We all should conserve energy. A simple way is to keep the thermostat lower than usual and wearing warmer clothing.
But working on the computer I find that while most of my body can easily deal with lower temperatures even without donning a sweater, my right hand that operates the mouse cannot. It gets cold and stiff rather quickly under these conditions. And mousing with gloves on is not really an option
Wouldn't a heater built into the mouse allow to save energy because one could then use it without problems even when the room temperature is lowered and the energy thus saved would by far exceed the extra energy needed for the mouse heater?
Try purchasing a simple desk lamp, one that you can aim the lampshade where you like.
Then purchase one of those old floodlamps with a built-in reflector-- a 50 watt halogen bulb ought to work extremely well for this project.
Then, aim the lamp such that it shines directy onto your mousing area-- not too close, but close enough. Some experimentation is likely needed, to see how far away or how close.
Anyhow, the infra-red heat from the lamp will warm up both your hand and your mouse (and pad) quite well. You may need a darker mousepad, to avoid glare, though.
But heated mouse? Ought to be possible.... you have up to 1 watt available (allegedly) from the USB port's 5v bus (assuming your mouse is not cordless).
But an induction coil in the mousepad, with a receiver in the mouse, would make more sense.
Or? I just had a thought:
Purchase one of those flexible heating pads, like what you'd wrap your leg, or put on your back--one that plugs in.
Take it out of the cloth cover, so that the plastic heating thing is exposed. Get a very thin, but sturdy sheet of aluminum-- say an aluminum cookie sheet or baking sheet. And some corrigated cardboard. And a piece of aluminum foil.
Make a sandwich of the cardboard, the aluminum foil, the heater, and the aluminum cookie sheet. You could tape all this together with heat-resistant metal-foil tape, if you like (or some spring clamps, during mock-up).
Now the smooth cookie sheet is the new mouse-pad, plenty smooth enough for mousing, but not so smooth that the LED mouse would have trouble tracking across it's surface (if so, some 300 grit wet sandpaper, some running water, and some sanding will turn it into a satin finish without creating too much friction).
The aluminum foil reflects the heat away from the table, and the corrugated cardboard acts as insulation (it's got hollow channels in it, creating an air-gap between the pad and the table).
That ought to actually work.... if you afix a light-dimmer rated with enough wattage for the heat-pad? You can have infinite variation to control the warmth. You'd have to go with a dimmer capable of 1000 or 1500 watts-- pricy, but maybe worth it?
Or some sort of thermostat, with the sensor directly affixed to the top aluminum sheet would work, too-- digital, to dial in the precise level of heating. A thermostat would need a 24v (in the USA at least) transformer and a relay, to toggle the heat-pad on and off, to maintain the temperature-- easy as pie for me, as I have such things in my junkbox already.
Or you could purchase a heating pad that had some sort of temperature control built-in, instead...
Idle thoughts, today, inspired by Swato's suggestion.
:)
Or you could just move to Marble Bar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Bar,_Western_Australia)... :mrgreen:
I get too hot from my laptop being on my lap. It allows me to switch the room heating off. Buy a laptop where the fan is on the same side as you use the mouse!