posted
In my experience, women always want it warmer than men would prefer. I have heard biological explanations for this, but I'm also curious to know if it's always true.
I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to temperature. I usually don't notice the temperature one way or the other, unless somebody points it out . . . at which point I'll say, "Man, you're right! It IS hot as blazes!" But every once in a while I'll notice that Cor has the house set to a slow roast . . .
My feeling is, the person who wants it colder should prevail, because if you're cold, you can always put on more clothes, or a blanket, whereas if you're too hot you only have so much clothing you can take off. If somebody's going to be uncomfortable no matter what, then it may as well be the person who can do something about it. True, this is often self-serving, but it also seems logical to me.
We don't argue about temperature at home too often, but from time to time it comes up. What we argue about with a much greater frequency is air conditioning in the car. No matter what the temperature is, I simply must have air circulating. It doesn't need to be chilled . . . I can just turn on the fan with no AC, but I can't stand it when it's too still. Does anybody else have this particular hang-up?
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Dec 2002
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Well in the house I would say the person who wants it colder should win, as the other could just put on warmer clothes, but there is a limit to how much you can take off. In the car, that might not be practical.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Here's a solution which is fair over the course of a year, and also saves money. Let the person or people who want to move the thermostat closer to the outside temperature win. The cold people are happy in summer and the hot people are happy in winter and there is never a time that you are paying money and using energy to make someone less comfortable. In other words, it takes a unanimous decision to move the thermostat in the direction away from the outside temperature, but in the other direction its allowable for any individual person to move it.
That works great here. I suppose it only is fair in parts of the world where heating and air conditioning are needed for roughly a balanced number of months in the year.
[ October 24, 2003, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: ana kata ]
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Well, my solution probably produces greater comfort, but ak's is better for the environment, so I think I will endorse hers.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Hopefully you guys will work it out in a better way than my best friend's parents...they're happily married, but a few years into their marriage they decided that the temperature thing could only be solved one way. They've been living in separate rooms for the past 8 years! Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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The biological explanation is one of mass to surface area ratio. Men tend to be more massive, and so tend to need less warmth. Very large women also don't like it warm. We got a far infrared blanket from Nikken that supposedly normalizes the temp for both. I am more warm under it, though hubby will still push it off sometimes. Though he says it fixes his heartburn
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I think pooka's explanation is not so much biological as it is physical(i.e. having to do with physics). Assume both starting out at 98.6 F. More surface area, but same amount of mass = more conduction, convection, same amount of black body radiation. More conduction and convection means more cooling when it's colder than you are, more heating when it's hotter than you are, or more simply, the rate of heat transfer is proportional to the surface area. So really, it's not about how massive you are, it's about density. Of course, I'm not taking into account the insulating properties of fat layers(of course your skin may still feel cold, while your guts are nice and warm). And the fact that you burn more calories when you're cold, although doing the same amount of exercise, so the ability to produce heat quickly to regulate body temperature might be a factor as well if men (on average)naturally have a faster metabolism than women.
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Then why do I always want the thermostat low? I don't think it's a body mass thing in my case. *is freak* My roommates in college were from a region of Texas bordering on the inferno, apparently, because they were constantly putting the thermostat between 80 and 85. The heat waves in that room nearly knocked me over sometimes. By contrast, when I had my own apartment in Little Rock last year, I only turned the heat on once all winter (during a three-day ice storm).
Actually, I think it's my blanket fixation more than anything else. When I'm at home, I have a pathological need to have a blanket covering me, no matter what the temperature is. So it's just as convenient to keep the heat off if I'm going to cover up anyway. Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I know that people who have more "padding" are often warmer. But I'm not so sure its true 'cuz I'm always cold. (and my normal body temp is like 93....yeah, I'm weird)
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I win in the summertime here in Phoenix. I attribute it to the fact that I get sick if too warm, and my poor computers don't like to get too hot either.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I turned off Folding@Home, but we just can't have that, now can we? Posts: 851 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Well, we try to work out a compromise in the house. It's not unusual in the summer to have the air conditioner going keeping me comfortable while Diane has a space heater aimed at her legs - she doesn't have the greatest circulation in her legs and they do get really cold.
Same thing in the winter - except that I open the window once in awhile to cool things off.
Driving is trickier. Diane rides in her chair behind the front seats in our van. The heat pours out of the front. Which is where I am, of course. Usually, I'll blast the heat out for awhile with windows closed to warm our tank of a vehicle up and then open a vent and/or window so I can get comfortable.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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My parents fight about the temperature often. My dad likes it cold, and my mom likes it warm, but she doesn't know how to work the system right so she's sort of been banned from touching the thermostat. That's one way to solve it, I guess.
And is it normal to sleep with a thick comforter all summer?
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Thank you, Icarus, for that flashback to my childhood. We didn't have air conditioning, so it wasn't an issue during the summer, but in the winter it was inevitable: every time my dad walked by the thermostat, he turned it down; every time my mother walked by the thermostat, she turned it up. And I'd sit and laugh at the both of them. There was never any real conflict over it - my parents never fought, or even argued. The thermostat thing was as close as they ever got to it.
In fact, I was just telling my mother about this thread and she got a good laugh out it, and the memory of the thermostat wars.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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My parents were cheap, so it was always cold in the winter. Mom, however, was colder than Dad.
Now that I live in my own apartment with heat included in the rent, I can keep my apartment a comfortable temperature. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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It can't be just mass-to-surface-area ratio, as I'm quite skinny but still like it cold. However, I do seem to have a very fast metabolism (resulting in the skinniness). At the risk of being attacked, I will say that I can spend all day munching candy bars and not gain an ounce. So perhaps the extra metabolic heat is enough to compensate.
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I prefer cooler temperatures. My best friend (male) prefers warmer. We drive together fairly frequently, and that's really bad. I finally bought him a pair of electric socks so I didn't have to deal with him complaining that his feet were cold while I was suffocating from the heat.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I prefer it warm, but everyone else in my family prefers it cold. Needless to say, I lose. I definately think the person who wants it warm shoudl win. I have a really fast metabolism, but my normal body temperature is somewhere around 94 or 95; If I have a temperature I might get up to normal.
Luckily for me, my family believes in electric blankets. So in almost every room in my house there's always an electric blanket for me to warm up under.
*sighs* I looooove electric blankets.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I usually like a room a little warmer than my roommate does, so usually, he'll have his window open, I'll have mine closed. I guess, in effect, we essentially average our desired temperatures and if I'm still cold, I'll wear more clothing or dive under more blankets.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: Jan 2001
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"women always want it warmer than men would prefer."
Not always, but generally, yeah.
"My feeling is, the person who wants it colder should prevail, because if you're cold, you can always put on more clothes, or a blanket, whereas if you're too hot you only have so much clothing you can take off."
Makes sense- to an extent. I live in Alaska. Posts: 1103 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I am usually warm, and my wife (JenniK) is always cold, so I understand these arguments. I bought JenniK an electric blanket for Christmas last year, and my family thought I was nuts! " This is the woman you are proposing to, right?" they said, "That is not a good thing...". Jenni opened it and started yelling and jumping up and down....it was pretty silly, but cool.
Now if I could just get her to stop turning MY side on, so I can stop sweating!!!!
posted
I am perpetually cold, so I was thrilled when Kwea got me an electric blankie last Christmas! It was the best gift (well maybe the engagement ring out did the blankie) and I love it. As for turning his side on.....I want the whole bed to be warm so that his side doesn't "leach my heat" so I turn it on......he just doesn't turn it off.....at all.......if I didnt turn it off in the morning it would be on all day long! Posts: 325 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Putting on more clothes doesn't work, really. When you're very cold your hands ache and get stiff, your feet just turn into blocks of ice and stay that way no matter how many layers they have on them.
They keep it so cold in my office in the summertime that it takes half an hour in the summer heat inside my car for me to warm back up at the end of the day sometimes. Or else I can soak in a very warm bath and that will also work.
When your metabolism is turned down low as mine is, you're like a turtle, sometimes. Unless it is warm in the environment you can't really stir or move.
Men's metabolism does tend to be higher. There's a good reason for this. That's why they're so nice to cuddle with. They make excellent hand- and foot-warmers, too. Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I agree that a high metabolism can be as much of an issue as mass/surface area. Men tend to be higher in both, but there are always exceptions.
Eruve, body temp below 97 could be a symptom of thyroid issues. Of some kind. I'm not a doctor. I've just been a patient before.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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In our house, it's never been too much of an issue -- we're either both hot (daytime), or she's cold and I'm fine, in which case we can turn up the heat. In the house, I generally don't care, unless I'm working. If she expects me to work, the house doesn't get any hotter than necessary.
In the car, whoever is driving wins. If I get too warm while driving, I'm more likely to get sleepy, and we both agree this is a bad thing. If she's driving, it's important that she be comfortable, because as we all know Mama has a wicked temper, especially when she's cold, and road rage becomes imminent. (This is patently untrue.) Often she'll allow me to turn things cooler, though, because I'm less able to deal with the discomfort than she (psychologically, rather than physically). Plus there is the whole "she can put on more clothes" thing.
posted
The only argument in my house is that my father doesn't want to pay the money for the few extra degrees that make it possible to get out our polar bear suits, and my mother is quite willing to. This means the temperature fluctates quite a bit, depending on whose home. Usually, if they're both home, it's warmer, because my fathe gets out voted by those of us who do not want to wear our polar bear suits constantly.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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In my house, my mom always wins. My dad is always cold and has been known to wear sweaters in the middle of summer whereas the rest of us are usually always warm-ish. I tend to be the coldest of the kids and my mom, however, so I usually end up wearing some combination of summer and winter clothing - half of me is cold and half of me is warm and somehow I've come to find a balance in that. As for why... I'm relatively skinny/petite, have a high metabolism, and my normal body temperature is around 99 (rarely below). Personally, I'd rather be cold than hot as I tend to get sick when I overheat but I do have my limits in that direction as well.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I personally hate the cold. I can handle it outside, but inside when its cold in my house for extended periods of time, I get sick. Massive headaches usually occur.
You say that there is a limit to how much clothes that you can take off, so I propose a solution. The other person can not make it warmer than you feel comfortable naked in.
I think that when I get a wife, there shall be no air-conditioning, and we'll just have to spend all day naked.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote: I think that when I get a wife, there shall be no air-conditioning, and we'll just have to spend all day naked.
I don't get how thicker clothes can't warm you up...
I HATE-and I mean hate, abhor, and detest-hot weather. I can't stand it. I would be perfectly happy wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flop sandals if it was 50 degrees farenheit where I live at all times.
Posts: 354 | Registered: Jun 2002
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I noticed that too Lissande, I wouldn't have used the choice of words myself, but hey, we all know what he means. Unless he really does think he can just "go out and get a wife." Posts: 354 | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:I HATE-and I mean hate, abhor, and detest-hot weather. I can't stand it.
I right there with you, Wetchik. And here I am, living in a place where it fairly regularly gets over 100 F in the summer, and sometimes summer holds on until oh.... now. We've still got a 91 in the forecast for Monday or Tuesday. Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I guess that was a poor choice of words. Actually I'd say the chances of me getting married ever are only like 50%. And thats when I'm feeling optimistic .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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I don't get how thicker clothes can't warm you up...
Well, if you've ever been camping in the middle of the winter you'll understand, especially with the feet. If you get cold enough, then your body stops attempting to warm up your extremities (decreased blood flow to the extremities). It's a survival mechanism. The only real way to warm feet and hands up if they're already to the point of being stiff, is to work them enough so that your blood gets circulating through them again, either before or after adding the extra clothing. It's much easier to keep your feet warm than it is to warm them up in the first place.
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There was never any real conflict over it - my parents never fought, or even argued. The thermostat thing was as close as they ever got to it.![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
I have a really fast metabolism, but my normal body temperature is somewhere around 94 or 95; If I have a temperature I might get up to normal.![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
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