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

[MotorGreenGrass]

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?

@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 lived on the Mediterranean for a while. 1) the dry heat of summer is different to central heating. There is also option to go in the shade 2) air conditioning! You learn to remember to take a cardigan to the supermarket for example as the temperature difference between inside and outside cam be unpleasant 3) you go indoors at the hottest parts of the day 4) swimming 5) to drink more.

Avoiding heat injury was a Big Thing... kids sports day was done in March for example. The playground was shaded.

If I'm too hot, I wear loose, lightweight clothing, run my wrists under cold water, wet my hair and carry on with my life. If it's cold, I wear all the layers and strap a hot water to my middle and curl up into a ball under a winter duvet, shivering withing joints, and get a headache from tensing up my shoulders.

I have a heart problem so if I get cold it takes me ages to warm up, yet if I get too hot I will collapse.

I can't function properly in the heat and got very sick during the last heat wave in the UK (being sick, shaking, feeling cold and clammy). Also not being able to sleep in the Summer leaves me exhausted.

I very rarely have the heating on but live alone so it is my choice. I am very used to the cold.

I'd rather be too cold than be too hot. We can't afford to put the heating on in my house and we manage fine without it. It's not preferable but far more manageable than the heat in the summer. There's nothing I can do to cool down when it's hot. I don't understand the suggestion by a PP that it's surely not 35 in your house... I get too hot in the 20s! That's like me saying well surely it's not -20 in your house so can't be that cold.

@EmpressSuiko

I can’t get cold, I literally cannot move if I get too cold, my skin tears, I bleed and as I’m hyper mobile my joints get super painful and my fibro becomes much worse! When I’m too hot I feel a bit sick and tired but I find it’s easier to cool down than it is to warm up.

Wow, had no idea this was hyoermobile/fibro related (although I'm lucky to only get the pain, not bleeding). If I'm too cold I am in physical pain. Too hot is just uncomfortable. At work I accept the being colder as i work with hot people and keep a radiator below my desk to go with lots and lots of layers

@Aroundtheworldin80moves my husband is from South Africa and I’ve spent many months out there in all seasons so I can appreciate the difference in heat and humidity compared to the weather in the UK!
Even in the South African summers I always carried a cardigan or jumper in my bag as I would get cold on a cloudy day and defo needed it when someone put the aircon in full blast! The temperature changes very quickly when the sun goes down as well, if our life was different I’d consider moving there but we need to stay in the UK and put up with the constant cold!

@Binglebong yes to the heater under the desk! My old work placement was like a freezer in the winter but everyone else could cope as when they layered up they felt warm, where as I still feel the cold even with layers and thermals, people would always ask me how I didn’t get too hot with the heater on full blast but I wouldn’t have been able to function properly without it!

If you're cold you can put on more layers, you can only take off so much if you're too hot, can't take your skin off

Well being cold is horrible - I know I’m constantly cold despite wearing several layers in the top of each other. I love the summer heat when I’m going to the Med. The 35~40oC don’t bother me at all. Much nicer than being cold imo.

Being hot isn’t nice either, I get that. I know DH is happiest when it’s cold and hate the summer heat (let alone the Med temperatures!). And yes he doesn’t cope well with heat.

But the reality is that neither the person who feels the cold or the heat who feels the heat are wrong.
Putting some judgement behind it, telling the one who is cold to just wear layers (it doesn’t work btw) is just making things worse.

Being too hot makes me feel ill and I can’t function. I get headaches, feel nauseous, get dizzy.

So what works?

@MotorGreenGrass you put the heating up.

I’m lucky that we have a wood burner and a constant supply of wood with PIL so our house is always warm (over 20oC).
Otherwise, as some posters have said, heater under the desk if I work at home. Heating over 20oC when I’m at work (self employed so I chose!)
Other technique I regularly use is a warm Bath especially as the cold often stops me from falling asleep.

What doesn’t work … is putting layers on.

I don't know about others but I can't concentrate well or work when I am cold. The feeling of cold is always in my mind and I keep thinking about how uncomfortable I am. It is pervasive and even if I put warmer clothes on, I just still seem to feel cold and notice it. My hands get cold as do my feet (even with thick socks) and I just find it hard to think.

With the heat I can sit still and work even if I am really hot, it doesn't affect me in the same way. I do sweat a lot but that doesn't affect me personally in the same way, though it probably affects others more than me being cold . I don't move as much but it doesn't affect my ability to think in the same wat. That is up to about 30-35 deg. If we start to get to 40deg, then I have a similar feeling of not being able to push it out of my mind, though at least my hands and feet don't go hurt or go numb

Just to say I have a sitting down job though. I imagine if I had a more physical job I'd hate the heat as well

Your other thread states your lodger is too cold. You should just open a window in your room if you are too hot. Or wear something cooling like a t shirt.

That's illogical and a waste of energy. Rather than the OP stripping off and opening windows and letting the heat out, why doesn't the lodger dress more warmly?

I find often when people say they’re too hot in an indoor environment they are still wearing socks and jeans rather than shorts and flip flops for example and aren’t using a fan or anything to help cool them.

If you need to cool yourself down in your house in winter, you've got your heating up too high. With energy prices as they are, it seems utterly ridicous to make your house so warm that you need to wear shorts and flipflops!

Too cold - layers, thick insoles, boots, hat, gloves (I have crappy circulation and have managed to get frostbite a couple of times and that bloody hurts)

Too hot - I get bruises on my legs of o run/cycle, and ‘my eyeballs are melting’ (I’m not kidding - I visited a friend abroad and it was so hot my vision went bonkers - then he told me that his dad had visited the previous summer from India and asked if he was trying to kill him).

I’ll go too cold any day.

At the end of the day, if you are too cold you can put layers on. If you are too hot you are stuffed as fans don’t really help! (I’m someone who suffers at both extremes). Far better to be too cold in a house IMHO.

So what works?

Turning the heating up so the ambient temperature is warmer.
However, with costs being the way they are, I’m wary of doing that too often these days, hence me sitting here with so many layers but blue fingers!

I dont get this either. When in uni people in shortsleeves would shut the windows that were open for 5 minutes to get some fresh air because "they are cold". never mind they had a winter coat at the back of their chair. Still hate it 20 year later.

If your house is too cold you can put layers on, wear warm fluffy socks and snug bootie slippers, even a scarf, hat and gloves if you want to. You can have a hot drink, dance around the kitchen, do some star jumps. So many ways to warm yourself up. Cooling down is way harder, especially when you live with teenage boys who wouldn’t take too kindly to you walking around the house naked!

I would far rather be too hot. I'm at that point in the year where I can't imagine ever being warm again. I hate it.

If you’re the home owner and paying the heating bill, you decide IMO!

@PinkSyCo

If your house is too cold you can put layers on, wear warm fluffy socks and snug bootie slippers, even a scarf, hat and gloves if you want to. You can have a hot drink, dance around the kitchen, do some star jumps. So many ways to warm yourself up. Cooling down is way harder, especially when you live with teenage boys who wouldn’t take too kindly to you walking around the house naked!

Read the thread and learn from people who ARE genuinely deeply cold. Layers do not work Wo also having a warm environment.

(Warm baths also work but you can hardly spend the day in a bath!)

If you are cold
You can put on clothes and lots of layers. And gloves and hats.

If you are too hot and not at home - stripping naked is not normally acceptable!

Easier to warm up than cool down!