Good gift for always-cold wife?

[hamerhead]

Aside from a flamethrower or new heart, what do you get a broad that needs to be thawed? Her office being in the coldest room in the house really doesn't help, and telling her to 'run around outside for ten minutes and you'd appreciate what you have' usually gets me hit with something.

So you guys got a better idea? (Moving to Florida is not an option. Yet.)

[Toadroller]

Oh, I suppose I'll be a wet blanket and actually try to help. Sort of.

Anyway, a couple years ago I bought my mom some fancy moccasins from these folks: http://www.wassookeagmoccasins.com/ . I think she's used them in the house every day since and says they're great. Pricey, but they're well made and seem to last. Probably have to order soon, though, as they make them upon order. I ordered another pair for my sister this year.

She might not want to wear a scarf around the house, but a couple women have really liked receiving alpaca scarves like these: http://www.fairindigo.com/ . They're sold on Amazon, too. Hey, and there are sweaters. But of you're going to get sweaters, you should forgo fashionable and head for ridiculously awesome and find a Yeti sweater.

All right, so I wasn't entirely helpful .

Looks like somebody leaned against a van before the custom paint job dried.

[Toadroller]

I've got leftover electrical radiant floor wiring/mesh (240V) from an experiment renovation of our first floor.

Maybe some kind of heated office-chair pad could be assembled from it? I used leftover flooring to make a pad under my office chair to protect the cork flooring in my office.

How did the radiant flooring work for you?

It works, but it doesn't impress me as a significant change or improvement.

I won't be doing it again. It certainly raises my electric bill in the winter without lowering my fuel-oil bill. But it only covers about 250 square feet of my downstairs. I might consider on a new construction in the future, but have a feeling I'd go with radiant liquid instead of electric. I should think a well-engineered, efficient home design (leverage light, shade, ventilation/convection, insulation) should minimize the role of a heating/cooling system to the last mile rather than relying on it as the primary factor.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

I've got leftover electrical radiant floor wiring/mesh (240V) from an experiment renovation of our first floor.

Maybe some kind of heated office-chair pad could be assembled from it? I used leftover flooring to make a pad under my office chair to protect the cork flooring in my office.

How did the radiant flooring work for you?

It works, but it doesn't impress me as a significant change or improvement.

I won't be doing it again. It certainly raises my electric bill in the winter without lowering my fuel-oil bill. But it only covers about 250 square feet of my downstairs. I might consider on a new construction in the future, but have a feeling I'd go with radiant liquid instead of electric. I should think a well-engineered, efficient home design (leverage light, shade, ventilation/convection, insulation) should minimize the role of a heating/cooling system to the last mile rather than relying on it as the primary factor.

I find your ideas quite intriguing and would like to sign up for your newsletter.

[ptm1diver]

5 minutes with Ray Rice in an elevator.

[hamerhead]

Well thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up with an oil-filled heater that has a timer on it. It's supposed to be efficient. I'll set it to come on an hour before she gets to work and (hopefully) shut off an hour or so before she's done (or when it reaches 1000°). Plus she needed a new office chair, so I got her a heated one that vibrates. She'll be working late a lot, I'm sure.

If that fails, I'm gonna ply her with booze.