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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why do people think being cold is automatically more an issue than being too hot?

215 replies

MotorGreenGrass · 06/03/2022 13:36

I started a thread about the heating and my lodger.

Automatically people state they can’t be cold…. At the same time, neither can I be too hot?

So surely a consensus can be meet?

OP posts:
TooManyPJs · 06/03/2022 14:29

I'd rather be too hot than too cold. I can't think when too cold and jumpers etc don't always help. You still get cold hands and face. Horrible.

Abraxan · 06/03/2022 14:29

For me being cold causes my arthritis pain to be worse, so I hate being cold. It really hurts at times.

My sister has Raynard's - again pain when cold.

fungh · 06/03/2022 14:30

I'm very too hot in the UK in my house

fungh · 06/03/2022 14:30

rarely!

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 06/03/2022 14:31

@gamerchick

Being too hot is worse than being cold. Warming up is easier. Too many people think they should be able to wear tee shirts all year round. Put on layers, wrap up, keep your wrists and ankles warm and the rest is easier.

Cooling down is horrible and less options on how.

It's really not that easy for some of us. I am a cold person, and I get cold down to my bones. No matter how many layers I wear I cannot warm up. The only things that help are being right next to or under a heat source (like a heated throw), or getting into hot water. I'm cold at anything under about 25 degrees Celsius.

I can't really imagine being too hot. Literally the only time in my life I remember thinking "ooh, it is a bit too warm, actually" was in the Australian outback in December when it was about 48 degrees!

But as a cold person living with hot ones, I agree there has to be compromise.

DedalusBloom · 06/03/2022 14:31

@RampantIvy

"No, not for me it isn't. I need a warm ambient temperature as well as several layers to warm up. I don't walk around in shorts and T-shirts unless the weather is genuinely hot. I wear jeans and jumpers in winter and cooler weather. It has to be 21 degrees before I take my socks off.

I must be a lizard."

you are going to LOVE the menopause. Grin

phoenixrosehere · 06/03/2022 14:32

If it's too hot on the other hand, once you've stripped off all layers and opened a window (wasteful if you're too hot due to the heating being on), there's not a lot left you can do.

Agree. Major reason I don’t like beach holidays where there is little to no tree cover, unfortunately the in-laws love them so I grin and bear it for family holidays. When I get too hot, my blood pressure drops and if I can’t sit or lie down somewhere cool, I faint. I’ve had fainting spells since childhood because of heat. I run warm as it is so being in a hot place on top of it isn’t great. My sons and I run warm and DH is always cold.

Too cold though causes the joints in my hands to lock up but I can put gloves on and use heat warmers. I can always layer up when I do get cold but there is only so much you can take off without the possibility of arrest when it’s too hot..

GracieLouFreeebush · 06/03/2022 14:32

I have cold induced asthma, I can’t put on layers because I will still be coughing constantly and feeling cold because it’s the air around. We are skint at the moment so having to keep the house cooler than we would like and I’m having to lay with my entire body and head under the duvet. Once I’m cold there is very little I can do to warm up other than having a hot shower or bath and then get out into a warm room. I would much prefer to be too hot.

Abraxan · 06/03/2022 14:33

Jumpers and hot water bottles don't help that much with the arthritis type pain. And I'm certainly not going to sit in my home wearing gloves and several layers, totally bundled up. It's uncomfortable.

Gwenhwyfar · 06/03/2022 14:33

"No, not for me it isn't. I need a warm ambient temperature as well as several layers to warm up. I don't walk around in shorts and T-shirts unless the weather is genuinely hot. I wear jeans and jumpers in winter and cooler weather. It has to be 21 degrees before I take my socks off."

Same for me except that it would need to be more than 21 degrees for me to take my socks off.
I think being cold is worse than being hot because we live in a country where it is very rarely too hot. Temperatures over 30 are very rare in the UK.

Ringmaster27 · 06/03/2022 14:35

I’d rather wear every single piece of clothing I own in an attempt to warm up in a cold room than be too hot and unable to cool down Confused

RampantIvy · 06/03/2022 14:35

@LadyMonicaBaddingham

If you're too cold you can (for instance) put on an extra layer of clothing, thicker socks, make a hot drink.

If you're too hot then nudity is only rarely a workable solution...

Extra layers aren't enough if it is really cold. I need a warmer ambient temperature as well.

People who feel the heat easily just don't get this.

Gwenhwyfar · 06/03/2022 14:36

"I can always layer up "

Not really. I can't cover my nose, for example. I need the air around me to be warm.

"'m certainly not going to sit in my home wearing gloves and several layers, totally bundled up. It's uncomfortable."

Exactly. There are loads of things I can't do with gloves on.

Gwenhwyfar · 06/03/2022 14:37

@Ringmaster27

I’d rather wear every single piece of clothing I own in an attempt to warm up in a cold room than be too hot and unable to cool down Confused
Well maybe if the room was 45 degrees, but if the room is 22 or 23 degrees? I mean, how hot can it get in the winter? Even if you turn the thermostat to the max, it's unlikely to get hotter than twenty something.
Svara · 06/03/2022 14:46

Twenty something is summer heat but it feels hotter to me when it's indoor heating. Maybe because it's much colder outside, but it also feels like I need fresh air when it's warmer than 20 inside. I'm happy up to 35 in summer but the windows are always open, and it feels like different heat.

10001namechanges · 06/03/2022 14:47

If you're too cold you can (for instance) put on an extra layer of clothing, thicker socks, make a hot drink.

I’m sat in two pairs of socks, have a long sleeve thermal top on underneath my jumper and another long sleeve top, I have a blanket over me and I’m cold to the bone. I’ve had so many hot drinks I’m constantly on the loo. My fingers are blue and my nose is cold. I’m so cold it’s painful.

Your suggestions don’t always work.

Original poster
MotorGreenGrass · 06/03/2022 14:48

@10001namechanges

If you're too cold you can (for instance) put on an extra layer of clothing, thicker socks, make a hot drink.

I’m sat in two pairs of socks, have a long sleeve thermal top on underneath my jumper and another long sleeve top, I have a blanket over me and I’m cold to the bone. I’ve had so many hot drinks I’m constantly on the loo. My fingers are blue and my nose is cold. I’m so cold it’s painful.

Your suggestions don’t always work.

So what works?
OP posts:
PinkNails1 · 06/03/2022 14:49

I get a headache and feel nauseous when I’m hot. I also shiver and can’t concentrate if I’m cold.

SirChenjins · 06/03/2022 14:56

Too cold is bloody miserable - and it’s usually too cold (Edinburgh). Certainly an extra layer and a pair of big socks makes no difference at all. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times in a year that it’s too hot here. Thermostats are usually set to what 20-24 degrees? Hardly too hot. Too hot is thirty-plus.

EmpressSuiko · 06/03/2022 14:58

Out of curiosity, for those who struggle with heat, what **outdoor temperature do you find too hot?
I’m one of those unfortunate people who complain about being cold all the time, if the temp is below 23 degrees I will definitely be wearing a jumper or a cardigan, the slightest breeze causes my teeth to shatter, it’s incredibly uncomfortable and even painful to always feel so cold. If I could I would warm to a mover country!

EmpressSuiko · 06/03/2022 14:58

I would move to a warmer country!* no idea what my phone did to that sentence sorry!

Gwenhwyfar · 06/03/2022 15:03

"I’m one of those unfortunate people who complain about being cold all the time, if the temp is below 23 degrees I will definitely be wearing a jumper or a cardigan"

I need a cardigan up to 24 so you're 1 degree better than me. I'm comfortable at around 27 degrees, over 30 and I begin to get too hot again if I'm in direct sunlight.
I just don't believe OP's house is over 35 degrees so it can't be that uncomfortably hot.

LeftieLucy · 06/03/2022 15:03

The cause of the majority of mine and DPs winter arguments!

I grew up in a house with no central heating until I was 15. I can’t abide a warm stuffy room. Layer up in winter. Blankets and a hot water bottle of a night. DP can’t tolerate temps of lower than 21 whereas I’m more comfortable at 17-18 degrees.

Svara · 06/03/2022 15:05

@EmpressSuiko

Out of curiosity, for those who struggle with heat, what **outdoor temperature do you find too hot? I’m one of those unfortunate people who complain about being cold all the time, if the temp is below 23 degrees I will definitely be wearing a jumper or a cardigan, the slightest breeze causes my teeth to shatter, it’s incredibly uncomfortable and even painful to always feel so cold. If I could I would warm to a mover country!
I'm happy up to 35. I'm one of the few people without a fan on at work in a British heatwave. Indoor heating I find too hot above 20, it's too much of a difference between inside and outside temperatures and it's a different heat, I feel like I need fresh air.
Gwenhwyfar · 06/03/2022 15:05

@EmpressSuiko

I would move to a warmer country!* no idea what my phone did to that sentence sorry!
The problem is that many warm countries can have cold winters and not be adapted to it. In southern Spain for example they often don't have central heating. In northern Spain the winters can be extremely cold, but may still not have double glazing. I suppose you could live somewhere it's hot all year round, but you'd need to move very far away. (Yes, I have thought about this quite a lot).