Thermal adaptation and airconditioning usage - 68F to 88F

[island_guy]

Hi all

Just thought I would post a thread sharing my experiences of thermal adaptation and reduced airconditioning usage.

By way of background, I relocated to Asia about 4 months ago to take up a job which would give me a 60% pay rise furthering my goal of FI.

I had come from a cold climate previously where we actively heated out house to 68F.  The temperature in our new country is pretty much 88-90F year-round and doesn't drop below 75F even in the middle of night.

We started out setting the airconditioning here to 68F in the first week and then experimented raising the temperature 1-2 degrees each week.  4 months later we have almost stopped using the airconditioning at all -  the average temperature in our house is pretty much constantly 86-88F in the day and 82F at night and we only put the airconditioning on briefly if we are going to be doing something strenuous like heavy housework.

But the craziest thing of all.......we didn't really notice it!  Sure the first day we would raise the temp it would feel a little uncomfortable at times but largely now 88 feels as cool as 73-74 did at the beginning.

What we've noticed as well is that now we have adjusted to the higher temperatures, the outdoor temperature feels much 'cooler' despite the fact we've actually gone from January to May and in reality it has gone up not down.  Frequently we're out walking with people who are almost passing out from the heat and we haven't even broken a sweat.

In the same period, our monthly electricity bill has gone down from circa 900kw/h per month to around 250.

So it just goes to show your body really does adapt to a different temperature - it isn't a myth!

Anybody elese have any experiences to share of thermal adaptation?

[The_path_less_taken]

I'm very bad going in that direction: from cold to hot.

But since this house has an insane, all electric heating system zoned for a tropical climate (which this ain't) I am pretty good at going in the other direction.

I leave the thermostat at 45 all winter. By doing what you did: lowering it a bit each week. Takes forever to heat the house with the wood stove insert but saves a ton of money.

This summer I'm going to try and be better in the other direction....but it's tough for me. Opening all the windows overnight and shutting the house down before work hopefully will mean it's only an hour or two of air conditioning, max.

I could never again live in a high humidity zone though. There are days this area is single digit humidity.

[dcheesi]

Consistency really helps, especially with the lows. Your body adapts physically by producing heat-resistance proteins; but even a short stint in a colder environment can interrupt that process. That's why it's hard to reach a similar level of summer adaptation the A/C-happy US.

[acroy]

wow, badass!
I handle the cold no problem but have never been able to get used to the heat. I sweat, get sticky, can't sleep well, above about 82. Tried for weeks...
I could stand to loose a 20lb fatsuit though :)

[island_guy]

Consistency really helps, especially with the lows. Your body adapts physically by producing heat-resistance proteins; but even a short stint in a colder environment can interrupt that process. That's why it's hard to reach a similar level of summer adaptation the A/C-happy US.

This.  About 2 months in my wife got sick (food poisoning) and ran a temperature.  To help with her feeling very hot we bumped the AC right back down to 68 for a few days until she felt better.  After this time (only 3 days) we felt like we had been set back 4-5 degrees in perceieved temperature and it took a few weeks to get back to normal.

wow, badass!
I handle the cold no problem but have never been able to get used to the heat. I sweat, get sticky, can't sleep well, above about 82. Tried for weeks...
I could stand to loose a 20lb fatsuit though :)

I do sympathise with your situation living in Texas - as above consistent high temperature is key.  Here in Asia my house is hardly air conditioned, my office is set to 78F, and many cafes/restaurants are open air or don't have AC, just a missing wall and ceiling fans.  Every time I've gone to the US I couldn't believe how cold your public places are cooled to - and this was even when I was coming from a cold climate - must really throw your body off alternating between freezing cold and swelteringly hot.

[geekette]

That's strange - usually people running a fever feel cold, not hot.

I can take low humidity with high temps, but not the sauna of here in the south.  We run ours at 68 max in the winter, and 78 in the summer.  As much as I love the cold, I don't think even I could stand it as chilly as 68 in the summer.

[lpep]

Hello from Hanoi, where it is currently averaging a high of 97 degrees, and tomorrow the heat index will be approximating the surface of the sun at 122. We just turned on the AC for the first time yesterday, and it's off right now since it's "only" about 86 right now (yes, I feel like a badass). May is awful here--hotter than the tropics, sunny, just miserable. But I've now proven to myself that I can deal with the summer in the southern US with minimal AC. (I see you, geekette from Cary--I'm from Raleigh!) I think a large part of it is that I work part time and don't spend 9-5 on weekdays in an air conditioned office.

FANS, people. Last summer we used the AC all the time, until we bought a standing fan for $15 in August, and D'OH. I'm a fan of FANS!

[mrsggrowsveg]

That is interesting.  We have noticed a similar adaptation.  We do turn on the AC when the house gets above 90 in the summer.  I do this mostly because my floor starts to sweat and our pantry goods might go bad.  The outdoors seems much less hot when we get used to it gradually.  I also find myself wanting to spend more time outdoors when there isn't the cool home to retreat to.

[dcheesi]

That is interesting.  We have noticed a similar adaptation.  We do turn on the AC when the house gets above 90 in the summer.  I do this mostly because my floor starts to sweat and our pantry goods might go bad.  The outdoors seems much less hot when we get used to it gradually.  I also find myself wanting to spend more time outdoors when there isn't the cool home to retreat to.

My upper limit is usually a much less badass 77, simply because some medications in the house call for that as the upper limit of storage temp. I suppose I could try sticking them in the electric cooler downstairs (the fridge might be too cold for some of them).

[Bob W]

Thermal adaption is a weird thing.   It appears people live in 110 heat on a regular basis with no AC and no fans in lots of hot spots. 

A few years ago we went the entire summer with no AC at home or in the car.   It was a drought and super hot summer here in muggy Missouri.  We had about 6 weeks above 100 with high humidity.

We adapted just fine.   Our strategy was to sleep on the lower level with fans blowing on us at night.   We've become wimps since then but summer is sneaking up on us.   No AC yet so maybe we decide to go for it again.   

The cost of our high efficient ground source heat pump is an issue though.   It appears we can cool our house for very cheap.   The other issue is the transition from AC work to no AC home.  (yeah, excuses, excuses)    I do find that adapting in this manor makes staying outside much better and don't really mind the 105 heat when in the shade.   

But I do find that a loose fitting pair of shorts and flip flops are the only attire required, so we probably save on washing as well.   Hmmm?  I wonder if we could go the whole summer with no AC and line drying?    That would put our all electric house bill at around $75 per month.   That would be sweet. 

[Matthew Olszewski]

The worst is time when the body needs to switch from one extreme temperature to another. For me, the shift from high to low  temperature is approx. You can then simply dress warmer. Worse, if you live in a cold climate and travel to a tropical country. Then even a relatively small change makes me all sweaty.

[Syonyk]

People look at me like I'm utterly insane when I tell them I walked somewhere in Vegas (usually out there in early August).  I just avoid the hot hours, and drink plenty of water.

One trick in the heat (at least in the extreme sun) is that "more clothes" is often cooler than less.  Obviously not a winter coat, but keeping the sun off your skin is important, and there's a very good reason people in hot desert middle east climates often seem to be wearing a lot of loose clothing - it works!

I wore long sleeve shirts & jeans year round in Albuquerque, and it wasn't a big deal.  The dry heat is wonderful...

[unmetamorphosed]

Nice! I was raised in the southeastern US so I've always been used to heat and humidity, but spending a month studying abroad in equatorial Africa a few years ago is what upped my heat tolerance to its current level. Nothing here compares. Ever since, I rarely turn my A/C on at home, and my office and other people's houses are freezing to me.

[JeffC]

I live in Atlanta and I pretty much only use the A/C when I have people over, because they would not be comfortable.  My favorite thing about thermal adaptation is that you are ALWAYS comfortable.  I can go out for a hike on a 90 degree humid day and not really think much of it.  It makes life more pleasant in addition to saving a bunch of money.

[BlueBeard]

Working in ac makes coming home to a hot house unpleasant. Wish work would kick the ac and adopt a shorts policy.

[JoJo]

Here's another fan of FANS! 

I rented an apartment in Chiang Mai for a month about 10 years ago.  $100 plus electricity for a bedroom with cable TV, private bath, and a fridge.   Since I was there temporarily, I didn't by a fan.  I found I couldn't sleep without the AC on as it would get stiffling hot without it.  A fan would have done the trick.  At the end of the month, my electricity bill was more than the rent!

[island_guy]

Hello from Hanoi, where it is currently averaging a high of 97 degrees, and tomorrow the heat index will be approximating the surface of the sun at 122. We just turned on the AC for the first time yesterday, and it's off right now since it's "only" about 86 right now (yes, I feel like a badass). May is awful here--hotter than the tropics, sunny, just miserable. But I've now proven to myself that I can deal with the summer in the southern US with minimal AC. (I see you, geekette from Cary--I'm from Raleigh!) I think a large part of it is that I work part time and don't spend 9-5 on weekdays in an air conditioned office.

FANS, people. Last summer we used the AC all the time, until we bought a standing fan for $15 in August, and D'OH. I'm a fan of FANS!

Hello!  I was actually travelling in Hanoi only about 2 weeks ago.  I should add another thumbs up to the use of fans, buying a simple fan for around the equivalent of USD 40 massively helped us to jump about 5-6 degrees overnight.

I think another tip is to push through the initial discomfort.  Similar to you we had a bit of a heatwave yesterday and the temperature in the house at night as we were watching TV was pushing 90F.  We initially thought about turning the AC on just to bring it back down to 86-87 but then decided against it.  After about ten minutes we were back to feeling comfortable again and remained that way for the rest of the night where we slept perfectly fine with no AC and just a fan.  Woke up this morning feeling actively cool and saw the internal temperature had only dropped to 86!

Even the humidity isn't a problem, the humidity in our climate varies between 60-100% most of the time.

[Syonyk]

Fun fact about fans: Fans don't cool rooms, fans cool people. Repeat often whilst trying to get others in the habit of turning off the fan when they leave a room.

And heating people is a lot more efficient than heating rooms. :)

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/heating-people-not-spaces.html