Winter is a strange time of year that seems to make me hot. This is, I think, due to some warping of reality. During the summer months, violence is threatened if 69F* or higher is achieved. Clothing during this period is of the short and light variety, and even then, frequent consumption of cold drinks is advised.
During winter months, 72F, a temperature that would cause spontaneous furniture fires in summer, becomes the new minimum. This is combined with lots of thick woolen garments, a much thicker duvet is brought out of storage, supplementary heaters and flannel are spread about the sleeping area. In these circumstances, I can't fully understand how I'm alive.
To the solution. The typical duvet or comforter is an insulating barrier with a pleasing heft. To improve thermal management, I have taken inspiration from the mining industry**.
In deep mines, ventilation may be driven by heat directly. One old trick involves having two vertical shafts connected to distant points of the horizontal network. Lighting a fire at the bottom of one shaft causes hot air to rise straight up the shaft to the surface, while air is drawn down the distant shaft, through the network to the base of the fire. With a few crude doors, airflow can be regulated and directed.
To achieve the same effect, I propose using structural quilting to create a sort of conical chimney in the duvet that sits at say, mid stomach. Excess heat will rise up the quilted chimney to be replaced by slightly cooler air. Just like in mines, this can be regulated by modulating the intake valving. In this case, the foot/arm-operated gaps in the duvet's peripheral seal. Provided the chimney doesn't collapse under the weight of the inevitable cat, this should lead to more comfortable snoozing.
*changing anything including the units is risky business. **Miners are forbidden from touching the thermostat, and are frequently warned about noxious gas emissions.-- bs0u0155, Feb 05 2019 I don't think I would want a large conical chimney because if flow reversed ,that's cold kidneys in the morning.
I am imagining something like the walls of a termite mound. The termites alter the wall structure to regulate colony temperature. It would be some darn fine quilting though, state of the art.-- wjt, Feb 06 2019 A mid-duvet chimney could be useful in venting unwanted gases too...-- hippo, Feb 06 2019 // cold kidneys in the morning //
A friend has told me that at least one army in the world (though I forget which) still issues cholera belts, so just sign up with them and get one.-- notexactly, Feb 07 2019 //cholera belts//
Well, there's something I didn't know. Weren't people in the olden days foolish? Excuse me while I adjust my copper bracelet.-- bs0u0155, Feb 07 2019 Surely you know people with your star sign are supposed to wear nickel bracelets?!-- hippo, Feb 07 2019 Carbon, the new 3D printing company has printed a sponge-like American football helmet by calculating force and controlling it's vectoring.
I was wondering whether this quilt could have tunnels through it's section and pores on either side that open and close dependent on the hump that is the sleeping person. I would be guessing that the pores would open on a concave. Internally it would open at the top of the hump and externally at the sides where the quilt levels out to the bed. The quilt would move and breathe in sync with the person.-- wjt, Feb 16 2019 // move and breathe in sync with the person. //
Isn't that just a Labrador ?-- 8th of 7, Feb 16 2019 ^ Personal warming would be a problem.-- wjt, Feb 16 2019 // A friend has told me that at least one army in the world (though I forget which) still issues cholera belts //
I asked him just now and he says no army still issues cholera belts, though Austria did until the 1970s. He's pretty sure you can still buy them as military surplus, though. He went online to find out, and got distracted by a military surplus church for sale…
He's also the friend who always asks me what's up here but refuses to join.-- notexactly, Feb 16 2019 random, halfbakery