The weather has been up and down where I live lately, we just came off a period of unseasonably warm days into much cooler days. I had yet to flip the AC back over to heat until last night when my house was showing 60 degrees. At that time, my hands, feet, and nose were freezing cold. Yet 60 degrees outside is a relatively nice day and certainly doesn’t leave you feeling freezing. On the flip side, if you’re house gets much higher than 72 you start sweating even though 72 is a pretty nice day outside.
Why does the indoor temperature seem to have such a greater affect on whether you feel hot or cold than the outdoor temp does?
In: Biology
Outdoor temperature is measured in the shade. A 60°F (15.5°C) day can indeed feel pretty nice, provided that there is some sun and not too much wind. Inside your house, you won’t feel any warmth from the sun. However, you can achieve a similar effect if you place yourself within view of an infrared heater. While catching the infrared rays from such a heater, you can feel comfortable even though the temperature of your environment is still only 60°F, just as 60°F outside in the sun can feel pretty nice too.
Conversely, 60°F outside can feel pretty chilly, if there’s a strong breeze and no sun.
There are a few more things to consider as well. First, what are you doing in both scenarios? If you’re sitting down, then your body is touching an object (like a bench, chair or couch) that’s also 60°F, and which will likely conduct heat a lot better than air does, which can make you lose heat faster (and thus feeling cold) than if you are walking or standing up and only in contact with the ground through your feet. Also, when outdoors one is often active, like walking or biking from one place to another, and that will also heat you up. Indoors you’re more likely to be inactive and sitting down.
Also, how are you dressed? Usually people dress for the weather when they go outside, putting on a coat, for instance. Indoors, they tend to wear indoor clothing, which usually doesn’t include an extra outer layer, and that layer could make all the difference.
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