Are you wearing a jumper?
It’s winter: have you got a jumper on? Or a scarf? Maybe a warm hat? If not, why not? Maybe you’re like my father-in-law, who has the amazing ability to wear shorts and sandals in winter and not feel the cold at all. But most of us need to be a bit more covered up once the temperature dips down.
Rugging up in cold weather is a great way to help the environment: it means that you don’t have to heat your house or office as much. The recommended temperature for buildings in winter is between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius – but most places are heated to about 24 degrees, or even warmer. Every increase of 1 degree can cost up to 10% more on your electricity or gas bill; and obviously the more electricity and gas we use, the more greenhouse gas emissions we’re creating. You can see more about how to manage your winter heating at the Synergy website. They suggest that you heat your home just enough to take the chill off the air.
Putting on a jumper and turning down the heat is one of the easiest things you could possibly do to help the environment. Keep in mind that it’s important to keep your extremities warm too: you lose the most heat through your head, hands and feet, so make sure you’ve got a way to keep them covered too.
One of my favourite things about winter is the chance to wear warm woolly clothing. Knitting is one of my hobbies, and today I’m wearing a red lacy scarf I made myself. I don’t like wearing gloves or mittens, but I’m thinking I might knit some long socks next, to go under my boots. A friend of mine uses a lap rug when watching tv at home. What’s your favourite way to keep warm in winter?
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My favourite way to stay warm is to wear a singlet under my shirts. I find that ever since I was a very little boy this sensible habit has stayed with me every winter. I usually get about 4 years out of a singlet before it disintegrates!
My other favourite way of staying warm is to use cell blankets. Everyone in the house has one on their bed on top of their doonas, and there are even two folded up in the lounge room if anyone wants to use one when watching telly.
Gav
What’s a cell blanket?
I forgot to mention my ugg boots too – not suitable for wearing in public, but nice and toasty on a cold winter night!
Having grown up elsewhere, it always amazes me how Australians
dress in winter – it’s as though nobody wants to acknowledge that
it actually gets cold here!
Hehe, yeah, it’s only cold for a few months, it wouldn’t kill us to actually admit it
Julie, a cell blanket is a loose knit cotton blanket that keep you suprisingly warm. Hospitals use them all the time on ward beds. They may be known by another name?
Ooh, I know what you mean now – I didn’t know they had a name. Well, you learn something new every day
I have a love affair with coats so I love when it’s cold and I can justify wearing one.
A Canadian friend who moved to Perth told us he felt colder in the Perth winter than he ever did in Canada because we just don’t have facilities in place to deal with cold weather. I’ve also seen on relocation message boards, Australians advising immigrating US people not to bother bringing their big warm doonas because ‘it doesn’t get cold in Australia’…
I lived in the states for several years, most recently in Salt Lake City. I was never cold when I was inside over there. It’s standard practice to build with double-glazed windows, and pretty much all houses are fully central heated/cooled. I do have clothes that are so warm they are overkill here. A down coat, for example, that’s rated at well below zero temps. I can’t see myself wearing it here, but it was way too good to throw out. We do, however have our king-sized, below-zero-rated doona on our queen-sized bed. I do miss having a warm house all the time. I’m definitely not one of those heat-your-house-so-much-you-only-need-to-wear-a-t-shirt types. I’ll wear 2 pairs of socks under my uggies. I’ll put on a jumper and a fleece jacket. I’ll change into my flannies and dressing gown. But if I’m still cold, then I’m gonna put the heater on – and I would rather have a system where the chill was taken off the air right through the house.
It’s not at home where I have the real problem, though. My office is so cold I usually have a fleece vest on top of my regular clothes and have been known to wear my coat all day. My hands are often so cold, I’d wear gloves if I thought I could type in them. Walk through the building and you’ll see people in jumpers, scarves, jackets, with nanna rugs… This has nothing to do with heating being turned off to save fuel. The air con is on and turned so low that we are all freezing – summer or winter. The maintenance guy says there’s nothing wrong with it – it’s all working as it should. I’m sorry, but that just can’t be true.
I know I’m not the only person working in overly air-conned conditions.
I’m seriously thinking I need a pair of USB warming gloves! http://www.zazz.com.au/pastproducts.php?past=506
Deb and Wendy, you are so right! I spent a winter in Scandanavia
and a winter in New York and I’ve never been as cold as I’ve been
the last twenty years I’ve lived in Adelaide. I grew up in San
Francisco which has a similiar winter to Hobart and everybody
insulated their houses rather than freeeze all winter!
Another migrant being much colder in winter here than in The Netherlands!
And I blame it on the building industry, houses are build the wrong way, no insulation, gaps everywhere, o.k. we fell for the charm of an old house… first thing we did was put wool on the ceilings to insulate but it doesn’t work like it should as there are so many gaps under doors, no double windows, vents everywhere…
I am sitting here in my home office with 4 jumpers (two are fleece) a rug around my legs, ugg boots and gloves (without the finger tips, i’ve just got them from a friend and they work!) And I am drinking liters of hot tea to warm my hands….
And regularly going outside to warm up in the sun… outside it’s much warmer than inside…??? Weird…
I try to avoid the heater but if it’s getting too cold I turn it on for 15 minutes to get the chill off.