Hot/cold and comfort

[herofan]

I'm 45 years old and it seems like people's heat and cold preference has changed since I was a kid. I live in KY where we can get a good dose of all seasons. I grew up in houses that were heated with a wood stove, and memories of those cozy winters with a warm fire are great.

It seems like people don't like heat anymore. They wait as long as they can in the fall to turn it on, and turn it off as soon as possible in the spring. If it got to 65 degrees for a few days in January, there are people who would think nothing about turning their AC on, but turn your heat on in late May or late September due to cool temps, and people think you have lost your mind. Why the double standard?

Another thing I have noticed is people's attire. It can be 30 degrees, and I guarantee you will see someone outside in short sleeves and shorts. Walk into work on a frosty, 30 degree morning and make a comment that it's a little cool outside, and there is always some macho guy who will say, "Oh, I think it feels good." Well, ok, if 2 degrees below the freezing mark feels good, then maybe he needs a medical check-up.

I'm a very logically minded person, and I feel like I've awoke in an alternate universe where hot and cold have reversed, and everybody gets it but me. Anyone else noticed this in your area?

 

[Bigfoot]

I think heat pumps did it. You can't get your house toasty warm with an electric heat pump. Once people got used to it, it became the norm. I try not visit my parents in the winter. The air is dried out, frankly it's just to hot there.

 

[dun]

I think a big part of the lack of AC in the summer and heat in the winter is a matter of cost

 

[Jogeephus]

I think it has something to do with the humidity. For me, my comfort zone is more controlled by the humidity in the air than the temperature.

 

[Ouachita]

Yes, humidity is a bigger factor for me too. Herofan, I think the problem was caused by thermostats. It got to easy to flip a switch and peoples "comfort range" narrowed tremendously. In the days of wood heat only, we had to build that fire hot, and heat that house up, just to get a few hours sleep and still wake up freezing. Same with A/C in the summer now; flip a switch. Used to, we opened windows and turned on the attic fan before sunrise, then close up tight and draw curtains.
We have just become conditioned to convenience, and more selective of our preferred temp zone.

 

[herofan]

You guys make some good points. So, are you saying that people's comfort zone years ago was what it is today, but they just weren't able to experience it as conveniently, and now that we are able to regulate so specifically, we get to experience our true comfort zone? That may be the way it is for some, but I still enjoy heat just as much as ever in the winter.

What about people wearing shorts and short sleeves in winter? I don't intend to offend anyone here who may do that, but seriously, if someone had done that when i was growing up, everyone would have thought they had mental issues, seriously, but today it's supposed to be normal enough that we don't notice. I remember my parents and grandparents reminding me to dress appropriately during cold days. Do some people not do that anymore?

I think a big part of the lack of AC in the summer and heat in the winter is a matter of cost

There's no lack of AC among people around here; that's part of my puzzle. People go nuts over AC, but use heat as little as possible and act as though that is comfortable.

 

[jedstivers]

I'm right there with you herofan. Some people's house I freeze in weather it's winter or summer. They keep them on 65-68. I can't take that. In the winter I come home cold and I want it good and warm. I refuse to be cold in my own house wether its winter or summer and I won't go to someone's that I will be.
When I built my house I didn't do a fireplace but now I kinda wish I had. I did put a gas space heater on the sun porch and the carport. I love them.

 

[Bigfoot]

I like 65 degrees year round. I can go much lower in the winter, but my wife complains. As far as what people wear outside, if my toes and hands are warm, I'm fine. Seldom wear a coat.

 

[Ouachita]

Oh, you're talking about the crowd that you see wearing a hoody sweatshirt with shorts and flip flops. I don't get that either. With some people it seems getting attention is more important than being comfortable, or maybe getting attention makes them warm and fuzzy?

 

[bigbull338]

i wear shortsleeves year round.an when winter hits i wear a light windbreaker.we have heated with wood for over 30yrs.an we rarely turn on our centeral heat on unless family is staying with us.now my hands cant take the cold like they used to.

 

[dun]

After I spent a year ine Iceland I went around in short sleeves in DC in the snow, still was a little too warm.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I seem to run warm, I can take cold weather really well, and I Sweat where most people are comfortable, we keep are house between 63 and 68 year round.

 

[jedstivers]

I seem to run warm, I can take cold weather really well, and I Sweat where most people are comfortable, we keep are house between 63 and 68 year round.

I'd die.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I seem to run warm, I can take cold weather really well, and I Sweat where most people are comfortable, we keep are house between 63 and 68 year round.

I'd die.

:lol2: most would, I'm just not comfortable being warm.

 

[herofan]

Hmmm. It seems that it is what some people are used to as well, but getting accustomed to something doesn't change my natural body functions. I did construction work a few years when I was young, and had to work outside in bitter temperatures at time, and taking care of cattle can be a cold job too, but that hasn't reprogrammed my body to not enjoy heat when it's cold when I can get it.

I'm not trying to make a mountain of a molehill, but it just seems to have really changed from when I was a kid, but my bodily feelings haven't changed. I still like heat when it's winter, and I like wearing warm clothes when it's winter time. That was normal when I was a kid, but seems like it needs explanation today. It's like saying that hitting your hand with a sledgehammer 30 years ago could cause damage, but it no longer does, instead, it feels gooooood! :???:

Oh, and aside from people wearing shorts in winter, I hate it when it's 25 degrees, someone walks in with a thick, heavy coat on, and someone asks, "What are you doing with that big coat on?" It seems obvious to me, but I guess it's a mystery to some.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I don't own shorts, but until it gets down to about 45 I will be in a T shirt if I'm working.

 

[cow pollinater]

I can deal with pretty much whatever the weather outside hands me. It's been in the twenties for about a week now and (out of necessity) I'm still walking around in short sleeves with just a vest on. In the summer I'm out in jeans in the hundred and fifteen stuff and I keep on going until it's all done for the day. But I'm kind of like jo and jed, when it's forty and foggy I'm like a popsicle and ninety with a cloud in sight is miserable. My house is always right around 75 in the summer and 68 in the winter. I tell my wife that when I'm done for the day that includes dealing with the weather. I WILL be comfortable in the house.
The weird thing about cold for me is I seem to only get cold in the afternoons. I can pop out of bed at 1:30 AM and go work for six hours straight outside with just a vest in temps in the mid twenties and then come home for half an hour and then head up to the cows where it's still frozen due to elevation in just a long sleeve shirt and I'm fine but then I sit down in the afternoon in the 68 degree house and all of a sudden I'm freezing my A$$ off. :???:

 

[j&lfarms]

I can be comfortable in any weather. We keep the thermostat set on around 68-70 and if I'm cold I add clothes and if I'm hot I take clothes off(to a certain extent lol, don't want to blind anyone). I do the same outside and if I get hot or cold a ideal with it. I tend to dress pretty light in winter when working tho. There is nothing worse than being soaked in sweat and cold.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

hero, I bet the average joe didn't have as much insulation when you were young as they do now. :hide:

I think it has more to do with environmental control. It is so easy to jump from the warm house to the warm car and back. I do go out unprepared for the elements often, if I'm not going to be gone very long. But if I'm going to be out in it for much time at all, I probably over prepare. I hate being cold and not able to get warm enough. Had a hand frost bit when I was a kid and it seems to be sensitive to cold. If I'm working, it isn't a problem. But if I'm watching a football game or hunting, I can't sit still and freeze in light clothing.

I also hate freezing in the summer. After working outside in 100 degree weather, below 75 is just not comfortable for me. My wife is the opposite.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

I can deal with pretty much whatever the weather outside hands me. It's been in the twenties for about a week now and (out of necessity) I'm still walking around in short sleeves with just a vest on. In the summer I'm out in jeans in the hundred and fifteen stuff and I keep on going until it's all done for the day. But I'm kind of like jo and jed, when it's forty and foggy I'm like a popsicle and ninety with a cloud in sight is miserable. My house is always right around 75 in the summer and 68 in the winter. I tell my wife that when I'm done for the day that includes dealing with the weather. I WILL be comfortable in the house.
The weird thing about cold for me is I seem to only get cold in the afternoons. I can pop out of bed at 1:30 AM and go work for six hours straight outside with just a vest in temps in the mid twenties and then come home for half an hour and then head up to the cows where it's still frozen due to elevation in just a long sleeve shirt and I'm fine but then I sit down in the afternoon in the 68 degree house and all of a sudden I'm freezing my A$$ off. :???:

It's your circadia rythyms. Also, when I haven't slept much, or am tired, I get cold.