She Stood By The Radiator
By hereandthere
@hereandthere (45628)
Philippines
December 8, 2015 11:20am CST
When an officemate told me she worked briefly in Chicago (USA), I wanted to know how she adjusted to the cold since we only have sun and rain in the Philippines.
She said she realized that if she stood by the radiator for a long time until the heat seeped through to her bones, she can tolerate the cold when she leaves the house.
She remembers meeting someone from Japan who was only wearing a leather jacket, confident that he/she (sorry I forgot the gender) could tolerate the cold since Japan has four seasons, but he/she ended up shivering while they were out, not my officemate.
How do you heat your homes or stay warm when you're out? I'm curious about fireplaces, radiators, electric blankets, central heating, space heaters, car heaters.
I remember another officemate who saw his relative in Canada wearing just 'sando' at home (sleeveless cotton shirt) during winter, instead of socks and sweaters, so I guess it also depends on how cheap and/or plentiful the supply is?
13 people like this
11 responses
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Dec 15
can also depend on what you get used too, and chicago can get nasty because of the wind chill factors
3 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
8 Dec 15
@jessicalynnt true. there are places here that are cold just outside the capital. how do you heat your house?
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Dec 15
@hereandthere electicity. I want a small wood heater for emergencies though
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@Jessicalynnt is a wood heater different from a wood stove?
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
8 Dec 15
We are in the south and most homes have heat pumps. We also have a propane fire place in gas the power goes out. I don't need anything else to keep our home warm, it's only 4 years old and very well insulated.
3 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
8 Dec 15
@abbygreenhill when a home is well insulated, what kind of walls, floors, roof do they have? i mean is it concrete, bricks, etc?
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
8 Dec 15
@hereandthere It is a wood frame house, with brick. Roof is architectural shingles. We have a full basement. What ever is in the walls for insulation I don't know we bought this house.
2 people like this
@marguicha (230351)
• Chile
11 Dec 15
We have mild winters in my country. I could not survive harsh ones at this time of my life. I have a couple of gas heaters that I can move around, an electric blanket and asmall electric heater that I don´t use much. We all wear winter clothes to go out of course.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230351)
• Chile
12 Dec 15
@hereandthere The days are shorter in Winer and we have rain and gray days. We don´t have freezing temperatures except for a couple of hours at dawn and just for a couple of weeks.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
12 Dec 15
@marguicha but do you also have shorter days wherein the sun rises later and sets earlier? does it rain or snow or do you have icy roads?
1 person likes this
@mom210 (9170)
• United States
8 Dec 15
I have lived many places, some that get very cold and some that get very mild winters. I find that you get used to the temps where you are. We used all electric in the cold areas. I am in a warm area now and we use a fire place that does very well. I have many large boys that can chop the wood, so that is the least expensive way here in the south for me.
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@mom210 i guess you meant different us states. how many months does it take you to get used to the weather when you move to a new place?
@mom210 (9170)
• United States
14 Dec 15
@hereandthere No not just US, I also lived in south Korea, It took a bit to get used to the weather. I am thinking maybe about 3 months I was used to it.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
13 Dec 15
@t_gray is an electric fireplace something you turn on and off? is it on 24/7?
1 person likes this
@T_gray (7772)
• Salina, Kansas
13 Dec 15
@hereandthere you turn it on and off. It's like a space heater. It looks like a fake fireplace, but you can move it around from room to room. It's really cool and pretty,I think
@marijuana (570)
• Tel Aviv, Israel
14 Dec 15
I bundle myself up but still i am cold. We use the centralized heater or radiators .
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
i guess that's the part that overwhelms me - wearing so many layers of clothes from head to hands to toes - plus making sure you don't lose them when you're out.
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
10 Dec 15
@hereandthere Most people in Canada have central heating. A furnace with a fan that forces warm air to every room. In Alberta most furnaces are natural gas. Houses are also very well insulated. So, between the walls are insulating foam or thick bats of fluffy fiber glass material. Even when we had a wood stove, we still had the furnace to keep the house heated while we were out.
1 person likes this
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
I've since birth been living in a basically warm climate so my problem is how to beat the heat actually.
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@hereandthere My relatives abroad have fireplace to keep themselves warm.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@salonga do you have friends/relatives overseas? what do you hear from them?
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90717)
• Philippines
10 Dec 15
Ha? Wearing sandos at home in Canada on winter ? Maybe he has lots of fats in his body to deter the cold . 
@SIMPLYD (90717)
• Philippines
10 Dec 15
@hereandthere What do you mean by that ? If there are lesser people then it will be colder ? Sources of energy for the heat ?
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
10 Dec 15
@simplyd i think it's because canada has lesser people but more sources of energy
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381928)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Dec 15
We have plenty of sun and warmth there. In winter we have a wood fire - and sweaters!
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@judyev who chops up the firewood and how much do you need? seeing the sun every day even briefly would be the kind of winter i'd like.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
9 Dec 15
@JudyEv so from winter to spring? no wonder you need a lot. does it heat up the whole house or just one area? then i guess you put the fire out before sleeping. it doesn't snow there, right?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381928)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Dec 15
@hereandthere We collect our own firewood from the bush mostly with a trailer and chain-saw. Vince splits it if the blocks are too big to go in the fire-box. The wood is stored in a wood-shed. We try to be a year ahead so the wood can dry out properly. We might start lighting the fire around May/June and light it every night until probably early September.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
10 Dec 15
I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life, born and bred. You get used to certain weather and I expect cold so mostly it doesn't bother me. We heat with a gas furnace and most homes in our area heat that way. We also have a central air conditioner for the hot summers.
