It’s been hard painting in the basement now that the weather is below twenty degrees. I’ve got a space heater (it’s okay, it’s not a fire-setting space heater) and it just isn’t doing the job (probably because it’s not a fire-setting space heater).
Back upstairs, I got in to bed the other night and plugged in my heating pad to heat my feet, which were oddly cold, and thought, wouldn’t it be neat if they had full body sized heating pads? I eventually realized they do and they are called electric blankets.
I am unfamiliar with electric blankets: they were not used in our house when I was growing up (too new-fangled and suspect). I certainly don’t want to be bundled up in an electric blanket post-menopause, but it occurred to me I could lay an electric blanket under my chair in the basement and it would be like radiant flooring. Toasty on the feet, and then the heat would rise. And the basement hasn’t flooded lately (even though there were some torrential rains) so no danger of shorting everything.
I am certain there is some reason this is a bad idea. Do people do this? Use an electric blanket for a heated floor? Is that a bad plan?
There are small heated rugs (as well as basically heated muffs for your feet, like a double-width extra-large slipper?); I would trust them more that they're durable enough for this usage (rather than having frayed cords from rubbing against the floor), although undoubtedly a cheap electric blanket would be cheaper, and you could probably pad it underneath with something (like a cheap bathmat?). If you'd ever impinge on it with a chair or other furniture leg/wheel, though: buy a heated rug instead, just for safety's sake, esp. in a damp basement?
Posted by: KC | February 12, 2021 at 10:57 AM
They do make full body sized heating pads, my acupuncturist has them on her tables, so my whole self is toasty warm when I lay down!
Posted by: Michele from FL | February 13, 2021 at 12:02 AM
KC - I saw thighs but it wouldn’t heat all the air around me, which is my big issue. But it might works for my cold feet in bed.
Michele from Fl (hi Michele!) - oh that sounds good. But I did find heated office chair pad, which I assume I can roll on. It’s pricey enough that I’m going to shop around. It’s really only a problem a few days a week.
Posted by: TheQueen | February 13, 2021 at 04:18 PM
Yes, I definitely think a heated rug, rather than a foot muff, would be the way to go. Another option is to just get a small, cheap heater (preferably one that retains heat a bit, like a ceramic heater) and put it under the desk. I did that to keep my fingers warm enough to type while we lived in one residence with... poor... heating circulation, but it had a bit of a "Too cold! just right, just right, Too hot! just right, just right, Too cold!" issue. But heated rugs were spendy, and the heater was less than $20, so... it worked well enough. Just with a lot of switch flipping. And not quite *well* exactly.
Posted by: KC | February 13, 2021 at 05:24 PM
KC - I hesitate to put the heater I have under the table where I store my paints and paint thinner. That’s part of the problem. I’m still debating and shopping. It’s very rare we get this cold - I might just put my feet on the heating pad and see if that does the trick.
Posted by: TheQueen | February 14, 2021 at 09:27 AM