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Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

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Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#21

Post by manuelabeledo »

cko wrote: post #18
stefandesu wrote: post #13

I've never understood why (in some countries) public places are so cooled down in the summer and so heated up in the winter. In Japan, in the summer they put the ACs to what feels like 16ºC, so whenever you go from outdoor (very hot and humid) to indoor, you feel like you'll freeze (because you're dressed for 30ºC). In the winter, they put the ACs to 25ºC, so you move from outdoor to indoor, it's extremely hot and st…

I saw a video about Hong Kong where colder shopping malls are considered more upscale. Waste is a Veblen good in that context, I guess.

I think we might have seen the same video.

It happens in other places in Asia as well, not only Hong Kong. It's quite uncomfortable to go from ~34C and 98% humidity, to an environment at ~20C and less than 50% humidity. I'm surprised people don't get more respiratory illnesses more often.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#22

Post by manuelabeledo »

Leherenn wrote: post #8
mathgladiator wrote: post #5

For whatever reason, I don't comprehend Celsius intuitively. I convert that to Fahrenheit and see 80.6 degrees. Is Spain dry? Or humid? I would revolt as I much prefer cold.

Dry. Most of Europe is, except on rare occasions.

Northern Spain is quite humid all year round.

I don't get why you said that most Europe is dry. Germany, France, the British Isles, the Netherlands, Poland, etc. aren't dry at all.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#23

Post by bamboozled »

stefandesu wrote: post #13

I've never understood why (in some countries) public places are so cooled down in the summer and so heated up in the winter. In Japan, in the summer they put the ACs to what feels like 16ºC, so whenever you go from outdoor (very hot and humid) to indoor, you feel like you'll freeze (because you're dressed for 30ºC). In the winter, they put the ACs to 25ºC, so you move from outdoor to indoor, it's extremely hot and st…

I hate this about Japan too.

In Tokyo, you sweat to death on the subway, then get off with wet underwear into the cold street and yeah, summer trains feel so cold it's like having a high fever when sitting on the train.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#24

Post by Ekaros »

Glawen wrote: post #11
mathgladiator wrote: post #5

For whatever reason, I don't comprehend Celsius intuitively. I convert that to Fahrenheit and see 80.6 degrees. Is Spain dry? Or humid? I would revolt as I much prefer cold.

You better understand Celsius when you use body thermometer. Normal body temperature is 37, 38 is a light fever, 40 is severe fever. So 27 is temperature of a pleasant summer day, not too hot not too cold.

Or depending your location too hot for summer... Then again I don't consider -5 or -10 that cold temperature.

10-15 is nice perfect weather for outdoors.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#25

Post by ZeroGravitas »

bearmode wrote: post #15
public_defender wrote: post #3

I guess the "don't wear ties" comment was meant to be less serious, but men's business clothing has driven a lot of office thermostats to 60⁰F over the course of my experience. Men in suits and ties are comfortable at the approximate temperature of a meat locker, while everyone else is freezing and energy is wasted. If the PM were serious about trendsetting to reduce energy use, he would ban the suit jacket and encou…

It's not just that, it's also that men have higher skin temps than women. If a man and woman were wearing the exact same clothes, in the exact same room, the man would still almost certainly be feeling warmer.

What's the relative impact of that vs clothing though?

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#26

Post by afiori »

midasz wrote: post #14
mathgladiator wrote: post #5

For whatever reason, I don't comprehend Celsius intuitively. I convert that to Fahrenheit and see 80.6 degrees. Is Spain dry? Or humid? I would revolt as I much prefer cold.

Probably because you didn't grow up with Celcius. Celcius makes sense because it's based on water, 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling. What's Fahrenheit based on? Anything we use in our daily lives?

As usual there is a relevant XKCD even if I can't find it now.

In Fahrenheit 0 and 100 are defined in random ways, but it ends up covering most of the range of temperature human experience in the environment.

Celsius's definition does not include putting a thermometer inside an adult horse, but the common range of everyday temperatures is -18 to 50.

There are points of view in which imperial units can claim to be easier to use.

In the end the SI are technically better for sure; US imperial units are defined in terms of SI units, according to Wikipedia the pound is "legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms", nor it is a coincidence that -40F° = -40C°

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#27

Post by troad »

midasz wrote: post #14
mathgladiator wrote: post #5

For whatever reason, I don't comprehend Celsius intuitively. I convert that to Fahrenheit and see 80.6 degrees. Is Spain dry? Or humid? I would revolt as I much prefer cold.

Probably because you didn't grow up with Celcius. Celcius makes sense because it's based on water, 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling. What's Fahrenheit based on? Anything we use in our daily lives?

Yes, it’s incredibly useful for outdoor temperature. 0 F means it’s very cold, 100 F means it’s very hot. Meanwhile, 0 C means it’s sort of a little cold, and 100 C means your eyes will melt.

I grew up with and actively use Celsius, but this instinctive disdain for other measurement systems leaves me… a little cold. It’s not even like Fahrenheit has weird non-decimal ratios. Save your mocking for the avoirdupois furlongs!

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#28

Post by stefandesu »

bamboozled wrote: post #23
stefandesu wrote: post #13

I've never understood why (in some countries) public places are so cooled down in the summer and so heated up in the winter. In Japan, in the summer they put the ACs to what feels like 16ºC, so whenever you go from outdoor (very hot and humid) to indoor, you feel like you'll freeze (because you're dressed for 30ºC). In the winter, they put the ACs to 25ºC, so you move from outdoor to indoor, it's extremely hot and st…

I hate this about Japan too. In Tokyo, you sweat to death on the subway, then get off with wet underwear into the cold street and yeah, summer trains feel so cold it's like having a high fever when sitting on the train.

It's very weird. In my university dorm in the common room, there was always a fight between the local students and the exchange students about the AC temperature.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#29

Post by Leherenn »

manuelabeledo wrote: post #22
Leherenn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dry. Most of Europe is, except on rare occasions.

Northern Spain is quite humid all year round. I don't get why you said that most Europe is dry. Germany, France, the British Isles, the Netherlands, Poland, etc. aren't dry at all.

Sorry, I should have clarified I meant when it's hot, which I think was what OP meant in the context of AC. When I meant dry, is that when it's hot (like the 35+°C), it's dry, not that it's never humid. Entire days with 30+ and 100% humidity pretty much never happens in Europe.

For instance, Bilbao is quite humid right now (about 80%), but max temps are in the 25°C. Madrid is expected to reach 39°C today, but humidity is about 30%.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#30

Post by cameronh90 »

stefandesu wrote: post #13

I've never understood why (in some countries) public places are so cooled down in the summer and so heated up in the winter. In Japan, in the summer they put the ACs to what feels like 16ºC, so whenever you go from outdoor (very hot and humid) to indoor, you feel like you'll freeze (because you're dressed for 30ºC). In the winter, they put the ACs to 25ºC, so you move from outdoor to indoor, it's extremely hot and st…

Myself and many others seem to find 21c too cold in winter and too hot in summer in some buildings. I think it's possibly due to radiant temperature: for example, the walls/roof/floor are hotter in summer so you need to cool the air down more to make up for that.

That said, Japan and some other places (Singapore!) take it to the extreme, and in a modern well insulated building, this is much less needed than it used to be. Maybe it's a hang-over from when wall insulation was terrible?

What I really don't understand is why, in London, the short distance commuter trains and buses are heated so warm in the winter. I'm only on the train for 10 minutes, why would I want to strip down!?

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