is worth it all over again since I have started using it to keep warm. We are REALLY cold here (for us, anyway) with -20 at the moment and scary-cold windchills. I had to go to a meeting this morning (note to self: gratitude is about the car starting) and the parking place was far from the building. I mean far, like half a kilometer. I actually got an ice-cream headache walking from the car to the building...couldn't go fast due to ice but I sure was glad that I didn't have to go farther....and I was dressed really well for the temperature. This is just my whining ex-pat stuff about cold in Canada but I am sure it was this cold in Maine when I lived there.
rosarugosa
1-23-13, 9:05pm
Heated mattress pad and flannel sheets, polar fleece shirts, and long, hooded down coat from LL Bean. I am very much a petite, but I buy the coats in Reg - XS to get greater length. It was in the single digits today, but I was impervious to the cold when outside except for my face.
dado potato
1-23-13, 9:32pm
For night warmth (in bed) I recommend a goose down comforter. Works equally well if there is electric power or not. We have had ours for more than 20 years (with a new sack every 10 years or so.) http://www.northerngoose.com Teulon MB.
heated foot warmer under the flannel sheets. Leggings worn to bed. I have the heater set to 74 on my CPAP >8). And I keep the bedroom door closed at night so that I can turn the wall heater down without freezing when I get up at 5:30.
I'm a strong believer in wool, especially for humid cold. Here in Colorado we have cold weather, but it's generally low humidity. A couple of years ago I went to Vermont to help a friend with outdoor work in mid-winter and had all my Colorado down and fleece. With all the clothes I brought I just couldn't manage to keep warm. My friend said, oh you need to borrow some wool jackets. It made a HUGE difference. Now I have merino wool long underwear and a small collection of other wool garments. I've managed to scrounge a couple of expensive Ibex items on sale but also have inexpensive wool pants from our Army surplus store.
Miss Cellane
1-24-13, 8:21am
I can't offer too much because we (unfrugally) keep the house warm, at least compared to some people. Anyway, wool is great, the duvet is essential and I have discovered that two minutes in the microwave for my Magic Bag (like a rice bag, I think) turns it into a wonderful bedwarmer that actually keeps throwing heat for hours. It was well worth the money when I bought it five years ago to address an injury, and now it is worth it all over again since I have started using it to keep warm. We are REALLY cold here (for us, anyway) with -20 at the moment and scary-cold windchills. I had to go to a meeting this morning (note to self: gratitude is about the car starting) and the parking place was far from the building. I mean far, like half a kilometer. I actually got an ice-cream headache walking from the car to the building...couldn't go fast due to ice but I sure was glad that I didn't have to go farther....and I was dressed really well for the temperature. This is just my whining ex-pat stuff about cold in Canada but I am sure it was this cold in Maine when I lived there.
It's that cold in Maine right now, I think. Here in New Hampshire it was -4 F (-20 C) when I got up this morning. Maine can only be colder. And I'll admit we are heating the house more than usual--there are a couple of rooms that get the heat last and they have gone from chilly to downright cold with this cold spell. It's hard to be comfortable when it's 55 inside.
Well, it depends what your tastes are. I've only been there a couple times but know several people who live in that area. I like the size of the town - big enough to have all the amenities but small town feeling. Close enough to the city to commute for work, but far enough away that housing is a bit cheaper. Like Winnipeg there are definitely parts and times of year when everything looks old and depressed. Nothing looks good here in April, but in the middle of summer it's nicer. I hate how flat the land is in Winnipeg and Selkirk is the same, from what I remember. There isn't even the tiniest natural hill anywhere.
But, anyhow, nothing any more depressing about Selkirk than any smallish town in Manitoba. I haven't been to BC in over a decade so can't compare it to what you may be used to.Thanks for weighing in on this, Kestra. P.S. Say warm!
Kestra. I think where Selkirk, took me aback, is the older and overly small homes. Maybe the entire area of Selkirk, isn't that way. We, too, have an area (older/oldest are of town) where homes are really small (and old), and the neighbourhood, rundown. Positive side to that old neighbourhood... nearly every home has a clothesline!
Will post a picture or two when Spring arrives.
P.S. You made me feel much better about Selkirk. Besides, my friend is a frugal practitioner as well, so I imagine, if she lives in one of the older/smaller homes, it's right up her alley!
Kestra. I think where Selkirk, took me aback, is the older and overly small homes. Maybe the entire area of Selkirk, isn't that way. We, too, have an area (older/oldest are of town) where homes are really small (and old), and the neighbourhood, rundown. Positive side to that old neighbourhood... nearly every home has a clothesline!
Will post a picture or two when Spring arrives.
P.S. You made me feel much better about Selkirk. Besides, my friend is a frugal practitioner as well, so I imagine, if she lives in one of the older/smaller homes, it's right up her alley!
Yes, there's always the older area (which I prefer) and the newer area. Not sure about Selkirk's newer area, but if one isn't into simple living, then East or West St. Paul are the areas to live in - near Selkirk but all about McMansion's. Ugh.
Me, too, Kestra! Older areas never fail to provide the perfect backdrop. Trees, quaint old homes (with character), gardens, clotheslines, and real people.
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