Based on my experiences with people I know, it seems to me that women are able to tolerate warmer temperatures than men, and conversely, that men are able to tolerate cooler temperatures than women. What do others here think about this?
I can’t really say I’ve ever noticed a pattern either way.
If I’m sleeping under a sheet SWMBO is generally under a doona. I’ll be walking around the house in winter sweating, wearing shorts and a singlet, she’ll be wearing flannelette pyjamas whilst the heater is set at 35 degrees.
Don’t know.
I’d guess there is a lot of overlap.
Age is more significant than sex, probably.
Ethnic origin too.
The Rev Dodgson said:
Don’t know.I’d guess there is a lot of overlap.
Age is more significant than sex, probably.
Ethnic origin too.
Obviously, the climate which a person is accustomed to has a strong bearing on their preferred temperature range, but all things being equal, does gender provide a basis for the difference in preferred temperature range mentioned above?
sibeen said:
If I’m sleeping under a sheet SWMBO is generally under a doona. I’ll be walking around the house in winter sweating, wearing shorts and a singlet, she’ll be wearing flannelette pyjamas whilst the heater is set at 35 degrees.
Opposite here. Mr Mutant sleeps under a doona summer and winter. During summer I might only have a thin blanket or nothing at all. Mr Mutant has hot hot showers summer and winter, detests anything cold. Won’t swim in a pool unless it’s heated, even in summer.
Mr Mutant was born in Adelaide but moved to the Sunshine Coast very young. Not sure how old he was but he doesn’t remember anything about living in Adelaide.
Divine Angel said:
sibeen said:
If I’m sleeping under a sheet SWMBO is generally under a doona. I’ll be walking around the house in winter sweating, wearing shorts and a singlet, she’ll be wearing flannelette pyjamas whilst the heater is set at 35 degrees.
Opposite here. Mr Mutant sleeps under a doona summer and winter. During summer I might only have a thin blanket or nothing at all. Mr Mutant has hot hot showers summer and winter, detests anything cold. Won’t swim in a pool unless it’s heated, even in summer.
Ok… a dissenting view… interesting.
Divine Angel said:
Mr Mutant was born in Adelaide but moved to the Sunshine Coast very young. Not sure how old he was but he doesn’t remember anything about living in Adelaide.
<4, unless there was early trauma. Or so I’m told.
Even when lean, omen tend to be smaller, and have a lower mass to surface area ratio, so it is easy for them to ditch heat, but also means their thermal insulation is poor. This makes it easier for them to tolerate high temperatures and harder to tolerate low temperatures.
Additionally, average BMI is higher in Australia for men than women, and 71% of men are overweight vs 56% of women. This only increases the difference.
reckon I come out of winter adjusted to the heat, because I wear lots of layers and we have plenty of heating
I detest being cold, but heat doesn’t bother me so much, especially after a month or so of the heat and drinking properly (and all those midday naps).
but I can’t push my self in the heat like I could up to a few years ago.
the lady’s menopausal, totally different thermostat.
mr kii hates the cold – he was born in Montana and spent many years in some very cold places when he was in the military. Like really, really cold. That’s why he retired to NM.
I hate constant hot weather with no relief…like a good old southerly buster. In winter I do feel the cold in my shoulders and wrists :/ but that is easily remedied.
KJW said:
Based on my experiences with people I know, it seems to me that women are able to tolerate warmer temperatures than men, and conversely, that men are able to tolerate cooler temperatures than women. What do others here think about this?
There’s a lot of difference between different people, but I haven’t noticed any gender bias.
The only bias I can think of is activity level. From the first law of thermodynamics, work generates heat. So those people who do more physical work tend to prefer colder temperatures than those who do less physical work.
But even that’s not a fixed rule, mrs m prefers cooler temperatures to me during the day and prefers hotter temperatures to me at night. But even that preference doesn’t extend to use of heating and cooling – mrs m has the heater on in the house more often than I would like. I tend to adapt by wearing more or less clothing, but she puts the heater on not for herself but for visiting music students and for the cat.
It can take a person a long time to adapt to a change in temperature. Like 20 years.
Both my parents were like me – disliking hot weather, happy in cold and cool weather. Older sister is the same.
The immediately younger sister though is very thin and traditionally mentions how cold it is in my house when she visits in winter, even when I’m feeling overly warm.
KJW said:
Based on my experiences with people I know, it seems to me that women are able to tolerate warmer temperatures than men, and conversely, that men are able to tolerate cooler temperatures than women. What do others here think about this?
Possible; oestrogen (and other sex hormones) play a role in temperature control (hypothlamic set point) and obv womens circulating oestrogen is higher so their might be a slight difference in what’s perceived as cold female v male.
Weight also plays a role as fat (adipose) tissue produces oestrogen – so males can be a bit more feminine in their sense of temperature etc.
I like cooler temperatures. I can always put on more clothes. I do sometimes joke that I look forward to getting old and actually feeling cold. My receptionist, on the other hand, likes it much warmer. We have to compromise in the Winter at the practice. We set the heater at about 22degrees. She wears something like 3 layers and I wear shortsleeved shirts. If I am working outside, I have to stop the physical stuff at around 18 to 20 degrees, sometimes lower. I’ve just had to come inside because I was sweating so profusely it was dripping into my eyes. Must be a bit more humid today. But it is only 22 degrees.
I am now menopausal, although I never had much of a difficulty with hot flushes. I’ve always flushed at ovulation, so it wasn’t much of a change to my life. But for sleeping, we sleep with just a sheet for anything above 19 overnight. Ten to 19 requires a light blanket. We have given up on the doona when we are sleeping together as it is too hot, even in mid Winter. I do sleep under a light doona when I sleep alone in mid Winter.
There does seem to be a general pattern that women like warmer temperatures amongst people I know. I am always the odd one out.