> During the cold snap where it was below -15C during the night [...] and i didn't bother using my central heat. I haven't used central heat at all for 2 years. [...] i'm wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt, indoors
Yeah something doesn't add up here. Unless that lamp has a crazy wattage and you look down at this "mining" laptop on your lap for 8 hours a day (no desk, all heat going to legs, wrists, and hands), I don't really see this being realistic.
75W halogen, but my laptop can dissipate 170W. As long as you don't have fans blowing air around/over you, it's fine. your basal metabolic rate can be captured with clothing and especially caps, like a thin fabric cap and then a wool beanie/cap over that. Plus ~200ish watts of heat where you need it, head and hands.
I do have to use more heating if the temperature stays below 4C or so for more than 24 hours. That is, my indoor ambient temp was 11-12C on the night it was -15C outside - had it remained that cold for longer than a night i would have had to raise the indoor temp with electric heat, as mentioned, the split-air was woefully inadequate. I was just trying to avoid the central electric heat since it smells bad the first few times you use it in a season and it always wakes everyone up.
all this being said, people are different and my wife and son would have been miserable in the exact same situation. I was speaking directly to "fingers get too cold to type" with the laptop thing.
That's fine, however, if you're using heat at all in your home, having a "mining laptop" and a few incandescent lights around to take the chill off is not going to increase your electricity bill, unless you're using gas for heat. I forget the ranking of efficiency, heat pumps are more efficient than resistive heating (to a point well below -15 for more expensive units); however i forget where gas fits in that spectrum.
having a couple hundred watts of heat per person will lower your overall heating bill, all else being equal.
Yeah something doesn't add up here. Unless that lamp has a crazy wattage and you look down at this "mining" laptop on your lap for 8 hours a day (no desk, all heat going to legs, wrists, and hands), I don't really see this being realistic.