[ConsiderThis]

I heat with candles since the utility company shut off my heat and lights in 2007 rather than give me two days to get the money. I have a bit of brain injury and I didn't have enough in the bank to write them a check, I asked for two days to transfer money.

They shut me off, so I didn't have any phone, heat, lights... and I was really cold because it was 28 degrees at night.

That was the Wednesday before Easter. By the time Easter had passed I'd worked out how to make coffee over an candle and indeed cook over a candle and I began to look into solar energy.

About two months later I got solar.

Since being shut off I have told PNM, the utility company, that I don't approve of them being mean to people for no other reason than to show their power and that I will not pay them. They were a little at a loss when they couldn't threaten me with anything.

Okay -- So heating with candles (I have a Saltillo floor, so it's pretty safe) does not create a lot of heat. But it's better than living with threats.

I got some great velvet curtains to keep out the drafts this year, where last year the french doors brought way too much winter weather in.

Then I saw these "survival blankets" which are supposed to reflect 90% of body heat.

I thought, hey, maybe they'd also reflect 90% of candle heat, and if I put them on the ceiling and walls they'd give me a few additional degrees of warmth.

(Last year I used tin foil by my plants to increase the light and that worked really well.)

So, I put up a few and it seems as if it's harder to breathe.

I wondered if that was because of there being less oxygen and the candles in consequence creating some carbon monoxide, but I don't think that's it because my windows are pretty leaky, with healthy drafts, if you want to look at it that way.

So, maybe my chest is tight because I'm worried about these silvery mylar sheets, or maybe they are coated with something that comes off indoors and isn't blown away the way it would be outside in a survival situation.

I wondered if anyone here knew anything about them in relation to health.

??????

Karen
.

[Jomar]

I those blankets are made mostly to wrap and retain body heat, I don't really know if the way you are using them will make much difference temperature wise.
I guess I would try taking them down & out of the home to see if your breathing went back to normal or not.

Don't most states have assistance for power bills for those unable to pay full amounts?

[ConsiderThis]

Originally Posted by Jo55

I those blankets are made mostly to wrap and retain body heat, I don't really know if the way you are using them will make much difference temperature wise.
I guess I would try taking them down & out of the home to see if your breathing went back to normal or not.

Don't most states have assistance for power bills for those unable to pay full amounts?

They may. As I said in my case I had the money but not available that moment.

I am sick and tired of being threatened. I think it makes me more sick and I just will do whatever it takes to reduce the stress from threats.

I LOVE solar and candles (even if it's colder during the winter) because it is healthier not to be threatened all the time.

*

Yes, I think you're right. I took down the blankets. Then when I happened to be outside I noticed the smell of fireplaces being used to heat, and I wondered if it's that making my chest tight. Could be.

It's very difficult to isolate things so that it's clear which thing is doing what.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

[ConsiderThis]

I found a site on the internet that is selling curtains which look as if they are made from this stuff. The descriptions of the curtains mentions the benefits listed for survival blankets.

The survival blankets I have up appear to be giving me about a 10 degree increase in heat... retained heat, they don't make heat.

I still can't tell if the coating flakes off in such tiny particles you can't see them. I feel as if my chest is tight, but when I worry about it, it gets worse, so I'm not sure it isn't from worry in the first place. Only, I didn't have a tight chest last year when I put up tin foil to give additional light to my plants.

(I had done a test in my garden... There were 6 plants in a row, I put tin foil by three, (this is in the morning shade side of my garden); the three with the tin foil were 6 feet tall in now time, and the other three languished at around a foot and a half.)

[ConsiderThis]

I've decided the survival blankets when used in a confined space, like a home, over a long period of time, are hazardous to health.

Here's why: yesterday I was sitting on my couch, newly made over from a spare bed. I was thinking how much I liked the Antique Chic quilt I got in combination with a Federal Stars floor cushion, and I was thinking I'd like to have the couch have cushions all along the back, because it would look dynamite.

Only... the tinfoil on my walls would be ripped off, since it's applied with staples, if anyone actually rested back against a cushion that sat against that wall. (The wall at the head of the bed/couch doesn't have tinfoil on it, since sun doesn't hit it and the tinfoil is meant to get as much light out of the sparse sunlight in my living room as possible.)

That's when I wondered if the tinfoil was warmer than my walls. I touched it and it was lovely warm, the wall was chilly cold.

Ah ha! I thought. It's the aluminium that reflects the heat, as well as light.

That reminded me that when I was getting ready to get my solar I was thinking of having the panels on the roof and I was thinking of having the roof coated with this stuff that reflects light and is said to lower indoor temperatures. I was excited about it.

But then I read the specs on the stuff and they all warned that it was hazardous to health. (I had to wonder who people with the capital to buy the material hire to apply it...) I couldn't imagine asking anyone I know to do it for me, even if I was paying them a good wage.

Basically, I came to the conclusion that the survival blankets are a very clever discovery of how to get aluminum to adhere to flexible mylar or plastic with the result that it's more durable than the aluminum foil we've used for decades in the kitchen.

However, it seems pretty clear that the aluminum does not stay fixed to the plastic or mylar because against the light it's easy to see scratches and worn areas.

So, I'm thinking that the worn bits distribute such tiny particles into the air that we aren't aware of them visually, but our lungs get bogged down.

My chest was tight last night and I decided to get up, never mind the cold, and remove the survival blankets I had in my room.

I did remove them and I put on my air purifier, and today I removed them from nearly everywhere else I had them.

I'm thinking of getting someone to help me hang tinfoil more extensively because as I say it does do a nice thing with the heat... and who cares if it looks like I think I'm deflecting alien signals.

My chest is still tight. I'm hoping it goes back to normal the way it did after I wasn't living in hydrogen sulfide anymore.

It was hard to give up my survival blankets, because I SO believed in them. But... I reminded myself that I'm always telling people to pay attention to their bodies. In the end I decided I had to pay attention to my body.

Here's a picture of the tinfoil in my garden when I did the test a couple years ago. I think I took the picture about a month or two in...

[MJA - TOS]

Not that you're not doing a fine job of winging it but aren't there any town, township, government agencies that can help you get your lectric and heat turned on. That stuff is usually in the blue pages. A "bit of a brain injury" should qualify you for some kind of help. I admire your ingenuity but I'd hate to see you burn your house down. Please consider this.

[ConsiderThis]

Originally Posted by MJA - TOS

Not that you're not doing a fine job of winging it but aren't there any town, township, government agencies that can help you get your lectric and heat turned on. That stuff is usually in the blue pages. A "bit of a brain injury" should qualify you for some kind of help. I admire your ingenuity but I'd hate to see you burn your house down. Please consider this.

I was so eager to pay them when they turned it off. Then when I was without light, heat, and phone from the Wednesday before Easter till after Easter I decided I was not going to pay them and get solar instead.

I am sick and tired of people being mean. I asked for two days to get the money. I had the wrong amount in the bank because of my infuriating brain injury.

Let me tell you, they were a little taken aback when they couldn't threaten me any more.

I love my candles and not being threatened. I am absolutely sure that I've gotten more healthy with the significantly less stress.

But, thanks for thinking of me.