The Antecedents:
I’ve been going to bed pretty early lately. I’m about to tell why, but it is a rather long story that begins with some disassociated thoughts.
My dog has a very nice coat of medium length fur, similar to a collie. It is a variegated reddish brown with highlights of black and some white on her belly. But more pertinent for the present cogitation, her coat seems to warm her, or not, as needed. She never takes it off and appears to be equally comfortable in a house that it heated to around 70 degrees or lying on the porch for hours at a time in temperatures in the 30’s. Her range of comfortable temperature appears to be at least 40 degrees.
My comfort range is probably something less than 20 degrees. If I were dressed so as to be comfortable sitting quietly at 70 degrees and the temperature were to fall 10 degrees I think I would soon feel cold and if it rose to 80 I believe I would be uncomfortably warm. I’ve never tested this idea, but my hunch is that my temperature comfort range is something less than 20 degrees.
From time to time as I have passed my life here on the shores of Puget Sound I have paused to reflect on how a given moment might have felt to the indigenous population living here before European contact. It might happen when Mt Rainier is particularly spectacular, or during an intense rainfall, but most often I have such thoughts on one of those few days each year when the temperature drops below freezing so that ordinary clothing and shelter might be less than desirable. How, I have wondered, did the native people cope with such days?
Through forty some years of marriage my wife and I have had a little disconnect on the subject of the proper thermostat setting, she preferring a bit more warmth, I a bit more thrift.
To the best of my recollection I have never felt chilled while vacuuming.
The Inception:
In the middle of one night early in March, I got to thinking about the spot in my bed that slightly stings my flesh with cold at the moment I slip between the sheets, but within a couple of hours feels like some kind of soft, malleable oven gently toasting my body. But of course the bed and blankets are not warming me. I am warming them. With the aid of their insulation my body keeps itself warm. As it happened my aforementioned wife was in Washington DC at the time. The above thoughts and others came together and formed into the realization that I had an interesting opportunity at hand. There was nothing stopping me from turning off the furnace and living for a few days without its benefits. How would that be? Could I come up with some combination of personal insulation and activity that would keep me comfortable? Apparently sheets, a bed spread and a down comforter were adequate to insure my warmth while lying still for eight or more hours. But what would it take during a day of normal activities? Did I have clothes at hand that would keep me comfortable, but not interfere with whatever it is that I do all day? When I arose in the morning I opened the windows and turned off the furnace.
The Event:
I am now in about the 7th day of this exercise and I must say I am a little disappointed. My objective is not to live a few days in some hardy fashion demonstrating personal resolve, but to live in normal comfort by a combination of dressing warmly, - and more warmly still as my activity level drops. Though I have quite an array of clothing lying about the house I have not yet fully achieved my aim. From head to toe my options include:
A polypropylene fleece head band
A knitted hat
A collection of neck scarves and knitted ski masks – not yet resorted to
Arm warmers
Long and short sleeve light weight polypro shirts
Cardigan style fleeces and vests, one of which is supposed to be wind proof
Two heavy-weight polypro pullover fleeces
Some wool and cotton sweaters
An array of coats and jackets - one heavy wool, one light cotton, several rain coats, three biking jackets, and several jackets made of Tyvek (a wind proof material used to insulate houses)
A cotton and a polypro sweat suit
Light weight polypro long underwear, 2 sets
Leg warmers
Carhart work pants
Two pairs of sports warm-up pants
A pair of Coast Guard issue heavy polypro long underwear
Wool, polypro and cotton socks
Running shoes, hiking boots, work boots, after ski boots, Keene sandals (open but actually pretty warm) and some street shoes
About 300 pairs of gloves – but that’s a different story
And a sleeping bag modified some years ago to be worn like a moo moo – not resorted to yet
It is now about day nine. My wife will return in two days and this little adventure will be over. The reported temperature in Seattle over the period has ranged pretty consistently between the low 40’s and low 50’s. However for the first several days the temperature in the house stayed mostly in the mid 50’s. At first I didn't bother to reprogram the thermostat so twice a day the target temperature would go from 50 to 58. The furnace would then come on until I manually lowered the target to 40. Eventually I reset it to 45 degree at all times. I think the other factor in keeping the house temp above the outside temp was that the walls, furniture, floors, ceilings, etc. held their heat and released it slowly thereby maintaining the ambient warmth for a while even with the doors and windows open. The latter day temperatures have been down around 50 degrees in the house and at the very end 48.
Conclusions:
It is now about day 11. Activity, is very important. It did not take very much movement to stay comfortable using reasonable amounts of the clothing listed above. The heavy underwear and a couple of fleece tops and the knitted cap or head band were pretty adequate and way more than adequate during vigorous activity. At times just standing up was sufficient. But to be comfortable while being still, watching TV or reading required at least a blanket over my legs and perhaps a jacket. Living without home heating does create an odd reversal of behavior that took me a while to get on to. When a person is outside he or she is mostly active. Sitting still tends to happen indoors. Therefore the right thing to do is to put on additional clothing when coming inside and to take some off when going out. This feels very queer. Surely if one were to live without heating for an extended period of time, an entire winter for example, useful accommodations would be discovered and old habits and expectations would erode. Some lined pants with zippers up each outside seam, in the style of basketball warm up pants that eliminate the need to push one’s feet down the pants legs, would be a great garment. I presume that eventually what was an unusual experience for me, and something that was constantly on my mind, would become routine.
Long ago I was told by someone whom I thought credible that the common cold is not caused by being cold, (name and folk wisdom not withstanding). I feel I should report that I slept naked as is my usual habit, until about the 5th night during which my bed covers let me down and I felt chilled the whole night through. In the morning I arose with a head cold. After that I’ve slept in long underwear.
If I could heat only one room in a house I’m pretty sure it would be the bathroom. That’s the place where in order to accomplish the mission one must become at least partially undressed. I had no rule against taking a hot shower and fully intended to do so on my regular schedule, but the thought of getting out of a hot shower into a 50 degree room kept me unshowered for nearly a week. As for the other, I can testify that at 50 degrees a hard surface such as a toilet seat is chilling to the touch.
I must admit that in general wearing less clothes is more comfortable than wearing more, so even though I was able to achieve reasonable comfort without the help of a furnace, it might be a little much to expect my beloved to put up with an unheated house. For prospective guests, I think it will be safe to visit us anytime she is in residence. As a matter of fact, her plane will be arriving in about two hours. I think I’d better do something to warm this dump up.
Afterword:
All this thinking about temperature caused me to go on line to read about such things as metabolism, body temperature, etc. There’s research that indicates that rats whose body temperatures were artificially lowered lived longer than their brethren who were left alone.
Live long. Kill your furnace!
