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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

#61
post #31

For context, A/C in public places is not as prevalent as in the US. In some large retailers, e.g. El Corte Ingles, it's set to ~24 degrees Celsius, quite lower than outdoors, especially in the larger cities of Central, Southern, and Mediterranean Spain. It feels really cold. Anyway, the odd voice here is the one from the president of the Madrid region, who went on Twitter to say that they won't comply, mostly not bec…

Freedom is a good hill to die on.

The hardest part is that you first have to understand what freedom means. I guarantee most people don't really get it. It's just a nice word to throw around, it has a nice sound to it. "Freedom". "We live in a free country". Yeah, then you proceed to spend half of your life in a work environment where you have no decisional power at all and you're subject to stupid rules imposed by the owners. "Freedom".

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#62
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Personally, it sounds like the stupidest hill to die on. Lit showcases are an anti theft measure too...

How so? I mean, in a world where alarm systems usually include vibration and glass break detectors, cameras with night vision, and redundant phones for early alerts, do we really need showcases to be lit all night long?

Sounds like you're only thinking of luxury item shops that can afford all that...

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#63
post #59

What would a modern human do without technology? Judging from the comments here it seems almost nobody can tolerate anything less than perfect thermal confort. Personally I find this ridiculous. Our bodies are perfectly capable of regulating their temperature over a pretty wide range of circumstances, especially with the help of adequate clothing, yet people are complaining about 18c in the winter or 25c in the summe…

> Judging from the comments here it seems almost nobody can tolerate anything less than perfect thermal confort. You could use the same argument against any modern technology. A car? Our bodies are designed to walk for hours. A hot shower? Our bodies can withstand cold water, and don't need to be washed every day anyway. And so on and so forth.

We live longest with slight starvation... Doesn't seem to be hugely popular though.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#64
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I wonder why I constantly hear the Fahrenheit people whine about Celsius, but almost never the other way around. https://i.ibb.co/7zJ640F/d9p762f83xw71-jpg.webp

I think it might be because Fahrenheit is the one unit in the US customary system which is not particularly arbitrary compared to the metric equivalent and it actually has some advantages in day to day use since it maps pretty well to human temperatures It probably has an element of catharsis for people on the receiving end of "metric is superior" whining to point out celsius is not particularly rational

> element of catharsis for people on the receiving end of "metric is superior"

Yes, I get that, but that's what it will always remain — just a cope, but not much else.

The reason: Customary isn't criticized, as far as I can tell, based on how the individual units are defined. That wouldn't be really valid, because all base units are arbitrary, including those of SI.

No, the unit system is criticized as a whole. The way conversions are defined between each other, that's what makes them so much less practical. The fact that a foot isn't 10 inches, a mile isn't 1000 nor 10000 feet (hell, even 5000 would've been better). That 1 gallon of water doesn't weigh 1 pound.

In "daily life", both Celsius and Fahrenheit are mostly isolated scales – you don't relate them to other units very often, and you almost never have to convert them to anything else. So it doesn't really matter how they are defined — definitely not on the same level as length, mass or volume.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#65
post #26
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 eas…

Could it be: https://xkcd.com/1643 ?

I adore Randall.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#66
post #50
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that effect mediated by body size, or is it true even when corrected for body size and shape?

It is directly affected by body fat at least. Fat is insulating (hence whales, seals, etc. having a thick fat layer) and definitely being on the larger size with a higher % of body fat makes someone feel warmer.

It's also directly affected by muscle mass, for a similar reason. Also body mass to body surface area does play a part from what I've read.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#67
post #44
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm British. Let me give you some intuition. 30C+ is too hot to go outside. 20-30C is a hot summer. 12-20C is the rest of the year. 0-12C is jumper weather or freezing to death in your home, depending on whether you can afford your energy bill. <0C is fucking Baltic.

As I said, I grew up with and actively use Celsius, so I’m unsure why you’re explaining it in a reply to me. I’m also Australian, so your ranges are wildly off for my climate. Summers don’t get started until the 30 C days, and less than 20 C is the heart of winter. Celsius has many strengths, and is obviously better suited for scientific purposes. Fahrenheit is handy for outdoor temperatures. That doesn’t mean Celsiu…

It's literally no better for 'outdoor temperatures' in any way. Both F and C systems are effectively arbitrary. It's just about personal preference/what you grew up with.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#68
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freedom is a good hill to die on.

What does that have to do with freedom? You mean the freedom of a business owner to set their AC to whatever they like? Why is that symbolic of "freedom" in any way? As a business owner we have agreed as a society that there is a lot of rules you have to obey already - you cannot throw your rubbish out on the street, you must post your prices clearly, you must provide disabled access, you must give refunds for faulty…

This post resonates with me, well put

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#69
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How so? I mean, in a world where alarm systems usually include vibration and glass break detectors, cameras with night vision, and redundant phones for early alerts, do we really need showcases to be lit all night long?

Sounds like you're only thinking of luxury item shops that can afford all that...

Obviously not the same thing, but Simplisafe offers most of that for like $500. A pair of cheap cameras is less than $80.

Re: Spain bans setting the AC below 27 degrees Celsius

#70
post #46
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 is cool, 20 is not. 30 is warm, 40 is hot! Body temp 37c. 20c = 68f (room temp) 30c = 86f. (68 mirrored)

More like -20 is cold -10 is cool 0 is cold and damp 10 is nice 20 is warm 30 is hot 40 is off the charts

Northern/eastern European spotted!
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