# Which climate? Always hot? Or always cold? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650 "2016-01-30T13:29:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/41 "2016-01-30T22:58:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Hmm, good point. Maybe I pick the cold, and build a giant heated greenhouse and garden. I hate the heat with the red-hot loathing of a 1000 suns. Or something like that. If it gets over 60, I am not happy. So I’ll take the cold. With the greenhouse and an indoor swimming pool while we’re at it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/42 "2016-01-30T23:09:05Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > …But those only work with significant seasonal temp variations. The OP specified a constant temp. Point taken. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/43 "2016-01-30T23:13:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Yes. What kind of hot? What kind of cold? I lived in the Mojave Desert. I’ve been to New Orleans several times. Ninety degrees in the high desert is very, very different from 90º on the Gulf Coast. Agreed. I’ll take an average 90 in the desert no problem - if it averaged that with humidity, I’d dislike it. That said, I’d probable take the heat either way. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/44 "2016-01-30T23:28:12Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There are no personal living-world devices you can take outside the house in the cold scenario. Everything will be frozen, utterly barren, all the time. It would be like living on the Matt Damon planet in _Interstellar_. This is for a localized climate, I’m sure in other parts of the world they’d still have agriculture. The question is more do you prefer Siberia or Iraq. I’d take Siberia. If someone invents a personal AC device that I can wear outside the house when I am walking around, then I’d prefer the hot climate. But w/o that, I wouldn’t like it. I know most of our lives are spent in air conditioned boxes (buildings and cars) but I still like to go outside. EDIT: Actually I think people did invent a wearable air conditioner. Nice. [http://www.veskimo.com/personal-cooling-system-9quart.html](http://www.veskimo.com/personal-cooling-system-9quart.html) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/45 "2016-01-30T23:48:46Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This is for a localized climate, I’m sure in other parts of the world they’d still have agriculture. The question is more do you prefer Siberia or Iraq. I’d take Siberia. Not all hot places are Iraq. I would probably find the Iraqi climate insufferable. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/46 "2016-01-31T00:12:29Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > AVERAGE temp. > > You dig a hole in the ground. Put a hatch on it. It is GOING to be the average temp of the surrounding area. Plus a small smidge from geothermal heat if you wanna get persnickity. That’s true, but not in the way that you mean it. Because the average temperature needs to include the night-time temperature, which is, of course, much lower than the daytime. Earth is a very good thermal insulator. Which is why below ground is so much cooler. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/47 "2016-01-31T00:14:36Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > That’s true, but not in the way that you mean it. Because the average temperature needs to include the night-time temperature, which is, of course, much lower than the daytime. Earth is a very good thermal insulator. Which is why below ground is so much cooler. What kind of average do you think I am referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/48 "2016-01-31T00:39:14Z")
If I had to choose, I’d choose always hot over always cold. In reality, I would love to live somewhere with 4 distinct seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/49 "2016-01-31T00:47:22Z")
I’ll take the heat. But I just got back from three weeks in Barbados where the highs are always in the mid-high 80s and the lows always around 75 and that is ideal. Even in July, the high is generally around 90. The humidity is tends high, but there is a constant breeze and the houses are open to them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/50 "2016-01-31T01:04:40Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > If I had to choose, I’d choose always hot over always cold. In reality, I would love to live somewhere with 4 distinct seasons. Here in the North East that’s exactly what it’s like and it is very special. As much as I hate the winter, I still get out and ski and skate. When the spring comes it’s like you just won the lottery. The birds are coming back and you can smell spring in the air. Summer is hot with long days and a feeling of immortality. When fall rolls around you get cool nights with the smell of firewood in the air. Four distinct seasons really is the best, even if winter sucks occasionally! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/51 "2016-01-31T02:07:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I live in Panama because I loathe the cold. And it’s not as bad as the conditions in the OP. It may be around 90 at mid-day, but it cools off to the mid-70s at night. And it never gets to over 100 like in the US in July and August. See, mid-70s at night is still too warm for comfortable sleeping for me. Drop that into the 50s, and you have some good sleeping! ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/52 "2016-01-31T08:54:15Z")
I had to go with the “I’m going to be difficult” option. neither extreme appeals. I suppose I would choose the cold as (and I quote **ddsun** here) “I hate the heat with the red-hot loathing of a 1000 suns” and then after a year or two I would quietly slip into the garage, start the car and go to sleep. I can’t live with a monoclimate. there HAS to be at least 2 1/2 or 3 seasons or I get beyond cranky and depressed ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/53 "2016-01-31T11:07:28Z")
I definitely prefer warm to cold, but I appreciate the argument that it’s easier to warm yourself up than it is to cool yourself down. And we’ve had a couple of stretches of heatwaves this summer and that’s really no fun at all if you don’t have air conditioning. But I still prefer warmth. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/54 "2016-01-31T13:30:05Z")
Cold, and it’s not a contest. Setting aside the recent blizzard, I have never been so happy with the weather in my day-to-day life as I have been since experiencing my first winter back east. The past few weeks where temps have often been in the 20s leaving my house and maybe peaking in the upper 30s have been glorious. I’ve always hated summer, even living in the relatively comfortable summer environs of SoCal. I feel no loss going the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/55 "2016-01-31T15:03:50Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > If I had to choose, I’d choose always hot over always cold. In reality, I would love to live somewhere with 4 distinct seasons. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Here in the North East that’s exactly what it’s like and it is very special. > > As much as I hate the winter, I still get out and ski and skate. > > When the spring comes it’s like you just won the lottery. The birds are coming back and you can smell spring in the air. > > Summer is hot with long days and a feeling of immortality. > > When fall rolls around you get cool nights with the smell of firewood in the air. > > Four distinct seasons really is the best, even if winter sucks occasionally! Four distinct seasons is what I miss from growing up in the northeast. Each season brings a nice change and helps mark the passing of time. Near San Francisco, I relish the rare heavy rains or the business trips to winter cities in the snow. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/56 "2016-01-31T15:40:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > This is for a localized climate, I’m sure in other parts of the world they’d still have agriculture. The question is more do you prefer Siberia or Iraq. I’d take Siberia. Most of Siberia still has a growing season, even if measured in scant months or weeks (southern Siberia is actually temperate). I’m not talking about agriculture, I’m talking about vegetation, life. Siberia mostly has that, even where it is chilly and austere. But this scenario is literally frozen _all_ the time. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I know most of our lives are spent in air conditioned boxes (buildings and cars) but I still like to go outside. You wouldn’t be going outside much in this dead place. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/57 "2016-01-31T15:55:06Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > What kind of average do you think I am referring to? Average daytime temperature, of course. Is there actually anywhere significantly inhabited which has a 24 hour average of 90 with minimal daily deviation? Mecca and Wyndham Port approach that, but being in the desert, get much colder at night and hotter during the day. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/58 "2016-01-31T16:56:25Z")
I guess always hot includes the night? Otherwise it’s a no-brainer, as you’d likely still have comfortable temperatures some of the time, but in Cold Land it just gets worse at night. Even if the answer is “yes, always about 90” I’ll take Hot Land. Everything looks better and everyone seems to feel better under bright sunshine. There are many songs that back me up on this. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/59 "2016-01-31T18:10:41Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > You can choose a place that is always just below freezing or you can choose a place that’s always just above 90. > > In this scenario, the cost of maintaining and running heating or AC in your home, will be free of charge. > > Which do you choose? Above ninety degrees in a climate like the summers in southern Alabama with 90% humidity or above ninety degrees in a climate like the spring in southern Arizona with 10% humidity? Ninety degrees in Phoenix, AZ is just about perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650/60 "2016-01-31T18:42:31Z")
I’ll take the always hot option. I can’t tolerate the cold. About 85 degrees and I’m finally comfortable. I’m that person in the office wearing a heavy cardigan sweater in July. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-climate-always-hot-or-always-cold/744650.md?page=4)