Coldness, Wind Chill, and Survival

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I've never heard room temperature being anywhere near as cold as 59 F, so apparently we Americans can disagree on what it means as well.
I used to sweat when it got as hot as 68, but now that's when I put on a coat.

It used to be very common in Australia to not have heating in a house, or only in one room of a house. Particularly in older buildings. This seems logical but it's actually a bit ridiculous: Australia still has a winter, and while the winter sun may still be a UV death cannon, those same older houses are designed to keep sun out to prevent solar heating in the summer, and to passively encourage warm air to leave and to draw in cool air. Hearing that it's "winter" and 40 deg F outside is laughable as a Canadian. When it's 35 deg F in the house, in your bed, and the toilet seat is 35 deg F, it's not funny any more.

It gets better in the house by the afternoon, but then it plunges back to death-cold-frozen-toilet temperatures again at night. I'd be going outside to just sit in the sun in dark clothing and sponge up heat, except for the UV death cannon problem.

For reference, living 24-7 in those kinds of temperatures is totally possible for humans, even skinny Australians with poor cold tolerance. During the day you wear a thick shirt and a sweater, warm pants, warm socks and shoes (even in the house - possibly wooly house shoes instead of outside shoes). At night you wear warm pijamas and use an electric heating pad or blanket, a hot water bottle, or your spouse :)