Question of The Day. Saturday 14th of January

Hi, Happy Saturday.

It's well below freezing here today and it's snowing again. 

How do you keep yourself warm in cold weather?

I wear layers of clothes. Thermal leggings and long sleeved t-shirt under everything else and at least two pairs of socks. I often wear a hat in the house. Nothing is quite so warm and snuggly as a woolly hat. I drink lots of hot tea as well, although that means I have to pee every couple of hours.

Oh, and make sure you always have a nice, plump kitty within reach. Now is the time those furry little hot-water bottles earn their keep.

How about you, any tips for surviving the winter?

We've got snow and icy temperatures, too. Layers help a lot, especially with all the walking I do - thermal tights with knee socks under my jeans, a long-sleeved thermal undershirt under a fleece top, a down parka for outdoors. We both have blankets to cuddle under on the sofas. DH drinks a lot of hot tea, while I prefer coffee.

Mogli has a double window perch right over a radiator where he spends cold days and cuddles with me on the sofa in the evening.

I try hard not to bundle up too much.  Work days, while it might be frigid outside, my train into NYC usually winds up having the heat way too high.  Also, my office is a freaking furnace. So, if I wear too much then I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with everything I'm wearing which typically means carrying a load of heavy clothing LOL.  

I live close to the train so it's out the house for barely a minute, into the car, drive to the station, park and then walk to the station which takes only a few minutes.

Once in NYC, I have to get in the subway where pulling off layers is NOT an easy task. There's so little room to begin with and if I don't get a seat (usually) it is really hard to stand holding onto a pole and holding onto all my winter clothing also.  

Once at my destination it's another fairly short walk to my office. So I'm outdoors only about 15 minutes or so total. I can deal with being a little chilled for that short amount of time. 

Oh and there's losing hats, scarves, gloves once you do take them off while commuting. Inevitably I lose at least 1 of those each winter.  I already lost my brand new hat in the first week of owning it    

I hate being over warm, it makes me cranky!

Edit: At home, until recently we had really bad drafts in the house.  Finally got the front door replaced so that has helped a lot.  But being an old home there are some days where the heat can't keep up.  We burn a fire to help, have some hot drinks of one kind of another and if all else fails climb into bed to watch tv under the electric blanket 

We never turn out heat above 72, most of the time 70. We have 16 foot ceilings in part of the house. We live on several acres in the middle of a big farm field. The wind blows hard across here all the time in winter because there is nothing to stop it. So we have to dress warm. I wear Cuddle Duds, which is a lightweight underwear set. Then I wear a sweatshirt and jeans with socks and shoes. When the wind blows from the north, we turn on the heat in the garage which is on that end of the house. It is next to the portion of the house with high ceilings so it helps to keep everything warm. I have throws on the chairs and sofas in the living room and in my upstairs room which is open to the living room. There are two sofas in this room and we sit here in cold weather a lot.
I just bought myself two pairs of LL Bean flannel lined jeans. I will be wearing those some too.


Hubby wears flannel lined jeans and layers of shirts, short and long sleeves.

In my younger days I ran outdoors all year round and quickly learned how to layer clothing.  Plus we had a medium - large dog who needed a fair amount of walks and exercise.  I would shop for thermal clothes at the end of the season when it was on sale.  My tried and true favorite is 'Smartwool' socks, love that brand.  I still layer my clothes even in the house since I keep the thermostat at 66 in the daytime, (unless it's in the single digits), and turn it down to 62 at night.  Exercise helps me warm up, even vacuuming, lol.

I keep the house at 70 degrees F, and layer also. Jeans or cords for pants and mock-neck turtle necks, either doubled, or under a sweater of some kind. I've kept lightweight wool sweaters that you can't find anymore for years, and I love those. They are very warm and not heavy. I also have throws in the living room for watching TV or reading.

I used to work in an office with an overweight coworker who insisted on keeping the heat at 65 degrees. It was like a meat locker in there, and I had to bring a lap throw just to sit at my desk. She was completely unsympathetic - "Just bundle up like everyone else!"

For some reason, my internal thermostat has completely changed in recent years.  I've gone from loving the heat to loving the cold.   I keep my thermostat at 64F and often don't run the heat at all because my apartment building itself is pretty warm with everyone else running their heat.   Right now it's 65F inside, 32F outside and I've got the heat off.  I'm wearing jeans and a tee shirt.  Needless to say, I turn up the heat for guests!  

Outside, all I need is a coat, gloves and a hat.  Often, I don't even wear a sweater.  

This is very odd to me because for years, I thrived in temperatures in the 80s and 90s.  I hated, hated the cold.

indoors, it's thermal henley top, thermal bottoms or (when it's absolutely frigid temps outdoors) sweatpants, socks, and my LL Bean fleece lined slippers. as needed i'll add a knit cap. in my bed, i've got the heated mattress pad... . during the cold weather months, i have the wood burning stove going in the living room. the thermostat stays at 70 degrees, though i might try to scootch it down to 69 degrees. since we just had all but one window replaced and both doors (the second one being done this coming week), it's noticeably less drafty. 

outdoors i just wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt, usually with a thermal henley top underneath. and a knit cap. when i'm outdoors in the winter, it's either for snow shoveling, moving firewood, or going shopping. the snow shoveling and firewood moving generate enough heat that i don't need to wear more to keep warm enough, and shopping doesn't require me to be outdoors for very long.

I have Raynauds so that makes it so hard to deal with any coldness. I also have asthma, so cooler air is easier to breathe. I hate being cold...

I set my thermostat at 70 during the day, and 68 at night. 

Right now I have on a large size thermal top with a pair of leggings and socks on my feet. If I get cold, I will put a mans x-large flannel shirt over that. If I am still cold, slippers....and then a throw on my lap.. 

I always need to wear gloves and warm socks during the cold weather. 

Many times, when I go out, I can just never get warmed up. I will put the heat up just a bit, until i get warmed...

With the new furnace and thermostat, installed a week ago, I am wondering how this will effect things.. 

I'm overweight and don't like too much heat. In the winter I keep my thermostat at 65 and I wear jeans and a tee shirt around the house. When I go outside I don't layer. I would die with all of those clothes on. Outside I wear a light coat with a tee shirt, jeans and a pair of sneakers. I don't own boots or hats and would not wear them if I did. If it is really cold I will wear a pair of gloves. I'm retired and don't need to worry about getting to work. If the weather is really bad I just stay home.

Ellen

in the house I prefer it cool around 66. The other half puts it on 72 which makes my head ache. so during the day he cranks the heat and at night I shut it off. He pays the oil so I don't care how hot it gets. I tell him I will crack a window if it's bad=usually an hour later it cools off=we have forced hot air. so it doesn't take long to cool off. lately it's been extremely cold so I keep it at 68 even at night incase it craps out. the other day it was 50 out and was so happy I didn't have to crank it.

at work I put the ac on all the time. The guy on night shift puts heat on 75 and I just can't breathe. I wear a tank top, tshirt and button up mens shirt then a zip up hoodie. I hate over the head type sweatshirts. I used to wear textured tights as long johns. Express sells them. They are very warm and not too thick. I don't have luck with long johns, they don't make them big enough for my fat rearend so I used to wear those heavy tights. I wore those under my jeans but makes me extremely hot at work as they crank the heat in the shop. some days when the bay doors are open it's downright cold in here=I just put my sweatshirt on.

when it's shovel time=tshirt and a zip up winter coat. snow pants are a must. hat of course until I heat up then I just shovel in my tshirt and snow pants. I sweat easily so I don't like sweaters. I got rid of my sweaters because I don't like wearing them-most of the ones made now-the arms are too skinny and shoulders too tight. I gave up with most womens upper body clothing years ago. I prefer mens button up cotton shirts. either flannel or office shirt type. I like the pocket in the front to put my cell phone. my work boots keep my feet warm. I have a few pair of other snow boots but lately I just wear my workboots which are black anyways.

I thought about getting an electric blanket and keeping the house cooler but I never got around to it. The cats keep us warm. Honeybee is the biggest heater I have ever had. I have to put a pillow on my chest to keep her from overheating=if I keep a thick layer between us=she will stay there all night. often I don't have a blanket on my legs since she makes me hot but I don't want to dislodge her. Honeybee is the new hot water bottle  heater LOL

I cope with being too cold much better then to hot.  I keep the thermostat at 68.  I usually wear sweatpants and a tee shirt around the house.  When I go outside I usually just wear a lightweight down coat.  I wear gloves if I have to brush snow off the car.  In the summer I have to fight the urge to turn the thermostat too low sending my electric bill through the roof.  I usually keep it at 76 to 78 in the summer.

- Fireplace.
- Cozy clothing/warm up accessories.
- Tea! Loose leaf.
- Being buried under animals.
- Exercising.
- Eat good, hearty and warm foods. Just by nature I am not one that has a huge appetite, so if I am bone chilly it is a good sign to have some noms too. Often helps, for obvious reasons!
- Comfy blankets, couch and on the bed.
- Hot shower.

I moved to south Florida. It doesn't get very cold here. Occasionally in January/February, it will get colder at night or in the mornings and I will put on a hoodie if I am out. That's about it. It warms back up during the day though.

Layers of clothing, blankets / throws, hot tea, and the cats' SnuggleSafe. I have the heat programmed to 65F when I am at home and 60F at night and when I'm not at home. My place is pretty well insulated and I get tons of morning sun so the heat rarely turns on. It's probably turned on maybe 5 times this winter so far, twice it was because I overrode the settings because I was sick and had chills

I've just converted Fahrenheit into Centigrade. Your homes are all so snuggly and warm! Even though I have the heating on all day here it never gets above 15C (59F) in my house at this time of year. It's below freezing outside even during the middle of the day, gets down to -20C (-4F) some nights.

When I woke up this morning there was a thin layer of ice on top of the cat's kitchen water bowls. There is no heating in the bathroom so I have to put my shampoo bottles in a bowl of hot water before I wash my hair.



I guess that's why I don't have many neighbors, no one else want's to live up here.

@Cassiopea  I don't have much of an appetite either, getting the shakes is one way I know it's time to eat.

@Kat0121  Can we all come and stay with you?

Layers. And layers. And layers.

Right now, I'm trying to get over a cold. A light-weight pair or socks, and then a heavy pair of socks over them. Long underwear bottoms and a pair of sweat pants. A long underwear shirt, a t-shirt, and a sweat shirt. Sneakers. (It's no wonder I have a ton of laundry every week during the winter.)

Some day around mid-May or so, I will finally be warm.

@Norachan, Rick and I are back here in the computer room and I just read your post aloud. He wonders why you don't have better heating in your home? Do you own your home or do you rent? Sorry for being so intrusive.

LOL. You'd lose a few toes to frostbite if you dressed like that around here. My winter foot wear is knee-length, fleece lined and has spikes on the bottom so I don't fall over.

Winchester said:

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@Norachan, Rick and I are back here in the computer room and I just read your post aloud. He wonders why you don't have better heating in your home? Do you own your home or do you rent? Sorry for being so intrusive.

Click to expand...

It would make a lot of sense, wouldn't it?

We bought the house a few years ago and got it really cheaply, cheaper than the land alone would have cost. The reason it was going so cheap is that the house is 30 years old and was built as a summer cottage, not for year-round living. I guess they thought who ever bought it would knock it down and build something else. However, we just wanted somewhere with enough space to make a big enclosure for all the cats. We decided that we could cope with things being a bit primitive as long as the cats were safe. We're trying to save up enough money to rebuild/improve/replace a bit at a time.

When we first moved in we had a gas heater, which was just crazy expensive. We've now switched to kerosene stoves which are more affordable. Of course what we really need is double glazing, better roof insulation and a wood stove. But if we put in a wood stove we need to replace the old wooden floor (Which is a bit creaky anyway) with a stone floor. The money we've saved up so far is earmarked for repairing the leaky bathroom floor and putting in a better tub this summer. Wood stove and stone floor maybe the year after.



So, I will eventually have a nice warm house but I'll have to put up with it being a bit chilly for now. The one good thing about it is I don't put on weight in the winter anymore. I guess trying to stay warm burns off a lot of extra calories.

Before a Navy housing place opened up for us, we lived in a Japanese house for about 18 months. I was a little kid, but I remember the bathroom freezing (stiff washcloths, frozen shampoo, etc.) and that there definitely was no central heat! We had kerosene heaters in the bedroom and living room, those were the only rooms with any heat. And I remember the loudspeaker truck going by every night at 10 pm to remind people to turn off their heaters before going to bed! :lol3:

I keep my heat at 70 degrees right now. I used to keep it set at 64, and bump it up to 68 or 70 when I got cold, but since I got the snakes I realized their tanks got too cold when it was that low. So until I can get them fancy enclosures with radiant heat panels, I guess my propane bill will be higher. . .

I no longer have to work outside in the cold, but when I did, yep, layers are the key. Undershirt, regular shirt, sweatshirt, down vest, parka up top, long johns, lined jeans, and snowpants on the bottom. Thick wool socks and insulated boots. A close-fitting hat and then a big hat on top of that. A face mask when it's windy and really cold. There are ways to survive the extreme cold, but ugh.