Ever tried wool? That's the thing to wear when it's cold.
Cotton just doesn't work, avoid.
Fleece might be okay as a middle layer between wool underlayer and a layer of down outside if it's really cold.
If you find something out of synthetics called "super underwear"... it's not exactly "super". Wool is the thing.
I could cocoon myself in wool and still hate winter.
I used to go snow skiing pretty often when I was younger, had a blast. But that was on my terms - I could go to the cold/snow and leave it behind when I was finished. But now I'm older and cold doesn't hold any magic for me.
Also in my younger years I worked on drilling rigs during all types of weather, and they are not heated here like rigs in the arctic. It was cold, and wet, and muddy, and I had a blast doing it for a period. But I still don't like winter.
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Houston is the same latitude as us, and like here it’s the older buildings that have no insulation that are the problem, only the poorest of poor have no AC in these parts and the rest that are uninsulated go poor trying to cool their homes.
You can’t even build a new home anymore (at least here anyway) without a minimum R value.
Honestly I don’t know how people lived here before AC....only place I’ve ever seen that gets hotter after the sun goes down!
We spray foamed our entire house and our electric bill never goes above $100 a month, that’s set at 68 all winter and 73 all summer.
In fact I was kinda shocked one day in the upper 90’s F. the power went out at about 10am and didn’t come back on until 7pm.....after it came on the AC pump didn’t kick on, I thought the surge may have blown the breaker checked it all was good and I was about to go outside to check the breaker on the compressor pump when I happened to glance at the thermostat.....dang thing hadn’t moved!
Anyway insulation is the key no matter which end of the scale.
People need to consider the "decrement delay" factor of the insulation used, a combination of the thermal coductivity and the thermal capacity of the structure, get it wrong and it feels like there is not enough insulation. it really needs to be more than 6 hours for most parts of the world.
This guy specializes in home comfort design. Here's a thread where he discusses home comfort resilience, the home as a thermal battery. https://twitter.com/energysmartohio/status/1362805048959520781
It's not as extreme as creating a Passivhaus. Maye it's more like an efficient refrigerator where the heat pump runs continuously because it's properly sized to the volume, insulation, and air sealing. A house adds the additional requirement of ventilation to keep CO2 levels down and oxygen up that's also consistent with comfortable air movement. Also filtering to keep particulates down which is more of a health thing than a comfort thing.
It's not as extreme as creating a Passivhaus. Maye it's more like an efficient refrigerator where the heat pump runs continuously because it's properly sized to the volume, insulation, and air sealing. A house adds the additional requirement of ventilation to keep CO2 levels down and oxygen up that's also consistent with comfortable air movement. Also filtering to keep particulates down which is more of a health thing than a comfort thing.
Shading and natural ventilation via convection. The Look and History Behind Southern Home Design
It was more a rhetorical question there EH but thx, it’s funny the feller that invented AC lived down the road in Apalachicola.....John Gorrie John Gorrie - Wikipedia
Yeah! Woolists unite! Wool Wool!
It's mild here... +1c and increasing
Even the most optimistic of people predict a long-ish period of permanent slush...
Last fall I picked up 10 pairs of these on sale.....they were still like $6 a pair but worth it, very comfortable walking around the house, bottoms are so thick it’s like your wearing slippers!
Fox River bought the company that was the original ‘sock monkey’ manufacturer and still make them! Sock Monkey– Fox River(R) Socks
Fox River bought the company that was the original ‘sock monkey’ manufacturer and still make them! Sock Monkey– Fox River(R) Socks
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Wrong thread ... I blame it on my mouse that is clicking away on its own ... 
Well, my daughter and her family wnet to Austin to get away from a cold Feb month in Chicago ... and the hose the rented was suddenly without electrickery and heat and they had to stay a few night with some friends. Now they are back but they had to ditch everyting in the fridge and freezer but in the supermarkets all that was left was canned food - no fresh, no frozen products.
I blame it on my mouse that is clicking away on its own ... Well, my daughter and her family wnet to Austin to get away from a cold Feb month in Chicago ... and the hose the rented was suddenly without electrickery and heat and they had to stay a few night with some friends. Now they are back but they had to ditch everyting in the fridge and freezer but in the supermarkets all that was left was canned food - no fresh, no frozen products.
Oh, I know of that. I was installing Reflectics and reflective roof coatings on 80,000 count chicken houses in NC in the late 80s for energy efficiency research projects. But at least back then it was EXPENSIVE. Admittedly I haven't looking into pricing on that stuff for a LONG time.
So I hear. I've wanted to spend time in Big Bend park where, apparently despite its low latitude, it can snow. It's just that those periods are not at all like a week of -10F and regular temps all day at 0F. Having lived in GA an NC, and done carpentry to help pay my way through grad school, insulation wasn't generally done for cold. But again, that was 35 or so years ago.
