# Turn the heat up, or put on a sweater? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004 "2017-12-21T16:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/61 "2017-12-22T13:50:31Z")
> [@mr\_horsepower](#): > > comfort is about temperature, but it’s also about humidity & temperature differentials. without knowing those you really can’t compare one persons ‘comfortable environment’ to your own. Apparently you can. If a person likes it warm in the house, then they obvious are sick or have some sort of disease 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/62 "2017-12-22T13:52:24Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I don’t really understand why you would wear shorts in the winter. Don’t you have to go outside ever? Generally speaking, your base clothing \*will \*be warmer in winter, so that it makes the transition to the outside easier. Why would I go outside in the winter? 😃 If I need to go outside, I put on jeans and a coat to walk to my car. Still with a T-shirt on though. I don’t have “summer” and “winter” clothes, plus I don’t even own a sweater 🙂 If I have to shovel snow or whatever, then I have one UMD hoodie that I wear over my T-shirt 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/63 "2017-12-22T14:13:56Z")
Once I switched to gas heat I put that thermostat up baby! And I see my Dad looking down on me disapprovingly every time but it’s my thermostat now! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/64 "2017-12-22T15:38:30Z")
We have natural gas heat and no central air. We have window A/C units for the bedroom windows but haven’t used them the last few summers. We use the window fans that have the double fans. They work great. We usually only have a week or 2 of hot summer nights - Lake Superior usually keeps us fairly cool at night during the summer. Our thermostat is set at 65. We never move it. We’re used to that temp, the few times I bumped it up I felt way too hot. I like it cool when I’m sleeping so I have a fan aimed at me even in the winter. I love to burrow down under my blankets. I wouldn’t be able to sleep if it was 77 degrees! In the winter, we’re dressed for winter. We both work, so we have to wear weather appropriate clothing to leave the house every day. When we’re watching TV or just hanging out at home we wear sweats or polar fleece pants, long sleeves and usually something over our shirt like a flannel or fleece. Slippers too. Sometimes cuddle up in a blanket on the couch. ---
**Author:** ![AngryBlonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f475e1/32.png) [@AngryBlonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngryBlonde)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/65 "2017-12-22T18:05:07Z")
I live in a warm climate so it’s not that cold in the winter. I keep the heat on 72 and the AC on 78. The heater usually only kicks on at night so it’s not particularly costly. If I’m still cold I put on a sweater. I have an AC/heat pump unit. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/66 "2017-12-22T18:07:22Z")
Would anybody’s answer change if the heater and/or AC were free to you? (not taxes or anything paying for it. Let’s say it’s just “magic”) ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/67 "2017-12-22T18:17:08Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why would I go outside in the winter? 😃 > > If I need to go outside, I put on jeans and a coat to walk to my car. Still with a T-shirt on though. I don’t have “summer” and “winter” clothes, plus I don’t even own a sweater 🙂 > > If I have to shovel snow or whatever, then I have one UMD hoodie that I wear over my T-shirt 🙂 OK Zuckerberg. What you’re describing doesn’t sound normal. I wear winter clothes in the winter, meaning long pants and long sleeves in the house, and summer clothes in the summer, meaning shorts and t-shirts. To compensate, and to save money, that means the house fluctuates between 62 and 68 in the winter, and 72 and 78 in the summer, depending on time of day and how many people are home. To answer the question in the thread title, if I’m cold at any particular moment I’ll tend to reach for the thermostat where my wife will tend to reach for an extra layer, but neither of us are doing that in the middle of winter while stubbornly wearing summer clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/68 "2017-12-22T18:20:49Z")
Well, I’m trying to keep this judgement free 🙂 Wearing shorts and a T-shirt is the most comfortable clothes I can wear, for me. Why wouldn’t I want to wear comfortable clothes inside my own house all year? What does the temperature OUTSIDE have to do with what clothing is comfortable for me to wear? And for people who think 76 or 77 degrees is some type of sauna or something, what do you do in the summer? Just never go outside? 🙂 Edited to add: Some people clearly have it hotter in their house in the summer, but it seems like if it was that temperature in the winter, they just couldn’t possible stand it, it’s so hot. I don’t get that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/69 "2017-12-22T18:21:56Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Would anybody’s answer change if the heater and/or AC were free to you? (not taxes or anything paying for it. Let’s say it’s just “magic”) No. When it comes to the thermostat setting, my attitude is that life is too short to have to endure discomfort to save a few bucks. The winter and summer temperature settings I mentioned are what they are because I consider them optimum for comfort. I actually have a hard time making a visceral connection between thermostat setting and cost, probably because I’ve never analyzed it in detail. The gas and electric companies send me bills with pretty charts, and I sort of glance at them without interest, then pay the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/70 "2017-12-22T18:26:06Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No. When it comes to the thermostat setting, my attitude is that life is too short to have to endure discomfort to save a few bucks. The winter and summer temperature settings I mentioned are what they are because I consider them optimum for comfort. I actually have a hard time making a visceral connection between thermostat setting and cost, probably because I’ve never analyzed it in detail. The gas and electric companies send me bills with pretty charts, and I sort of glance at them without interest, then pay the bill. That’s cool. I just went back and looked at your post about the temps you keep, and it differs in the summer and winter. The temperature OUTSIDE determines what your comfort level INSIDE the house is? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/71 "2017-12-22T18:26:50Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Wearing shorts and a T-shirt is the most comfortable clothes I can wear, for me. Why wouldn’t I want to wear comfortable clothes inside my own house all year? What does the temperature OUTSIDE have to do with what clothing is comfortable for me to wear? Pants and a hoodie isn’t exactly a tuxedo. I’m sitting here working right now in pajama pants and a hoodie, the house is set to 65 and I’m comfortable. > [@Slash1972](#): > > And for people who think 76 or 77 degrees is some type of sauna or something, what do you do in the summer? Just never go outside? 🙂 77 in the winter would be fine, but I feel like I’d be constantly changing my clothes. “Just got back from the store, better strip down so I can sit and watch TV, then put clothes back later on so I can go back outside and pick the kids up.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/72 "2017-12-22T18:28:15Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > OK Zuckerberg Also, I don’t get this. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/73 "2017-12-22T18:31:54Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Also, I don’t get this. There’s a certain type of person everyone meets in college who has 1 outfit that they wear all the time, regardless of the circumstance or temperature, meaning they’re usually outside in the winter in a t-shirt and sandals or something. Recently mocked in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oOlAGKBXnA), but famously portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg in _The Social Network_. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/74 "2017-12-22T18:34:00Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > There’s a certain type of person everyone meets in college who has 1 outfit that they wear all the time, regardless of the circumstance or temperature, meaning they’re usually outside in the winter in a t-shirt and sandals or something. Recently mocked in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oOlAGKBXnA), but famously portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg in _The Social Network_. Well, I don’t wear that OUTSIDE in the winter! It’s friggin’ freezing out! 🙂 I wear jeans and a T-shirt and a coat. I spent 3 years in Riyadh and pretty much wore shorts and a T-shirt every single minute I wasn’t asleep or in my AF uniform. It was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/75 "2017-12-22T18:58:40Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > That’s cool. I just went back and looked at your post about the temps you keep, and it differs in the summer and winter. The temperature OUTSIDE determines what your comfort level INSIDE the house is? You seem perplexed by that, but as several have pointed out, this is extremely common, practically universal, in fact. I see that you added the following to your previous post “_Edited to add: Some people clearly have it hotter in their house in the summer, but it seems like if it was that temperature in the winter, they just couldn’t possible stand it, it’s so hot. I don’t get that._” I don’t know what there is to “get”. That’s indeed the way it is. Maybe there isn’t that much climate variation where you live, but here winters are mostly below freezing and sometimes go into a deep freeze that approaches zero Fahrenheit, whereas summers get into the high 80s and low 90s and sometimes high 90s. And the optimum inside temperature is most definitely a function of the seasonal climate outside, to an extent that’s really quite remarkable. The highest temperature I’ll ever set in winter – just under 70F – would feel like a cold blast from the North Pole if I set it to that in summer. Not only that, but the optimum comfortable heating temperature is lower early in the season when it just starts getting cold, and rises (need to turn up thermostat) as it gets colder outside. I think I even saw a formula somewhere relating indoor to outdoor temperatures. I think the reason is partly acclimatization with the outside weather and partly the effects of humidity or lack of it. To a lesser extent I think another factor, at least in winter, is that when it’s very cold out you tend to get cold spots in various places and need a higher ambient temperature to compensate. This isn’t a factor with A/C in summer, I think essentially because the temperature differential between inside and outside is much more moderate in summer than in deep winter. > [@Slash1972](#): > > And for people who think 76 or 77 degrees is some type of sauna or something, what do you do in the summer? Just never go outside? 🙂 Sure I go out. I love warm summer days, although in my old[er] age I hate doing anything physically strenuous in hot weather. The point is that there is quite a range between optimum comfortable temperature and “intolerably hot”. My absolutely favorite weather is in the transition seasons of spring and fall – especially spring – when it’s in the high 60s. But higher temps are fine in the summer, one gets used to them. But once it gets into the 90s I generally won’t even sit outside on a shaded patio, at least not for very long. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/76 "2017-12-22T19:43:09Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Would anybody’s answer change if the heater and/or AC were free to you? (not taxes or anything paying for it. Let’s say it’s just “magic”) My apt has gas and electricity provided. I don’t like the way the heater dries out the air. A sweatshirt or an extra blanket suffice to keep warm. The winter lows are usually in the upper 40s to lower 50s so it isn’t really that cold anyway. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/77 "2017-12-22T21:32:47Z")
Here in the tropics you get whatever the outside temp gives you. When it gets down to 60 degrees at night (which is very rare) I sleep in a sweat shirt and sweat pants. In my hammock. However I have read (no cite) that the frequency of sex increases exponentially as the temp of the bedroom rises. If I wasn’t sleeping alone, I would take this into account. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/78 "2017-12-22T23:12:15Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Would anybody’s answer change if the heater and/or AC were free to you? (not taxes or anything paying for it. Let’s say it’s just “magic”) No, I like seasons. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/79 "2017-12-23T00:01:10Z")
This apartment has brick walls. In winter they will be cold no matter what, that is going to influence the perception of temperature and can’t be changed simply by setting the thermostat higher. So even if my preferred outfit was shorts and t-shirt that would be uncomfortable. And as it happens I grew up with wood stoves as the main heat source in winter, supplemented by electricity, and no AC in summer, so my preferred clothing is jeans and long sleeves. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004/80 "2017-12-23T00:05:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You seem perplexed by that, but as several have pointed out, this is extremely common, practically universal, in fact. For instance, I can see my thermostat right now, it says 75 degrees. I don’t have any idea what the temperature is outside. And it doesn’t matter how cold it gets, I will still be comfortable at 75. Do people find out the outside temperature before setting their thermostat? Isn’t that what climate control is? Mine is set up to turn on the heater or AC to maintain a constant temperature in the house. I always figured that people wore sweaters and crap to save money, but it seems like even if it was free, people would still wear sweaters and stuff inside their own house to keep warm, when they have a functioning heater. That’s what seems strange. To each their own, of course, and it’s your house. But being called sick, or having some disease just because I like to be warm in my house seems uncalled for. I also like 90 degree weather everyday!!! So take that and your crappy four seasons! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-the-heat-up-or-put-on-a-sweater/805004.md?page=5)