h a l f b a k e r yThe embarrassing drunkard uncle of invention.
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While cold-weather bed linens are readily
available, they all cover the top of the
body, not the area beneath. This mattress
pad would be like any other mattress pad,
except that it would incorporate the type
of aluminized mylar used in "emergency
blankets" or "space blankets," reflecting
body heat back onto the sleeper. It would
cost only slightly more than a conventional
mattress pad, yet allow for much lower
nighttime thermostat settings, saving
money.
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Annotation:
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When I saw the title, I imagined you riding down the street on your mattress on a bed frame with wheels and wanting better visibility by passing motorists.
But this one's a good idea, too. |
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Here's what I think would happen: you'd sweat, a lot. You need to have some ventilation. Think about how uncomfortable it can be when sleeping on hotel pillows where they have a plastic or vinyl undercover. This would be worse, I *think*. |
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Maybe one way of reflecting some warmth and still providing air space would be to put the reflective layer at some depth below the mattress surface or maybe the mattress side of the mattress pad so that there'd be some batting volume for circulation between the sleeper and the reflective material. |
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How much heat do you lose into the mattress anyway? Hot air rises, so convection downwards doesn't happen. Mattresss are mostly air so conduction shouldn't be a problem. That only leaves radiation, which can't be that big a problem otherwise clothes wouldn't keep you warm unless they were foil lined, but they do. Mostly. |
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A friend of mine actually told me about these just recently; they are called "Heat Sheets", and are available at Miles Kimball, an online 'catalogue' style store. I used one of those emergency blankets; the kind made by Coleman which is just a thin mylar sheet. It works, a little too well... it also sounds like you are sleeping on wrapping paper! I've looked for something similar locally for the past week, I got only blank stares and those "Slap your forehead/why didn't I think of that' reactions.
Perhaps a way to 'soften' the effect would be to perforate the sheet in the areas covered by the largest parts of the body; those are the places where heat gets trapped the most. At least with the cheap mylar sheets. Oh, and my friend tells me the Kimball versions don't make any noise! :D |
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