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Yea, 78 degrees is considered a comfortable room temperature in many parts of the world. The vast majority of households in Asia, South America, Africa, and AFA

Yea, 78 degrees is considered a comfortable room temperature in many parts of the world. The vast majority of households in Asia, South America, Africa, and AFAIK many parts of Europe do not have A/C at all. It's nowhere near "kill old people" levels. It's kind of offputting how spoiled and fragile the Americans in this thread seem to be responding to the thought of a room without A/C.

mrep 8y ago
Maybe we are used to be comfortable. Also, consider that not everyones body works that same and is perfectly comfortable at the same temperature. There is a reason crime is correlated with temperature: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/data/ct-crime-heat-analysis-htmlstory.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/data/ct-crime-heat-analys...
- txcwpalpha 8y ago
  Nearly every human being on Earth (exceptions being people with certain health conditions) is capable of being perfectly comfortable at 78 degrees, they just have to adjust to it. My comment isn't directed at someone who is saying "I'm used to being colder than 78 degrees and that seems a little hot to me". My comment is directed at the people who act like a room being 78 degrees is a war crime and, as originally quoted, "kills old people". That kind of perspective is narrow-minded and dismisses the billions of humans who don't live spoiled lives inside 65 degree buildings every day (I say this as someone who prefers my apartment to be an icy 68 degrees).
  - ksdale 8y ago
    Anecdote: I lived in Western Washington my whole life up until a year ago and I used to only be comfortable at temps under 70. We moved to Phoenix and over the year we've been here, we've gotten used to having our AC higher and higher and right now it's at 74 and I still get chilly inside sometimes. I never would have imagined that I could ever be comfortable at this temperature. Now I'm suspicious that I could grow to be comfortable at temperatures several degrees higher...
briandear 8y ago
Ask a Parisian what they would think about an apartment that didn’t have heat. Those Parisians are sure spoiled and fragile! My wife’s family in Mexico doesn’t have heat in their house. I guess they are less fragile than Parisians. Your comment is absurd. People in the places you mentioned don’t choose to be without heat or air conditioning because they want to, it’s generally because either the climate is less extreme and more comfortable or because they can’t afford it. Ask a family in Monterrey, Mexico if they’d like to have air conditioning if cost were no object. Very few would decline such an offer.
- txcwpalpha 8y ago
  >Ask a Parisian what they would think about an apartment that didn’t have heat. Those Parisians are sure spoiled and fragile! My wife’s family in Mexico doesn’t have heat in their house. I guess they are less fragile than Parisians. What an absurd comment to make. Of course Parisians have heaters - it reaches low temperatures there in the winter. It doesn't reach those temperatures in most parts of Mexico. I've lived through 115 degree summers in Texas. Of course we have air conditioning here, because it's necessary. But we aren't talking about Texas, we're talking about Seattle, where the ambient indoor temperature is 78 degrees. I wouldn't say someone is fragile for not wanting to live in 115 degrees without A/C, but yes, if you think 78 degrees is "way too hot" as some of the comments in this thread say, you are fragile. >People in the places you mentioned don’t choose to be without heat or air conditioning because they want to, it’s generally because either the climate is less extreme and more comfortable or because they can’t afford it. No, you have no idea what you're talking about. I've also lived in Singapore where the temperature averages 90ish degrees every day with near 100% humidity. Even among those who can afford it, most choose to forgo A/C because it simply isn't necessary. Even those who do choose to purchase an A/C do not turn it on because most find the addition of A/C to make rooms uncomfortably cold. This also goes for the portions of central and eastern Europe that I've lived in, as well as the portions of S. America I've visited. The human body is perfectly capable of being very comfortable at 75-80 degrees ambient temperature. Furthermore, your entire second paragraph hinges on the hypothetical "if cost were no object", which is absurd. The entire point of non-A/C buildings (like the one that this entire thread is about) is that they reduce cost (both monetarily and environmentally). The cost is the entire point. My original comment wasn't referring to to the 'fragility' of being personally unadjusted to other temperatures. It was referring to the 'fragility' of a mindset that apparently cannot entertain the mere idea that it is possible to be adjusted to those temperatures, and are apparently so triggered by such an idea that they make comments such as yours.
seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Whenever the temperature drops to 5C in Hong Kong, old people definitely die simply because most places lack heat at all. I lived in China for 10 years and every place I rented had wall mounted AC, at least. Beijing summers are too hot to survive without it, not just spoilt Americans have a problem with the heat.

mrep 8y ago

Maybe we are used to be comfortable. Also, consider that not everyones body works that same and is perfectly comfortable at the same temperature. There is a reason crime is correlated with temperature: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/data/ct-crime-heat-analysis-htmlstory.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/data/ct-crime-heat-analys...

txcwpalpha 8y ago
Nearly every human being on Earth (exceptions being people with certain health conditions) is capable of being perfectly comfortable at 78 degrees, they just have to adjust to it. My comment isn't directed at someone who is saying "I'm used to being colder than 78 degrees and that seems a little hot to me". My comment is directed at the people who act like a room being 78 degrees is a war crime and, as originally quoted, "kills old people". That kind of perspective is narrow-minded and dismisses the billions of humans who don't live spoiled lives inside 65 degree buildings every day (I say this as someone who prefers my apartment to be an icy 68 degrees).
- ksdale 8y ago
  Anecdote: I lived in Western Washington my whole life up until a year ago and I used to only be comfortable at temps under 70. We moved to Phoenix and over the year we've been here, we've gotten used to having our AC higher and higher and right now it's at 74 and I still get chilly inside sometimes. I never would have imagined that I could ever be comfortable at this temperature. Now I'm suspicious that I could grow to be comfortable at temperatures several degrees higher...

briandear 8y ago

Ask a Parisian what they would think about an apartment that didn’t have heat. Those Parisians are sure spoiled and fragile! My wife’s family in Mexico doesn’t have heat in their house. I guess they are less fragile than Parisians. Your comment is absurd. People in the places you mentioned don’t choose to be without heat or air conditioning because they want to, it’s generally because either the climate is less extreme and more comfortable or because they can’t afford it. Ask a family in Monterrey, Mexico if they’d like to have air conditioning if cost were no object. Very few would decline such an offer.

txcwpalpha 8y ago
>Ask a Parisian what they would think about an apartment that didn’t have heat. Those Parisians are sure spoiled and fragile! My wife’s family in Mexico doesn’t have heat in their house. I guess they are less fragile than Parisians. What an absurd comment to make. Of course Parisians have heaters - it reaches low temperatures there in the winter. It doesn't reach those temperatures in most parts of Mexico. I've lived through 115 degree summers in Texas. Of course we have air conditioning here, because it's necessary. But we aren't talking about Texas, we're talking about Seattle, where the ambient indoor temperature is 78 degrees. I wouldn't say someone is fragile for not wanting to live in 115 degrees without A/C, but yes, if you think 78 degrees is "way too hot" as some of the comments in this thread say, you are fragile. >People in the places you mentioned don’t choose to be without heat or air conditioning because they want to, it’s generally because either the climate is less extreme and more comfortable or because they can’t afford it. No, you have no idea what you're talking about. I've also lived in Singapore where the temperature averages 90ish degrees every day with near 100% humidity. Even among those who can afford it, most choose to forgo A/C because it simply isn't necessary. Even those who do choose to purchase an A/C do not turn it on because most find the addition of A/C to make rooms uncomfortably cold. This also goes for the portions of central and eastern Europe that I've lived in, as well as the portions of S. America I've visited. The human body is perfectly capable of being very comfortable at 75-80 degrees ambient temperature. Furthermore, your entire second paragraph hinges on the hypothetical "if cost were no object", which is absurd. The entire point of non-A/C buildings (like the one that this entire thread is about) is that they reduce cost (both monetarily and environmentally). The cost is the entire point. My original comment wasn't referring to to the 'fragility' of being personally unadjusted to other temperatures. It was referring to the 'fragility' of a mindset that apparently cannot entertain the mere idea that it is possible to be adjusted to those temperatures, and are apparently so triggered by such an idea that they make comments such as yours.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago

Whenever the temperature drops to 5C in Hong Kong, old people definitely die simply because most places lack heat at all. I lived in China for 10 years and every place I rented had wall mounted AC, at least. Beijing summers are too hot to survive without it, not just spoilt Americans have a problem with the heat.