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Comment by maerF0x0 | Hacker News Reader

The issue is that many people do not realize the range to which they can acclimatize. And the acclimatization has varying degrees of value depending on the temperature differential to outdoors.

Eg: in Canada one can keep their home a few degrees cooler in the winter to save quite a bit of money. Same idea in hotter climates -- keeping it 75 instead of 70 is something one can acclimatize to, but has more value when the out door temperature is 100f vs 80f.

Overall I think it's just momentum. When I had a nest I used the dynamic range that said only cool if my place is over 78 and only heat if it's 68. Everything else, just roll with the ambient.

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> The issue is that many people do not realize the range to which they can acclimatize.

Said acclimatization normally comes with downsides... When its hot, one might be less productive, feel less motivated to get stuff done, etc. It's pretty hard to measure that cost on a personal basis.

If you feel worse enough to be less productive, have you actually acclimatized?

I grew up in a house with air conditioning on all the time during the summer and thought that there was no way I could ever handle indoor temperatures of, say, 75. Then I spent a couple years in Arizona and wanted to save on AC costs in the summer, it took a while to get used to, but now an indoor temperature of 70 in the summer feels very cold to me.

As a kid in Phoenix my parents forbid setting the thermostat below 80, unless the humidity outside was low enough we could use the swamp cooler instead of the air conditioner.

Now I'm comfortable at 78 with a ceiling fan, to me 75 is cold and 70 would be freezing

Nahh, I just run hot. I've lived in a shared place where I don't control the thermostat and the person who does was loathe to let it go above 77 degrees. After months on end, I'd still get uncomfortably warm in such a temperature. On the other hand, I can sit comfortably in 55 degrees in short sleeves with wind. I also have very low body fat, so that's not the culprit either. Believe it or not, people have different preferences and optimal temperatures. I just wish everyone would err far to the side of cold: you can always put on a jacket; I can't keep taking clothing off.

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