Dilemma
February 27, 2013
Alice is cold all day long. She refuses to turn on the heater next to her La-Z-Boy because the heat blows directly on her. Its blast, she says, makes her uncomfortable and dries out her hair.
Sometimes we talk fruitlessly about moving the chair a bit away from the heater or to some other location in the small room.
Please note position of chair.
Alice in her chair.
The objectionable wall heater is to her right.
The desk, which Alice is in and out of all day long for manicure equipment, puzzle books, paper, pens, comb, etc., is next to the chair. You can see a corner of it in the photograph. A special reading light sits between the chair and the desk. Here it is in an advertisement for full spectrum lighting.
Cozy yet sunny.
A large, built-in air conditioner (also visible in the photograph of Alice above) sits between the chair and the TV set, which is positioned for easy viewing from said chair. (It’s behind the walker with the tennis ball feet).
She never uses the air conditioner (the temperature stays at around 80 degrees year round), but the damn thing cannot be moved.
There’s not much more to the room, just a few feet of space containing an end table, another lamp and a filing cabinet.
We both lie awake nights trying to solve this dilemma. I’ve tried pulling the chair away from the wall until it butts up against the air conditioner. However, this maneuver adds only a couple of inches and puts the chair out of reach of the desk and too close to the television set.
The sofa takes up the wall opposite the desk. It’s next to the TV set and is never used except by this personage:
Brio
I sit in the desk chair when visiting. Even k.d. lang sat in the desk chair and not on the sofa when she came to see Alice because if she had gotten comfy on the sofa, Alice would not have been able to hear her or read her lips.
There’s space in the middle of the room for the La-Z-Boy, but she needs that space for her walker and for walking. Also, she wants her living room to look like a living room, not a little room with a La-Z-Boy chair smack dab in the middle of it.
Furthermore, need I say that electrical outlets are not, by any means, abundant? I think there are two. This means lamps can’t be moved around, the television set can’t move, the Web TV can’t move, etc.
No space heaters allowed.
So she is cold. She does not like sitting under blankets, although she does use a blanket to stay warm when she tilts the chair back for a nap. “I’d freeze to death if I didn’t,” she insists.
I am not the only one to hear about how cold she is all the time. Last night she called to say that she had complained “about this heater situation” to her favorite aide, Karen. “What am I going to do,” Alice asked her, “when I get old and have to sit here?”
Naturally, Karen laughed and this is why they are friends.
Let’s thank our lucky daffodils that more are just around the corner.
(Thank you, Barbara Scot, for this first luscious bunch.)
February 27, 2013 at 10:29 pm
What a dilemma! I have to say that since I’ve had car with a seat heater, I almost never use the heater that blows air, which just seems so much less efficient. So on that theory, if you want warmth, sitting on a warm cushion seems like one option to consider.
Also, just a quick google search for “heated seat cushion” turned up a heated foot warmer — or would that be a hazard to trip over? Be aware that many heated seat cushions have plugs for a car, so you might need to check for the proper wire/plug if you get one. Also not sure if adding that on top of the recliner would be comfortable…. but luckily these items could be returned.
How about a heated blanket draped over the chair, on a timer, so that the chair is pre-heated at the times Alice is most likely to use it? Perhaps a power strip could help make all of this work, if outlets are limited or in use.
Okay, that’s the end of my brainstorming– hopefully others will have more ideas to add!
Thalia
March 1, 2013 at 10:03 am
I swear you are all the best readers of a blog any writer could ever hope for and I love you and also need you, obviously, for the practical side of life. I’m no good at it, as you can tell. These are all such helpful suggestions, and off I go on foot and on the Internet in search of heating screens (those Tiffany screens you found might have spoiled me for all others, John), deflectors, gossamer screens (hopefully with attendant unicorns), and more. Unfortunately, heating pads are not allowed at The Place and this rule would thereby exclude heated throws and mats and cushions, according to Alice (who also sends her thanks). But I wonder if I could talk to the higher powers there and get special permission since the room refuses to be rearranged and the outlets are in such odd places (both at one end of the room) that the power strips and extension cords Alice already has don’t really help much. Barbara Harman, you are a generous soul and I can only imagine the beautiful shawl you would make for Alice, given what I’ve seen of your work (www.barbaraharman.com), but a distant relative that Alice emailed about being cold offered to knit a shawl and Alice says she is counting the days until it arrives. I think it might not be a very warm shawl, given the knit hats and scarves she’s received from the same relative, but one way or another, we will get her warmed up!! Thank you, one and all for your kindness and caring. You are really special people, each and every.
February 27, 2013 at 10:38 pm
Is there a possibility of a diffuser/deflector between the heater and the chair? A gossamer screen – that could even be dampened to allow for more humidity?
February 27, 2013 at 11:47 pm
Hi Andrea! When I was caregiving I had to find some heater flow re-directors/deflectors for a client so the air goes up or down and not at the person.. would that help?
February 28, 2013 at 12:33 am
I am sure a solution will present itself before long Andrea. I daresay you will go to see Alice one day and she will have had the heater moved or the chair will be that bit further away. My own mother has a small table next to her favourite seat on the sofa, on this she has a collection of papers and notes and hastily written reminders, stuffed into an old wooden toast rack. It is her own version of a filofax or the more modern online diary. She cannot think of sitting anywhere else. When I phone, I can hear her rifling through the papers as she speaks, looking for something she knows she wrote down to tell me. I bought her a gorgeous fur throw for Christmas which she tells me she uses constantly, though her house is centrally heated. She also puts a hot water bottle on her feet when she sits. Oh the trials of growing old! My mother is only 87 and still gets out to the local shops but until she was 83/4 she went ball room dancing three times a week. I have also seen her run up and downstairs more than once of late!
Oh, I love the photo of Brio on the beach – freedom!
February 28, 2013 at 12:45 am
What about extension cords to move lamps etc
February 28, 2013 at 5:56 am
Thank you for the glorious daffodils of hope – I. along with Alice, am tired of the cold. Is there anyway a removeable vent could be added to blow the air more favorably (into the room, but not right on Alice)? I personally like a little shawl that just covers my shoulders, but isn’t as bulky as a sweater – I bet one of your lovely talented readers could whip it up – I, alas, would make a well-intentioned yarn tangle….
February 28, 2013 at 7:11 am
My mom who is 20 years younger than yours has a heating mat made for chairs in her lazyboy. My sister found it for her.It helps as she doesn’t like to boost the heat for the whole house to sit and watch tv in the evening. 100 year old houses are just drafty in Iowa winters.
February 28, 2013 at 7:41 am
How about a shawl and fingerless gloves? If you want, I’ll make them for Alice!
February 28, 2013 at 8:48 am
Someone else mentioned it, a heat deflector… what about something like a small Japanese screen? Or one of those decorative things that go in front of a fireplace? Something that would let the heat into the room, but deflect it from her chair? Something like this http://tiffanyconnections.com/stained-glass-fireplace-screens-c-4 Granted these are pricey, but, I bet you could find something more reasonably priced….
February 28, 2013 at 9:09 am
A good friend who has trouble with her legs aching in cold drafts uses an electric throw blanket when she sits in her chair. I have used it and it is wonderful ! Can get details if you want me to. Alice would love one–they are light and warm and comfy.
February 28, 2013 at 11:26 am
A heat deflector, as suggested by others, is the answer. Measure the width of the heater, then go to the hardware store or Home Depot, etc, and buy one to fit. Find a way to attach it if it doesn’t seem self-evident. You can make the heat go straight up into the room so it doesn’t blow out onto Alice. This will solve the problem. Good luck!
February 28, 2013 at 8:59 pm
Dang! I hate being cold! I used a space heater to survive the last several years before I retired. Alice has my FULL sympathy!
Many of the suggestions given could be useful,
Often the wiring in those older buildings doesn’t lend itself to even much in the way of extension cords or mutiple plugs.
All the best figuring it out.
March 1, 2013 at 10:04 am
Woops! Thought that comment was supposed to go at the bottom of all the other comments. So much for my WordPress expertise. The message is to all of you.
March 1, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I have a cozy lavender heat pack that is microwaveable. I may have gotten it at Bed Bath and Beyond. I also have microwaveable booties. Every house I’ve lived in the past couple of decades has been cold. But Alice should not walk in the booties–too cumbersome. Also, how about a damp towel draped over the heater? Good luck. My mom is chilly all the time. I retreat to the upstairs with my door closed while she hangs out downstairs with the heat on 72.
March 1, 2013 at 6:28 pm
72 sounds refreshingly cool to me, Denise. 80 just makes me want to spray myself constantly with one of those little menopause fan things (I have several). A damp cloth on the heater? Hmmmm… No chance of electrocution with that?
I have those booties too. Not for Alice, as you say, but a great invention!
March 5, 2013 at 6:02 am
Andrea, we have the opposite problem. With his traumatic brain injury, Bill is I usually HOT, but really his body temp is low. So even though he feels hot, I have to find ways to bundle him up or keep him warm which can be challenging with a man of 60. I am usually cold, but don’t mind robes and extra blankets. I worry about a heated seat causing a problem with Alice’s skin. That has happened to me.
We have an electric blanket/throw, but Bill refuses to use it. Maybe Alice would use one like that. I think a friend above mentioned a light one of this type. A warm fluffy robe? Maybe a trip to the Good-Will would inspire her. I know she loves the Dollar Store. Fondly, Gin