For some odd reason, my cat likes to sleep on top of my bed when I've got the electric blanket turned on. :) Heat coming from thermal storage keeps the pipes from freezing.
Solar generated electricity is way too expensive for my tastes. If I was in a situation where I didn't have power coming in from the electric company to run my heaters and electric blanket, I'd just drastically downsize the volume of space I'm living in in the coldest periods of the year. The area around a person inside an igloo is around 60 degrees. I'd basically build an indoor igloo for a sleeping area with polystyrene sheets and aluminum foil for reflection of radiant heat. If my body heat isn't enough to keep my downsized living area comfortable, its simple enough to heat up some water with a wood fire outdoors and put it in one gallon milk jugs for a source of heat to warm the living space.
“The area around a person inside an igloo is around 60 degrees. I’d basically build an indoor igloo for a sleeping area with polystyrene sheets and aluminum foil for reflection of radiant heat.”
Good idea. That’s basically my post-hurricane concept also - build a small room in my garage out of styrofoam, and then run an air conditioner inside of it. Can’t see why that wouldn’t work in winter.