How warm should a house be?!

[Lobster]

Now that the weather is turning cooler and the CH is on again, SWMBO and me have started the usual game where she keeps turning it up and I keep turning it down again... clearly we have a marital problem in that she can be wrapped up in a jumper but with goosepimples, whereas I'm sitting next to her wearing a T-shirt, but mopping sweat from my brow.

This year SWMBO has resorted to claiming I have some medical condition which has screwed up my thermoregulation, and the latest tactic she has sunk to is to blame the insulating layer of subcutaneous fat which has admittedly been increasing in thickness around my torso over the years, and that I need to lose some weight... Pah!

I know there's no easy solution to the problem of our temperature incompatibility, but I'm curious to know what others consider to be a 'normal' temperature around the house - ie is it 'my' problem or 'hers'!

David

[Dave]

It's not your problem or her's IME. It's the way it is. SWMBO fafs around with the thermostat all the time, her favourite trick being to turn it up full :-# She does the same in the car - has no concept of how thermostats work...

Dave

[Chris Bacon]

This is bloody irritating. I used to get that, also "Oh it's far to hot to do anything" in the summer. It seemed that 26-27 deg. C was the only acceptable range.

Bedroom, 18 deg. C; downstairs, 20 should be OK. It may help to show her the recommended temperature for bedrooms occupied by babies, or to put thermometers in all rooms.

[ben]

Is she skinny? skinny people feel the cold more so than people of average weight.

It has been a bit chilly last to days but appearing night time though.

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

18-21 deg C is about normal.

sponix

[Malcolm Stewart]

I'd say this is impossible to resolve in the home. When I was working we moved from individual offices (with separate radiators and openable windows) into a new open-plan area, and had a new air-conditioning system installed. Naively I expected that 20-21degC would be acceptable as it had been in the small offices, but I'd forgotten that at the time, most women were doing sedentary jobs such as clerical, whilst the men in this department were much more (physically) active. I'd also not realised how the slight but persistent a/c draughts affected one's perception of temperature. We ended up with the thermostat set so that the air temperature was 23degC. The women were happy sitting in their thin blouses etc., and the men learnt to remove their jackets. On entering the department, male visitors frequently remarked how hot it was, but seemed to accept the conditions after a few minutes. If we tried lowering the temperature slightly, complaints flooded in from the women.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It seems to be a female thing. I work with many girls of all ages on location filming where they'll wrap up well against the weather - and not be too concerned with how they look. But are far more likely to complain than the blokes. Of course they tend to be in more sedate jobs, I suppose.

[Jeff]

I call our thermostat the on / off switch because if the radiators are cold I get called all the names and she goes and turns them back on. Its the same in the car with the climate control We'll see how she gets on with the CM67's that are going to be installed ( tamperproof in a too technical way ) but I suspect we'll have some rows about TRV's

Regards Jeff

[Rob Morley]

Mines the same - and I've got less insulation than she has :-) I reckon women are designed to keep warm by constantly cooking, cleaning, washing while men are designed to stay cool by lounging in front of the telly in their vest and pants with a cold beer.

Of course it's your fault ;^>

[<me9]

I'd go for 16-17 for bedrooms etc, and 19 for lounge. SWMBO disagrees though, Women like higher temperatures, and won't acclimatise.

[Owain]

Or alternatively she needs to add some weight.

About 15C here but (a) I'm hardy (b) I'm stingy

Tell her to spend more time cooking and mangling in the kitchen. That will warm her up.

Owain

[Mary Fisher]

You haven't taught her.

~Mary

[Mary Fisher]

That's VERY hot!

But I suppose it depends what you're doing, we rarely sit down except at the table to eat so we create our own heat. Our thermostate is never turned to more than 15 - but of course they'e not spot on.

The CH certainly hasn't been neessary yet. There's an autumnal nip in the air but I'm still in shorts and Tshirt and most days we're eating lunch outdoors. This in Yorkshire.

I'm not comfortable with the CH on during the night, if it's realy cold I use a hwb.

Mary

[Matt]

The good thing about the CM67 is you can also invisibly offset the thermostat. You can tell her it's 23 deg when it's only 20 - win the argument and also save money :-)

[Mary Fisher]

Don't generalise. It devalues your otherwise reasonable argument.

Mary

[Andy Pandy]

And people with red hair we learnt only this morning.

Andy

[<me9]

That wouldn't work here. She'd check with her own thermometer. Probably at foot level. Perhaps a job for a small area of UFH?

[Alex]

Well our (office) aircon is set to 21C all year round, and it's comfortable :)

alex

[Owain]

Fur lined rigger boots

Owain

[Dave Plowman (News)]

IMHO the first part of the statement is true. And I'm not sure if you can acclimatise to uncomfortable temperatures - although you could wear more or more suitable clothing.