Cf. Meriadoc: "my outfits are limited to "literally the least I can get away with wearing" while keeping a jacket and winter socks at work because my office is an icebox.""Americans tend to keep their thermostats at the same temperature all year around. In contrast, Europeans tend to set their thermostats higher in summer and lower in winter. Consequently, while indoors, Europeans wear sweaters in winter, while American wear sweaters in summer," Sivak told The Washington Post.
I don't even believe this to be true. I've always accepted the typical summer thermostat setting to be 76-78°F and only 66-68°F in the winter time. That's also what the Department of Energy recommends in any official publication I've ever seen.[0] Who are these mythical Americans who leave their thermostat at 74°F forever? [0]http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/publications/pubdocs/HeatingCoolingGuide%20FINAL_9-4-09.pdfAmericans tend to keep their thermostats at the same temperature all year around.
See. I find this weird. Up here in Canada, we keep our thermostat about 21°C year round (at least in my experience) with some reductions midday while everyone is out. Insulation is huge, but I don't know if I've ever met someone with A/C, likely because it doesn't really get above 30°C. I imagine it would be similar in the northwestern states.
I think this fails to factor some things in overall. Mainly humidity is a very difficult thing to work with, and a problem with America is the structures. If you look at Arizona, native housing there is built with adobe, because it's a natural insulator. It keeps the heat out or in, depending on what you need in winter or summer. But that's not how America was built, which is to say, quickly, cheaply, pre-fabricated, and meant to match or expand growth. So you're left with houses made of wood and drywall that have no business being in that environment. And there's very little differentiation across the country. It's not the fault of the dwellers that we rely on AC, it's that we don't have the benefit of houses built to their situations. On a side note, I wish there was a way to control my office's temperature. It's all one system though, for a very large building. A dormitory, in fact. My office being the basement level, where most of the ventilation systems lie tends to make it.... much colder than what the building is attempting to reach.