As observers wait to see if the occupy movement will engage the political process or remain blades of activism, some of the occupiers are winterizing their camps, with the Occupy New Haven (ONH) site preparing to greet the new year with heat.

"It's a symbol to say, 'Hey, we're still here. We're ready to get going in the spring,'" said one occupier who has worked to install a solar heating system on the ONH site but declined to be identified. "If you can survive a New England winter, you can show your dedication to the cause." "It's very common out west and in the northern states. In Minnesota, Maine and Vermont, people use these collectors," the occupier, who lives off site, said.

To provide heat, the first of an expected four heat collector boxes now stands on the New Haven green. The heat it collects will travel from the collector into an ONH tent—in this case, the common space that is the kitchen. "On a really sunny day, you can see the heat rising from the outlet of the solar collector," said Josh, an occupier from West Haven who lives on site.

He noted that the design for the ONH heating system is available at instructables.com.

Warm Weather in Winter

The system that is scheduled to begin operation this coming weekend is expected to raise the temperature inside some of the tents by 30 to 40 degrees above ambient air temperature from early morning through late afternoon, with the body heat of the occupiers inside expected to increase the heat even more.

On a day with a temperature of 30 degrees, then, the interior of an ONH tent should reach or exceed a comfortable 70 degrees.

To maximize heat retention, the occupiers plan to paint the tents with southern exposure black. In the western Pennsylvania city of Pittsburgh, the 25 to 30 persons determined to remain outdoors in an area the Occupy Pittsburgh movement calls People's Park are relying upon insulated geodesic structures called hexayurts to forestall the fierce bite of winter.