I hate, hate, hate, hate cold weather. I really do hate it. If I was rich, I’d move to Bermuda in a NY second.
But, the worst is the first couple of cold days. The house seems so darn chilly & damp no matter what. Even after turning on the central heat at 74 degrees. I get chills laying down in bed.
After two or three uncomfortable days it isn’t so bad. As winter rolls along the house feels fine. But, geez those first two cold days are rough. Seems like part of it is the damp that’s still in the house when winter starts. The humidity drops a lot inside after the furnace has been on a few days.
We had a temperature drop from 75 Friday to 45 today. I really waited too long to turn on the furnace. It was already down to 67 in the living room this morning.
I’ve wondered the same thing about heat. The first heat wave of the summer is just hellish…but the next few just aren’t so bad.
Is this reflected in fatality stats for heat waves? Is a heat wave that follows a previous heat wave by a few days or even weeks less deadly than the first one?
Actually there is a need to heat up the walls at the beginning of the cold weather. Same principal as being away from a place over the weekend and the heat has been turned off/way down. I remember reading about it in an article on why empty houses seem to fall apart faster than occupied houses - the heat from living in it in cold weather keeps the moisture from doing the expand when freezing bit and damaging the plaster and drywall, and separating the paint layer from the walls and trim. [they spall off, fall off in sheets and chips more or less] Same principal, we feel cold because the area has not really warmed up yet and we are getting ‘radiant cold’ instead of ‘radiant heat’ effect. Apparently according to the article that is one reason it is better to just leave your heat on at a slightly lower level all the time instead of dropping the heat way down when you are not at home and putting the temp up when you get back home in the evening.
I am assuming you live in a place where central-heating and cooling is standard. Most of the world do not enjoy those luxuries. I do not and I live in a developed nation.
The human body is extraordinarily adaptable which explains why humans live from the equator to extreme latitudes. We are wonderfully adaptable.
House feels better already today. I guess there’s less moisture (humidity) inside and the wall cavities have warmed up. This cold snap really blindsided me. We usually don’t get down into the forties for another month.
We’re supposed to be back in the 70’s by Wed. Arkansas is known for these kinds of temperature swings. But, 40 degree weather the first week of Oct is insane.
I have always heard (such as in excessive heat warnings) that heat stress is cumulative, as also mentioned here:
Not so sure for successive heat waves, but generally the first heat advisories are issued for cooler temperatures, especially if it occurs early in the season before it has warmed up to normal summertime temperatures. This probably also occurs from cold, at least when it is extreme enough that the body can’t adapt to it (note that a big factor in human adaptability is clothing; people who don’t wear the right clothing can be much more vulnerable to cold or heat).
Sorry to bust your bubble. But, Central Arkansas gets snow usually twice a winter. We get some days in the twenties. I’ve seen teens a few winters but not very often.
Southern Arkansas (where I grew up) is actually worse because they get ice storms instead of snow. Ice takes out power lines really quick and makes the roads impossible to drive. I’ll take snow any time over ice.
The weird thing here is we’ll be in the low 50’s in the winter and then get a week of 20 degree weather. Then back into the upper 40’s and low 50’s.
The wild temp swings makes it harder for me to handle cold weather. If it stayed cold then I could adapt easier.
The body does many things to maintain it’s temperature within a pretty narrow range (sweating, changes in circulation, etc), but I don’t think HSPs are really a part of that system. They’re very important for a wide variety of things at the cellular level, but do they actually play a role in thermoregulation in humans?
If I was rich, I’d move to Bermuda in a NY second.
I really waited too long to turn on the furnace. It was already down to 67 in the living room this morning.