Mods: You can move this to MPSIMS if you feel it’s more appropriate there.
Having lived on planet Earth for the past 60+ years I have recently discovered that I have a fairly narrow (I think) temperature comfort zone range. I determined this by adjusting our home heating and cooling system so that I’m not constantly taking off or putting on outerwear garments.
Just as a point of reference I work in a home office and my clothing choices don’t change much throughout the year. From M-F I where a short sleeve polo shirt, blue jeans and normal socks and underwear. On the weekends it’s basically the same except I wear a cotton t-shirt (sometimes with a long sleeve over-shirt if I am working outside) instead of a polo shirt.
Regardless of where I happen to be in the house, and there are no hot or cold spots except for the downstairs walk-out basement which is always a few degrees colder than the upstairs living area, I like the temperature to be somewhere between 68 degrees on the low side and 72 degrees on the high side. If it’s below 68 degrees I need to wear some outer garment and if it’s over 72 degrees I’m warmer than I would like to be.
So that’s my comfort zone range… a whole 4 degrees F. When I was younger I don’t think I was quite as sensitive to temperature, but my parents would typically set the thermostat to 72 degrees and leave it there year round. BTW, if I was forced to live in a world that was either colder than 68 degrees or warmer than 72 degrees I would choose colder in a heartbeat. I hate feeling warm and clammy.
So what is you comfort zone range and has it changed over the years? And how tolerant are you to temps outside of your comfort zone? I assume that most people have wider comfort zone ranges than I do, but I have never actually asked someone that question before. Let’s stick to Fahrenheit for this as my Centigrade to Fahrenheit skills are quite lacking.
Humidity is a bigger factor than temperature I think. I would say about 48 degrees on up to 105 degrees I am fine as longs as it is not overly humid. High humidity will start to affect me in the high 70’s and in the high 80’s I am not comfortable. If my indoor temps stay between about 60 and 80 I am fine but prefer the 67 to 70 range.
I live in San Francisco, and I have gotten very used to the climate here. The daytime highs range from the high 50s to the high 60s, and that’s about right for me. A little warmer is fine for an occasional change, but it would be hard for me now to acclimatize to a warmer climate, even just 50 miles south. We don’t need air conditioning, for which I’m grateful.
In the house I like to keep it around 69-70. I like it cool at night, so I keep a window open most of the year.
It’s a big deal. 50f in Seattle is where dismal begins. In Denver you’re looing for something with sleeves, but it’s not a pressing issue.
Here in semi-arid land, I start getting bitchy if it gets over 80f. Cold doesn’t bother me much but I do get somewhat put-out below 20f. For max comfiness I’ll take 74f±2 at <20% humidity. But I am no primitive animal, I will attempt to breed in conditions well-outside of that range. As long as it’s below 80f.
I’m good from Zero to Eighty, where I live with often single-digit humidity. I like wearing sweaters and coats. Unfortunately, summers round here are high 90’s to 104ish. Bah! Too hot for my hot dogs. Can’t wait for fall!
For me, humidity is important. If there is very little humidity, I need it to be over 80 degrees to be comfortable. If the humidity is high, anything over 68 is fine.
So, in the winter, when the house has low humidity, I keep the thermostat at 73-74, and I wear at least one pair of socks, often two. Shirts will all be long-sleeved, and I’ll probably be wearing a sweater as well. I’ll often put something on my neck, and if I’m really chilly, I’ll wear fingerless gloves inside the house.
In the summer, I keep the A/C at 76-77, just to keep the house from getting overly humid. I do this more for my husband and pets than for me.
It sucks being cold all the time. My feet and fingers turn white, sometimes even get a blue tint when I’m chilly. This started happening in my early 40s. I just turned 50.
Outside I’m fine with 60 to 82 or so. Inside I don’t like it above 75. I joke one of my coworkers thinks it too cold if it’s under 70 and too hot of it’s over 72.
My preferred range is 75-80. I just spent two weeks at my son’s house and he kept it at 72 and I had to wear a sweater all day. If it is not humid, I am happy up to 85. This has changed a lot a I got older. In the winter we keep it around 70, but I wear a heavy sweater and, often, gloves. We don’t have air conditioning, but if we did, I would set it to 78.
Have you been checked for Raynaud Syndrome? My wife suffers from it and she chills very quickly, especially her hands, and in general is cold unless it’s really warm outside or inside. The house is 72 degrees F right now and she is bundled up on the couch under a thick blanket. She would prefer I keep the house at 80+ degrees, but that’s not going to happen. It gets to -20 below where we live so she has a pair of very expensive, rechargeable heated gloves for winter. Best money I ever spent.
It looks like my comfort zone range isn’t as small as I thought it, but some people have amazingly large comfort zones, which must be nice. If I didn’t keep the house at a fairly tight temp range I would be putting on and taking off outer garments all day long. (I know, a truly first world problem.) Thank goodness for modern HVAC and a programmable thermostat.
My ideal temps are somewhere around 55-65. That said, during the summer, I keep the house at around 76-77 (it really is the humidity that kills me, so as long as the air is relatively dry, 76-77 actually still feels fairly cool to me), and in the winter around 68-70. (i have a wife and two kids, so there’s no way they’d let me drop it lower. When I lived with my brother, our winter thermostat was set to 58 degrees.)
I’m happiest when it’s between 68 and 85F inside and out. I can easily tolerate 40F and above outside, but I’m going to be wearing a sweater or long sleeve shirts, but inside needs to be in the 60s at minimum. When we had no power for a week and couldn’t keep the house above 54 everyone was utterly miserable.
Above 85 to 90…well, I don’t love that because the humidity always matches, but it beats the hell out of being in the 20s or 30s or colder.
Inside 60 to 72 degrees; outside 30 to 75. But as I often say ------ in the interest of full disclosure I am of Siberian ancestry. Most of my family can handle cold pretty easy and not reach for jackets or coats for shorter (less than a half our) exposure very often.
Indoors, between 60 and 77. In the winter, our thermostat is usually set at about 58 for the bedrooms and 61 for the rest of the house. Summer - it’s at 77.
Outdoors, when I have access to the right cloths? Between 20 and about 85F. Although if the 85 is humid, I get whiny.
Living here in Satan’s sweaty armpit, I’m used to high 80s with 300% humidity, but I prefer mid 70s. Anything below and I start to get twitchy. At home I keep my AC on 80 (though I’ll turn it down for guests)and during our occasional “cold snaps” (40 degrees?! What,are we in Reykjavík?)the heat goes no lower than 74.