Why does it feel colder inside in the winter even though the thermostat says the temperature is the same?
In: Biology
It’s all about energy (heat) balance.
First, we need to remember that Heat is simple energy transferred by three different methods: conduction, convection, and radiation. Our bodies “feel” those methods of heat in different proportions.
It feels heat roughly thru 25% conduction, 25% convection, and 50% infra-red radiation.
Think about how you can stand in the sun on a freezing day and feel warm, and yet be freezing in the shade around the corner. The air hasn’t changed.
But what’s at play, are the surfaces (notably windows) around you – they get cooler (or warmer) as the seasonal temperatures change, and the balance of IR energy shifts (the emit less when they are cold, and more when they are warm).
There are optimal points where you feel comfortable – with warm surfaces, the air around you can actually be kept a few degrees cooler and you’ll feel fine. Likewise, if the surfaces around you are cooler, you’ll need to crank the air temperature up to compensate.
It’s also why in the summer, your house can feel suffocatingly hot at night, because all the inside surfaces have built up energy over the day and are releasing it, despite the air temperature being cool.
Humidity does play a small role, but only because water droplets can hold more heat energy than air, and give off a bit more IR.
So to summarize a few good answers:
1. indoor air is drier in winter, so sweat evaporates faster, cooling your skin;
2. there may be drafts and pockets of colder air near the floor;
3. the walls are colder and don’t emit the usual amount of infrared radiation, so you lose heat due to your body emitting more IR than it receives;
4. you may spend more time indoors and hence have less physical activity, so your body generates less heat.
Moving from Ohio to Florida I learned the difference between dry cold and wet cold. In Ohio, yeah it got cold as fuck…I have been through more than a few days in negative temperatures. But like, you bundle up and you’re pretty much fine. Hell, it could be 30 degrees and I’d barely put on more than a light jacket unless I planned to spend much time outdoors.
In Florida, for years I couldn’t figure out how like, getting down to 35-40 degrees felt absolutely bone-chilling cold! I was like am I acclimating? Am I losing my natural Northern resistance to cold? Am I becoming a wuss?
Then I went back to visit Ohio one February, and accidentally forgot my coat at home. And I was *fine*.
Floridians explained it to me. It’s humid in Florida year round. And a wet cold permeates like nobody’s business. It seeps in. It penetrates your blankets and warm clothes, and it gets down to your bones.
Because there are several types of heat but your thermostat only measures one type.
In summer radiation is intense, heat is intense, & depending on where you are humidity can be high. High radiation causes walls to be warm. Direct sun can cause radiative heating on your body even if blinds are closed some sun gets in. So you have radiation, conduction from the walls. Convection is minimized by AC but the other elements aren’t.
In winter you have cold air outside the window. So you have radiative and conductive heat loss. Drafts develop near poorly insulated windows which is convective heat loss.
The only rooms immune from these phenomena are indoor rooms like a half bathroom or something.
The dry air also makes you feel colder but that can be solved with a humidifier. The only way to solve the colder temps is to raise the thermostat a degree or two.
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