Keeping Hands Warm Indoors?

Move along, nothing to see here!
Spartan_Warrior
Posts: 1659
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

I keep my central heat at about 55 during the winter (the lowest setting on the thermostat or I would go lower). I use many layers of clothing and occasionally space heating to supplement. However, I find that my hands become very cold when I'm stationary, especially when using the computer. It causes extreme dryness and cracking/splitting.
I figured this is the one place on Earth I could ask about the best gloves for indoor use. :) Particularly gloves that would still allow me to type.
Is there any such thing, or any other ideas? My solution for the last year or so has been to just moisturize my hands often and suck it up.


Chad
Posts: 3844
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:10 pm

Post by Chad »

While, I keep it cold myself 55 is impressive, but to each his own. I have never used these gloves inside, but I do wear them outside when I want dexterity and it isn't 20 degrees out. They are designed to be liners for heavier gloves and are fairly thin. Plus, the majority of the Under Armour stuff I have is very high quality and most of my workout and winter gear is from them.
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/c ... 234587-001


DutchGirl
Posts: 1646
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Post by DutchGirl »

Mittens made of wool, and cutting the fingertips off?


pathguy
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:32 am

Post by pathguy »

Maybe just get a pair of those $1 little black gloves and cut the fingertips off. Not sure if those would be warm enough.
If not, then what DutchGirl said.
Or get a heated keyboard pad/mouse.
http://static0.sitejabber.com/img/websi ... 843038.jpg


Spartan_Warrior
Posts: 1659
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

DutchGirl, that's kind of what I was thinking, but my fingers themselves are the worst affected by dryness... it might be the only solution though as I don't know that even something like the Under Armour stuff would be thin and conforming enough to type well.
I think you can safely set the temp to 50 or so without causing any damage to anything. The only risk is losing power; the colder the starting temp the sooner pipes will freeze. It really doesn't bother me anywhere except the tip of my nose and my hands. And, of course, when I'm waking up... or when I first sit on the toilet seat!
For some reason though, I don't seem to get many visitors in the winter. ;)


pathguy
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:32 am

Post by pathguy »

Check out all the stuff Paul Wheaton did: http://www.richsoil.com/electric-heat.jsp


Spartan_Warrior
Posts: 1659
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

@pathguy: wow, just skimmed it for now, but that looks awesome! That's exactly what I'm talking about. Heating the person instead of the house. Will read it all later.


DutchGirl
Posts: 1646
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Post by DutchGirl »

Just the tips, not the whole finger. I think it may make your hands warm enough to allow for blood circulation to occur at a normal pace, also in the finger tips.


User avatar
C40
Posts: 2748
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:30 am

Post by C40 »

Where I work it can get really cold in and near my office. A woman in an office accross the hallway sometimes wears gloves. She has some kind of knit hunting gloves without full fingers - so she can still type on the computer. Just like these, but probably not as expensive:





jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15907
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Post by jacob »

I have some similar to C40's but a tighter knit. I got them at an army surplus store. If the rest of the body is warm, the hands tend to be warm too. Use thicker socks and a watch cap (hat).
Overall my hand warmth depends a lot on my metabolism. Due to the warrior diet, this varies a lot over the day.
Another way to heat up is exercising or simply being physically active. Kinda hard if tied to a computer though.


LiquidSapphire
Posts: 510
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm

Post by LiquidSapphire »

It's my understanding that if the body is having a hard time maintaining 98.6 the first parts of the body to get cold are hands and feet. So I second/third keeping the rest of you warm(er) will help your hands. More layers. Drink hot liquids like tea, coffee.
To help with the toilet seat/first thing in the morning problem we bought a space heater and set it on the counter in the bathroom with an old school timer. Every night we shut the bathroom door, open the shower curtain and make sure the space in front of the heater is clear. It is timed to start about 5 minutes before the morning alarm goes off. So there is a painful 10 seconds after getting out of bed but coming into a warm bathroom is nice. I calculated it costs like 10 cents an hour to run or something equally small, definitely worth it as the alternative would be a higher air temp in general.


George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Post by George the original one »

My wife swears by her half-finger gloves she knits for herself and friends, ala C40's image except they exclude the mitten cover since she only uses them indoors.


Spartan_Warrior
Posts: 1659
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

I usually just do the naked dash to the shower in the morning and run the water hot at first. Toilet seat is probably the least pleasant but it's not that frequent an occurrence to be problematic. It's really just when I'm sitting at my computer for long periods. I do incorporate some bodyweight squats and push ups.
The rest of my body, aside from my head and hands, is pretty well covered already. My winter "uniform" consists of two pairs of socks with insulated slippers, jeans, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved sweater, and an insulated denim shirt. About the only thing I could think to add would be long johns or a hat.
I've noticed the metabolic difference too. I'm also on an intermittent fasting diet. It's not really an issue in the evening but only during the day when I'm inactive while in a fasted state. In the evening I'm pretty much a warm pile of goo whatever I'm doing.
C40, those gloves look pretty good. Something like that would probably help.


J_
Posts: 883
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:12 pm
Location: Netherlands/Austria

Post by J_ »

I use the one's C40 shows, during breakfast and morning-work. Further I have some kettle's bells in the kitchen for a short work-out during cooking, making coffee or breakfast. And when I am really cold I do Pilatus on a mat.


vireoes
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:14 am

Post by vireoes »

The heated keyboard and mouse from Paul Wheaton article look awesome. As a person with cold fingers, I think those would make all the difference for me. I tried the fingerless glove route and they are an okay, but not great solution for those of us prone to cold extremities. Not cheap, but something that should pay for itself pretty quick if it allows you to keep the temp down in the house.


EMJ
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:37 pm

Post by EMJ »

Hot water bottles are great as lap warmers and bed warmers.


pathguy
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:32 am

Post by pathguy »

Just curious, if I were to turn my thermostat down at night and during the day while I'm at work, and then just have it at a normal temperature for the ~6 hours I'm home at night, how much would that likely save?
I have heard the argument that forcing your furnace to run for a long time to heat up the cold house uses more energy than simply maintaining a constant temp. Is that true?


Mo
Posts: 443
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:35 pm

Post by Mo »

You can get pretty thin merino wool gloves or glove liners that are warm, but quite thin (icebreakers makes some decent stuff). Cutting the tips off the fingers might work, or alternatively you might be able to put something grippy on the tips like grippies or something similar.
I haven't done these things, just suggestions. I bought my wife a pair of icebreaker gloves and I recall her liking them, but then we moved to florida.


KevinW
Posts: 959
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:45 am

Post by KevinW »

My grandfather used to have a flame-based hand warmer for ice fishing, similar to this one:

http://www.zippo.com/product.aspx?id=1023911&cid=1240
As some others mentioned, another option is to rest your hands on something warm like a bottle full of hot water or a small electric heating pad.


User avatar
jennypenny
Posts: 6851
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Post by jennypenny »

The problem with cold hands is circulation. If you're sitting at your desk, try arm circles. (be careful though, it can make you light-headed) The best for me has been switching to a standing desk set-up. I guess the circulation is better. I'm certainly moving more, and I don't rest my hands on the desk and keyboard as much.
You don't need special gloves. Use socks. Just cut off the top and cut a hole for your thumb. If you need to wash your hands or something, you don't have to take them off; just pull the thumb out and push the socks up to your wrists.
I'd be afraid of a heated keyboard (or blanket, etc) because the of electricity. Makes me nervous. I prefer a hot water bottle, or a homemade microwavable heating pad under my hands like this: http://www.livestrong.com/article/70866 ... ating-pad/
@Spartan--you could try these ;-)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pomber?page=1


Post Reply