Monday, January 07, 2008

52 Weeks Down - Week 32 - Acclimate Gradually

A couple of weeks ago, I annoyed some people by suggesting that people might turn their heatingthermostats back to 55F. Now it is worth noting that I used this as an example, not an absolute truth - I'm not at all inclined to embark on a campaign for a mandatory single temperature. A number of people mentioned that it was completely impossible to imagine living at that temperature, while others announced that this was normal for them. So what's the difference between them?

Some of it is probably physiology, and the place your body grew up in. Some people run warm, some run cold, some have enough extra fat to keep warm, some have little personal insulation. Some of us grew up in cold places, others in warm. As we get older, we often feel the cold more, and some people have health problems that make them less tolerant than others of the cold weather. But a large portion of this is probably acclimation. That is, they've gradually accustomed their bodies to lower temperatures, and now those temperatures feel comfortable to them.

And I think acclimation is relevant not just to winter heating, but to a host of other things. Hot weather tolerance, for example, is physiologically a matter of acclimation - your body develops more capacity to sweat and cool itself as it is exposed to more heat. So, for example, someone who spends a lot of their time in air conditioning will feel the heat quite literally more than someone who spends less.

The fact is, my heat didn't go directly to 55 degrees - first, we didn't put our heat on until November, and while days stayed up in the 40s and sun warmed the house much higher, nights got cold even then. So we got used to cool temperatures indoors gradually - as the season grew cooler, we did too. At first, cold nights in the 40s felt like they were freezing, since our bodies were so accustomed to summer warmth. Now, after several months of night temperatures regularly in the teens, a 40 degree night like last night feels very pleasant, and we wander outdoors with just a sweater on. I think most people in both cold and warm climates can identify - in the fall, a day in the 40s feels cold and crisp. By springtime, going outside on a day that hits 45 feels like a luxury, and we start shedding clothes - that is, we've acclimated. The same is true of heat - if your daytime temperatures are over 100 regularly, you find an 85 degree day refreshing. On the other hand, in my climate, which rarely breaks 90, 85 is awfully warm and sticky.

We also try and spend a lot of time outside. We go out to haul wood, to feed the animals, to play in the snow, to take walks. A house that feels chilly at 55 when you've spent the whole day inside, suddenly feels toasty warm after a walk out in the 20 degree day. Because we heat with wood, we also have warm spots in our house - further away from the woodstove, we are colder. If we need a few minutes to warm up in front of the stove, that's a pleasure. If we have to sit and work for a while, often we try and do it there - in fact this kind of heating brings the family together.

We use other techniques to acclimate - we find the places where we lose heat and retain it, wearing hats sometimes even indoors, wool socks on cold feet and multiple layers that we can take off when we're up and moving around, and cuddle into when we're sitting. We use psychological techniques as well - when everyone around you lives in a 70F home, 55 seems shockingly cold. When you think that through most of human history, people's homes were heated by fires - and not that many of them, we have to realize that most people went through their lives acclimated to much colder temperatures than we have now. If they did, most of us can. There are those who really do need that place in front of the stove, or the space heater in the room they work in - infants, for example cannot regulate their body temperatures until they hit 10lbs. Some ill and disabled people cannot manage lower temperatures. But this is an argument often for spot heating - for making people comfortable where they must be most of the time, rather than for spreading heat inefficiently over a whole home.

But acclimation applies to more than heating and cooling - it applies to the whole process of becoming environmentally aware. Like our family at the beginning of the cool season, at first change feel like a shock to the system. Just as a cold day in September may feel bitter, intolerable, the first time you tell someone you aren't buying supermarket food, or you won't drive long distances, it may seem overwhelming, as though you could never get comfortable in this new way of existing. But time passes, you keep practicing, you keep doing it, and suddenly, you realize you are comfortable. The new food seems delicious, the new habit of taking public transportation starts to have unexpected joys.

It is well outside my range of interest to tell people exactly what temperature they should be living at. But most of us know that our first reaction to trying something isn't necessarily representative of the experience we will have over the long term. The process of acclimation can be hard sometimes - but the result is a new normal, coming to be content at a lower state, and that's worth a considerable effort, at least to me.

Sharon

31 comments:

Shaunta said...

I completely agree. In April 2007 we moved from Las Vegas to rural Northern Nevada. When we moved, it was already in the 90s in Vegas and many people were already using air conditioning. When we got to Ely, it was snowing. It snowed and snowed and snowed, it even snowed on the last day of school in early June. It finally warmed up right after that, but all summer I shivered and wore layers. I didn't feel warm except for the one week that it hit a very rare 100 degrees here, when everyone else was dying I was barely warm. The rest of the time, despite 80 degree days (in the mountains here the temperature drops 40 degrees when the sunsets, so the lows are in the 40s even during the summer), I think my brain was having a hard time equating August with anything less than 110. The funny thing is, now that it's really cold, it doesn't feel super cold to me. I hope that means I'm acclimating. Our house is heated with electric heaters, like space heaters but built into the wall with thermostats. One on the kitchen that heats the living area and one in each of the two bedrooms. The bedroom thermostats are turned down to 50 during the day and then up at night, and the living area one is turned to about 68 during the day and down at night. Unfortunately, since the heater is in the kitchen, and responsible for heating the living room and bathroom as well, if we turn it down only the kitchen gets heat. We have been turning it down gradually though, a degree at a time. We were so cold last spring it was set at 75 during the day. Otherwise we spent all our time huddled under blankets shivering. I think if we had a heater that blew heat directly into the living room, we could live with 55 degrees. Right now I'm trying to figure out if there would be a savings environmentally and economically, to buying a space heater for the living room and turning off/way down the one in the kitchen.

Shaunta
www.face-the-strange.blogspot.com

just ducky said...

I concur with what you've said, Sharon. My family is all about the baby steps... We live in Minnesota and in the past have kept our heat set at 69 degrees all winter long. However, this winter I have chosen to do things differently...I explained it to my husband but didn't really "ask" his opinion or permission...I started turning down the thermostat one degree at a time. When we are home now we keep it at 66 degrees during the day and 64 at night when we sleep. I fully expect to keep turning it down one degree at a time until we decide we've reached our limit. The first two weeks it was hard, but after that--it has been shockingly easy. As a matter of fact, when our heater broke down last week (trust me, we felt it and instantly knew it was broken) we slept with the temp in the house at 52 degrees and just bundled up. The amazing thing is that we slept just fine. It was really stinking cold when we woke up and immediately called the gas company...but we slept comfortably with the temp at 52 degrees...we just put on a sweatshirt and an extra pair of socks. If you take baby steps and allow some time to acclimate--it is amazing what you can do!

Anonymous said...

I think I might qualify as a poster child for acclimatization.

I was born and spent over 20 years in Florida. When I moved out of my parents home to share a place with a couple of friends across town, we had no air conditioning. After all those many years of a/c at the folk's place, it took a bit of getting used to window fans but out of the five years I lived there, only once was I too hot to sleep even with a fan blowing on me (answer: get up, drink some cool tea standing in front of a fan, go back to bed, go to sleep).

When I decided to go to graduate school in Washington, DC, many of the places I rented did not have air conditioning either. But it wasn't nearly as hot and sticky as Florida was so I didn't notice it much. It was colder in the winter, however, but not so much as to be that problematic.

Then I moved to Anchorage, AK. Okay, THAT took some time. In fact, it took an entire cycle of the seasons to become acclimated to the new environment. I don't remember ever being warm the entire first year unless I was standing in a hot shower or sitting in a hot tub (neither of which I did much of). But after that year, even -30 was bearable when properly attired.

During the ten years I lived in Anchorage the first time, I went down to Florida to visit family in July once. I distinctly remember walking out of the plane at the airport in Jacksonville and thinking "mm, I love breathing warm wet blankets." Given that Anchorage in July is probably in the low 60s, hitting Florida when it was in the mid 90s and much higher humidity, oh, I felt it. But three days later, I no longer felt uncomfortable.

After ten years in Alaska, I moved to south central Wisconsin and had to become reacquainted with summer weather. Again, no air conditioning and no problems after a day or so. Unfortunately, the apartment I shared with roommates during grad school was consistently 80 degrees all winter long (we had no control over the heat because we were on the top floor of an old building and even turning the thermostat all the way down, everyone else's heat reached us. I used to put layers on as I went down the stairs to go to class). Outside winter temps were on par with Anchorage so no big deal there.

Then I moved back to Anchorage the beginning of last year. And it's taken another whole cycle of the seasons to get comfortable again. But now I'm riding the bus this winter and that puts me out in the weather about an hour every week day. Let me tell you that 66 degrees in my apartment is rather comfortable after you've been outside for an hour or so. I'll be moving across town to a much older, draftier place where I expect to have to wear more layers on my feet but I don't expect to have to keep the house temp above 66 and will probably start dropping the degrees.

If a Florida girl can find Alaska comfortable, most folks can acclimate. You just have to spend time outdoors throughout the year. And give yourself some time to adjust.

Kerri

Green Bean said...

Right there with ya! We've got our thermostat at 65 but the three rooms we spend the most of our time in are 55. Whenever we come back from a weekend at my parents' house, that first day of re-entry is tough! The house feels freezing. Then you forget about the temperature as your body re-adjusts.

I like how you extended the metaphor, though, beyond temperature. At first, it was a lot of work to go to the farmer's market and now I can't imagine going to a super market. Same goes for giving up processed food and so on. The list goes on.

Live lighter gradually. It involves changes which always take time to get used to.

Debby Brown said...

I mostly agree. We've made significant changes over time and they are normal to us, but in 40 years of no air conditioning, I'm still not acclimated to the heat. I don't plan to get air conditioning, though; I just accept that a few weeks of the year I'll be incredibly miserable.

Chile said...

I'm one of the folks who doesn't do well in the cold, probably because I'm a native hot desert dweller. Attempts to acclimate this year have resulted in lower gas bills but less productivity and more misery. Any more layers and I'll look like the Michelin Man. :(

Anonymous said...

Yes- after that previous post when people got upset about the 55 degree suggestion I realized that since I heat with wood, there is a spot, right near the stove, that is toasty warm. If I want to, I can just stand right next to the stove and "cook" myself for a bit. Other areas of the house are much cooler-such as the bedrooms. I think that if I had a forced-hot air system I would feel chilly perhaps- those systems are nasty. You need some sort of radiant heat/mass to feel comfy I think.

And yes, I am always amused how a day such as today, when it hit the low forties here- was mild and delightful- but would feel very cold in Septmember when we are not acclimated to the cold yet. After weeks of subzero temps, I am always amazed at how 20 degrees seems like a heat wave though.......

Anonymous said...

Getting an appropriate dose of B-vitamins seems to be essential for coping with the cold. When I moved from subtropical Brisbane to frosty Canberra (in houses with zero heating and broken windows) I found after I started making my own sourdough products I could suddenly enjoy walking around in the morning frost in a t-shirt, weeding until my fingers froze.

Anonymous said...

In 2003 our ancient furnace broke down when it was -29C outside (about -20F?) and I remember getting rather nervous as the thermostat dipped down to 18C (64.4F), and whining to a friend about how cold it was getting. Ha!

Since becoming "aware" and commencing with our baby steps....we now routinely keep the house at 18 during the day (we will try 17 as we further acclimatize, and so move slowly lower) and our bedroom in the attic can dip to 11 (52F). Friends can't believe we don't find it too cold to sleep. They've asked whether we use night caps on our heads. (We don't.) I even find it not bad getting dressed in the morning with the chill.

One of the differences between now and 2003, is that I now know I can live in a cold house, whereas back then all I knew was to panic, call the repair guy and whine.

Susan in Ontario

Anonymous said...

As my grandmother got older, she had a much harder time visiting our household where the temperature was always kept much colder than her apartment (50's at night and low 60's during the day). She was thin and constantly complained about the cold until we found her a set of german-made angora/wool blend long underwear. She wore them under her clothes and was toasty every winter thereafter. They might be hard to find, but worth every penny. A quick search on Google shows they're still available.

Susan M.B. Sullivan said...

We are down to 54F at night now, and our daytime temps are starting to feel warm at 64f. I had been turning it down a degree a night now that the kids have down comforters. But my thirteen year old wants to go for broke and try no heat. Gotta love that youthful enthusiasm.

The little steps are where it's at-it is amazing how quickly one's practices shape up, and such a more satisfying life.

Anonymous said...

Right on! We are at 66F during the day and 63F at night, and on the way down. I find that keeping moving and wool clothing help me to get comfortable once we lower the thermostat.

Also, my infant was just fine at pretty much any indoor winter temperature, since he spent most of his time in a sling under my pregnancy sweater. In fact, even when I got chilly (rarely, since he usually threw a fit unless I was up and moving about), he'd still be toasty warm. I suspect that's the way most parents kept their babies warm prior to central heating.

Kate

Alan said...

I have winter camped in the Cascades and, even though it doesn't get as cold as many other places this far north, it still means sleeping with a few layers of nylon, a 1-inch foam pad, and some synthetic or down insulation between your body and 8 feet of snow. But I stayed warm. The trick, of course, is the right combination of clothing and bedding. Long underwear is essential and hats are very nice (and a bottle to pee in so you don't have to get out of your sleeping bag, put on boots and parka and exit the tent when nature calls).

The right combination of bedding and clothing is the trick for sleeping warm at home, too. I don't know how anyone can claim that they get "too cold to sleep". Maybe too cold to get out of bed, but if you're too cold in bed, then you're not dressed right and/or don't have the right bedcovers.

When I was a kid and slept under layers of blankets, the weight of all that wool could get unpleasant, but these days, I get easily as much insulation and warmth from a comforter which weighs maybe a quarter as much as an equivalent stack of blankets.

The warmth inside a sleeping bag or under your bedcovers comes from that clever little furnace -- you. The bedding just traps and holds that warm air around you. You can make it work better by pre-warming the sheets by various methods or warming your body up (hot shower, standing by the stove, vigorous exercise) just before jumping under the covers, but it's the BTU output of your body which provides most of the heat.

We have kept the house at 55 degrees at night for years with no problems. This year we lowered it to 52 and haven't even noticed the difference. I'm not sure our very well-insulated house ever gets cold enough to turn on the furnace while we're asleep.

This year we lowered the daytime setting to 62 from 65 and it's been noticeable, but not unpleasant. I've just taken to wearing a fleece vest around whenever it seems cool. On really cold days, I add a soft fleece cap. I highly recommend fleece vests -- they are really inexpensive ($10-$14 on sale), come in many attractive colors, have pockets, can be worn open or zipped up, provide neck protection when fully-zipped, wash easily, and come out of the washer almost dry.

Covering the head is extremely important outdoors and can add greatly to comfort indoors, particularly for baldies like me. The head, because it lacks vaso-constriction ability, loses body heat like crazy -- as much as 40% of body's heat loss. People who go around outdoors in cold weather without a hat are nuts!

One last thing to remember, something that I learned as a backpacker. I started out like many young guys, acting macho around the campfire, not deigning to put on a jacket or sweater until I was feeling really chilly. BIG MISTAKE! The best policy is to start putting on warm layers as soon as the vigorous activity of the day is finished. That way, all that body heat you've been generating will be trapped inside your clothing and help you stay warm until you crawl into your sleeping bag. A warm body will warm the air inside the sleeping bag much quicker than a chilled body.

Suz said...

You are right about it being about where you grew up. But also about building design. We live in the sub tropics and today was 91.5F (33C). We have an air-conditioner but rarely use it. The house we live in is breezy and cool even when it is hot outside. In winter it only gets down to an outside temp of about 53F at night. Not cold for you but with a house designed to keep cool, the interior is cold too. It would regularly be about 55-65F inside our place in winter. We don't put the warm air on until it is well below this, which is rare. We wear more clothes and slippers to keep warm. But with only a month or two of true winter these days, it doesn't seem too bad.

Anonymous said...

We heat only by woodstove, and it is about 55-60 degrees in the house in the morning during the winter here in the UK. When it gets below that by about 2 pm, I start the fire, which heats the back boiler and the radiators in the house which reach about 65 degrees If I get cold, I put on a jumper or drink a cup of hot tea or go outside and garden. It took a little while to get use to this rhythm of heating the house, but as a bonus, I've found I keep weight off a lot easier. My body is working that little bit extra harder to stay warm! And nothing beats a wood fire.

Cheers,

Anna Marie

Anonymous said...

Second the motion about wearing the right clothes. I always wear a few layers of clothes in the house in fall/winter- a sweater or fleece over a regular shirt for instance. If it is really chilly, I wear leggings under my jeans. And socks- I wear socks 24/7 in the cold weather- taking them off only to shower or change them. I especially love some socks that I have that are merino wool blends or merino alpaca- bliss.....I find that having warm feet is important to feel comfortable. A sign of spring is when I take my socks off!

And yes, with a few layers of comforters/quilts- it is very comfortable sleeping in an unheated bedroom even when the temp outside is way sub-zero.....

Anonymous said...

It's all about the learning curve.

Every spring when it thaws and I go back to riding my bike (I'm a wussy, i don't ride in snow) I have a week where the bike is a huge pain in the butt. I can't find my helmet. There's a moldy apple in my saddlebags. I don't have a spare tube. Once I forgot to hook up the rear brakes after my spring tuneup.

But after that first week or so, it's just a routine. I have all my gear, I know where I left it, and I remember things like the morning silence and all the birds along the greenway and being able to stop at the library without adding another 10 minute bus wait to my commute.

People are different, and some people need the big break - something like what No Impact Man and some of the rioters have done, where you drop down suddenly and then gradually add things back in if you really miss them.

But I've had a lot of success practicing one change until it's a habit, and then adding another one. It's pretty painless, and I actually feel pretty normal until we spend a few days visiting family in mainstreamland.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I really don't understand the comment about not being able to sleep when it's too cold... either.

I'm 60+ and somewhat disabled. My tiny trailer has probably zero insulation as evidenced by when it's 38 deg outside in the morning it's 39 deg inside when I wake up.

I'm a wuss too.. I'm afraid of fire and electrical stuff so I unplug the tiny electric heater at night. I use it for only 2 hours a day (to bring the temp up to 50 or so - I wear lots of warm clothes, mostly fleece layers and two pairs of socks). Hence the low temps in here during the night.

I don't even notice it. I even get a little over heated sometimes, always around 4 am or so, and kick off a blanket or two (I sleep over one cozy blanket, under one and then a cheap quilt on top of that, sometimes two)

I do notice the cold a bit when I first go to bed if I've let myself get chilled before crawling into bed, especially my feet. I just take two hot water bottles to bed with me. One for my feet and one for the small of my aching back.. or to cuddle up to. It's amazing how quickly they warm me and all of the under-blanket area up! Oh, and I often tuck my head inside too for awhile as I hate having a cold nose.

Doesn't take me long to poke out of the cocoon though, lol! Maybe this is just easier for me because I'm somewhat overweight and fluffier... dunno. I am the type that hates to be hot though so maybe I'm just naturally a hot box?

Bravo to all you brave souls that are lowering your thermostats! You're awesome!
Grandma Misi

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