someday
New Member
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 54 
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Post by someday on Dec 1, 2008 21:00:54 GMT -5
Here's a question - how do you clean when you don't have heat? I am currently sans heat due to a broken furnace. The landlord is "hoping" to have it replaced by NEXT WEEK. The house is actually not as bad as it was - mainly because we haven't been able to leave the space-heatered bedroom - but I would still like to get it looking a bit better just in case my landlord decides he needs to be there when they install the new furnace.
I guess what really upsets me is that the heat has been broken since September, and my landlord is just getting around to fixing it now, because we are almost literally freezing. And I feel like we have no right to complain because we haven't been keeping the place as clean as we should. It just kills me that now that I CAN clean and I WANT to do it, I am too cold to leave my bed - unless it's to jump into a hot shower.
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Post by Script on Dec 1, 2008 21:12:05 GMT -5
It just kills me that now that I CAN clean and I WANT to do it, I am too cold to leave my bed - unless it's to jump into a hot shower. Do you have a stove? Can you turn on the oven and leave the door open a bit? This will definitely help. I do NOT want to patronize you, and I know that all of us are different. But my DH worked in construction all his life. He ALWAYS worked a bit in the cold weather, not every day, but lots of days around 0C (32F). He feels the cold terribly. I know that it is POSSIBLE to work in the cold. Your apt. cannot possibly be as cold as the outdoors. Think about it: you see folks working OUTSIDE all the time! Here is what I would do: - find a pair of cheap or old GLOVES
- cut the fingers off: fingerless golves are what used to be called MITTENS
- use these: they will keep your hand far warmer than you might think: I used to wear fingerless gloves for YEARS in our semi-heated office space (old building)
- put a turtleneck tee shirt on UNDERNEATH something like a sweat shirt and if need be, pantyhose or longjohns under track pants
- once you get going (warm up) you may find that you can manage quite well cleaning in the cold
- I wore long-underwear in many semi-heated offices in my career as an itinerant bookkeeper. A scarf around your neck woudn't hurt either.
good luck and keep us posted. |
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Post by notsomessyshell on Dec 1, 2008 23:06:13 GMT -5
I agree with Script. I do the layering thing. When we were in trouble with the county about our house outside condition we had only a few weeks before another inspection. It was October and bitter cold. I wore tights under my jeans. Tee shirt under a sweat shirt and my jacket. I wore garden gloves. My oldest joined me in similar attire. After only 30 minutes or so we were sweating! We got it done. We even passed our inspection early! The guy was so impressed at how good it looked. He said we did even more than was really required.
You can do this. Try to dress warm and work for 15 minutes at a time. You may find you work longer than the 15 minutes and that you are quite warm after all.
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Post by DJ on Dec 1, 2008 23:43:43 GMT -5
we don't heat our home in the winter, other than bedroom for my 19 year old cat, and put a black out curtain over doorframe to keep the heat in... in general i do what everyone else has suggested- layer. i wear tights, and one or two pairs of socks over them. a pair of pants. a tank top. a tshirt. a long sleeve shirt and then a sweatshirt or a sweater. i keep a basket of hats out to pull one on in the morning:> scripts also right, fingerless gloves rock.
i do more baking and oven cooking in general in the winter and then leave the oven door open to cool when i'm done... candles actually can go a ways in raising temp in a small room...
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bug
New Member
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 11
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Post by bug on Dec 2, 2008 0:26:01 GMT -5
Do you have a stove? Can you turn on the oven and leave the door open a bit? This will definitely help. This is well meaning but dangerous advice. I don't' know if it might be safe with an electric stove, but with a gas one it's definitely not okay. Try more space heaters instead, if you can afford it. Actually, your landlord has a legal obligation to keep the heat on, regardless of anything you do. Even if you hadn't paid rent in 6 months, or you kept the entire place at a level 4, they're still obligated to provide things like heat, electricity and running water. I'm really angry on your behalf that he took advantage of your squalor guilt to shirk such an important responsibility. |
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