At the risk of sounding like a racist jerk, my own completely and totally subjective experience with coworkers seems to show that my black colleagues always complain about the AC more than non-blacks, wearing sweaters and jackets when I am in my short sleeves.
And in mine, too. I’m always warmer, and will sit on the couch in shorts and a T-shirt while my GF is wrapped up in a blanket.
But in bed, at night, she always feels much warmer than me.
Hormones have something to do with it. I am usually cold in my air-conditioned office every summer, but this year I am pregnant and haven’t felt cold at all. Summer heat bothers me more when I am pregnant, even when I haven’t gained much weight yet.
I think acclamation has a lot to do with it as well. My sister recently spent about 2 years in the Dominican Republic, after living in Michigan her whole life. She got used to the heat, and when she would visit Michigan in the summer, she would be wearing jeans and a sweatshirt if it got under 80° or so. Her first winter back in Michigan she was regarded as a total wuss. 
Now that she has been back a while she is adjusting back again.
Some of it is just circulation or something though, I think. My husband just radiates heat. I can quickly warm myself by cuddling up next to him, and I have trouble keeping warm at night if he is not in the bed. He doesn’t have that problem sleeping alone, so it’s not just adding another person. I also have the cold feet and hands problem, his are always warm.
My Mom said I hated anything higher than 70 from birth, and I still do. My weight as an adult has ranged from 150 to 300 pounds and I hate the heat at all of them.
I often describe myself as a polar bear type of guy. Big, pale, lumbering, hirsute, top heavy, clumsy, and prone to scratching my back on door posts. I also find myself distracted and uncomfortable when the room temperature is anywhere above 75º F. Which, given my current office situation (old building, poor air conditioning, Austin heat) is most anytime after 9:00 AM. My ex-wife, also of stocky build, has a similar intolerance for heat. Her case, however, I think I am right in saying, has more to do with poor circulation than her having been raised in Seattle (to which she always attributed her preference for cooler temperatures). Though IANA doctor, I do have vivid memories of being shocked awake on any number of occasions as the iceblocks otherwise known as her feet came in contact with my legs.
In that factor (among very, very many others), my ex seems to be the exception that proves the rule. Every other female I have known who has expressed to me an intolerance for temperatures of one extreme or another has preferred a warmer thermostat setting. I had the misfortune some years back of serving as supervisor to a lady who was cynical, suspicious, and eternally eager to be offended. Our office faced west, and each afternoon the rays of the setting sun poured through a plate glass window, shooting the temperature of the room up into the 80s or even 90s. The thermostat resisted all attempts at regulating this spike, so I frequently found myself coated with sweat by about 2:30. When I expressed a degree of astonishment that my coworker was not in the least put out by the ambient temperature (in fact, she was wearing a windbreaker over her business suit), she lapsed into a sullen silence. About 8 hours later it suddenly hit upon me that she had thought I was making some kind of subtle menopause joke.
Thanks for all the responses!
Just to clear things up. In my OP, my best friend and I are both women, the same age (37/38), just about the same weight and height. I am the hot one, she is the cold one.
In our marriages, I am the hot one, Suburban Plankton is the colder one. (But not as cold as my friend.) In her marriage, she is the cold one and he is the hot one (but not as hot as I am). It’s just so weird. Four people, four various temperatures.
CAH (crazy ass hypothesis):
Women’s circulatory system must be able to support pregnancy. When it’s cold, the fetus’s got to stay warm. So, when a woman starts to get a little bit cold, the circulation to her limbs is lowered while the circulation to her center of body mass is increased. This keeps the fetus in an environment where it can thrive.
Men, on the other hand, don’t (usually) get prego. Also, their muscle mass in their upper body allows their center of mass to stay warmer with not as much caloric expenditure.
It’s also very cultural.
Every office I’ve ever been to in Japan is air conditioned to 24C. At first I thought it was for energy conservation but then I came in the winter and it was very actively heated to 24C. I asked – that’s the room temperature. :eek: How I remember room temperature defined in Russia is 17C for school and work and 19C for home.
Personally, I’m very tolerant of any temperature (if I’m having fun or doing nothing) and very intolerant of heat (if I’m working). [Warning, switching to Fahrenheit]. I prefer 55F when I’m working wearing shorts and a t-shirt, 50F if I have to wear pants and long sleeves. If I’m just relaxing and watching TV, up to 95F is fine. If humidity stays low, I’m not complaining too much up to 110F outdoors. Just don’t make me think.
My mother used to be cold all the time, while my father was hot. Then she hit menopause, and he had a stroke, and after that, she was sweating while he was freezing. I assume the stroke probably had something to do with it, but my dad wanted the thermostat on 83 all the time after the stroke. I remember him wearing a jacket when it was 75 degrees outside.
I’ve been hot ever since my last two babies were born, and I’m fairly sure I’m not menopausal yet. I was always hot when I was pregnant, so I would suspect that hormones might play a role.