<p>My thermostat is always at 60. I’d be miserable is it were in the 70’s. My D and her room mates last year never agreed on the setting. One of her room mates thought she should be able to wear shorts and tees all year round too. They never really worked it out but D is not living with any of them this year.</p>
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Because they ‘can’ whereas the OP can only remove just so much clothing and even then it might be too warm. It’s easier to accommodate cooler temps than warmer temps since it’s simply a matter of dressing appropriately for it and using a comforter, electric blanket, etc. </p>
<p>In this case with the roomies the roomies have a reasonable way to be comfortable (dressing appropriately) but the OP doesn’t. A good compromise would be to have the heat at the point where the OP can tolerate it even if it’s not as low as absoluetly desired and the roomies can do something simple like wear sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt if needed.</p>
<p>But if they’re unwilling to compromise then it needs to be new roomie time.</p>
<p>If they don’t have good circulation, they will feel cold. Aerobic exercise can improve heart function & may increase average body temp.</p>
<p>Low thyroid can also make people feel cold.</p>
<p>Successfully living in another area may require adapting to local habits & customs. In the winter where it gets cold, we dress more warmly, eat nourishing soups & broths, put another blanket on the bed. We don’t expect our behavior in the winter to be identical to our behavior in the summer, we adapt to our environment.</p>
<p>This was amusing but interesting
[The</a> Cold Body Page](<a href=“http://www.mall-net.com/mcs/coldbody.html]The”>The Cold Body Page)</p>
<p>OP, I do know that it goes both ways, which is why you need to find someone who is like-minded. I like it warmer, hubby likes it cooler, and this is year around. The thermostat war is a common one for couples. It can be a temperature debate and it can be a money debate. I am just trying to help you out. ;)</p>
<p>FWIW, DD’s apartment mate decided that she could not sleep because of the noise the heater made, so she decided they should not turn on the heat at all and should use space heaters. Brrrrrr. Luckily, the landlord sent out a memo about heat over the holidays and keeping it on to avoid freezing pipes.</p>
<p>“What would the high heat defenders here say if a New Englander like me went to live in a tropical climate and insisted on wearing wool socks, long pants, and a sweater every day then demanded that the AC be turned down to 62 to accommodate me? That is precisely the equivalent of what they are doing.”</p>
<p>Consolation, back when I was living in Happydad’s tropical country I met people who pretty much were like that. I knew 30 and 40 year residents who barely spoke the language, and insisted that all of their staff learn English (here I’m talking about cooks, drivers, and maids) in order to keep their jobs, insisted on US style meals, furniture, you-name-it. </p>
<p>Living in a different part of the world is a huge challenge. Yes the tropical roomies are using more resources for heating their apartment than some of us would choose to, but this is as much an emotional need as a physical one. Until they are more adapted in general to life here, it may be impossible for them to bring themselves to live in a home that is icy cold in their minds.</p>
<p>Good reading for everyone in that household (assuming they have time to read anything other than for school work): “The Art of Crossing Cultures” by Craig Storti. It will help them get a handle on the parts of the situation that are due to the cultural adaptation issues, and which are due to different people’s personal taste in thermostat settings.</p>
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<p>This is a good point. I realize that I need to be sensitive to the culture issue, especially since I’m attempting to do what’s “normal” for me. People like to quip “when in Rome…” but I hopefully have it in me to show some compassion. I do realize that my preferred temps may even be cold for those in the northern US. At least I’ve gathered as much from reading the responses here. </p>
<p>We each have our own rooms, and I’m going to look into closing my heater vent and sealing the crack under the door. The only reason I haven’t done that yet is because my vent is on the ceiling (and not within easy reach). </p>
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If they do, it’s hidden well. They’re actually quite cheap.</p>
<p>I like how Consolation and MaineLongHorn understand exactly where I’m coming from on this one, because I’m actually from their town. We all think alike!</p>
<p>OP,
Get your own place. Many Grad. / Med. students live in their own space. It migh cost you too much to spend resources on such trivial matters. Look at the bigger picture. Spending more $$ can actually save you a lot.</p>
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<p>While MaineLonghorn and I clearly live near each other, I don’t think we actually live in the same town. But I could be wrong. :)</p>
<p>When I was in eighth grade, my family moved to England and I went to a boarding school. The major building of the school was a Victorian mansion, with central heating so minimal as to be virtually nonexistent. Our dorm room–a very large, high-ceilinged bedroom that housed about 8 of us, some in bunk beds–had a thin electric heating rod near the ceiling that was turned on for about an hour before we got up in the morning, and for an hour during our rest period after lunch. The room had an enormous bay window–single pane leaded glass, of course–and we were required to have one of the casements open at night, even in the middle of winter. For health reasons. If this had been a climate like that of Maine we would all have frozen to death. 
But it was very cold and damp, I assure you.</p>
<p>My mother was startled when I wrote and asked her to send me a hot water bottle. We all had them. People also wore bedsocks, and during the day we often wore knickers. (For those who are unfamiliar with them, they are an extra layer of underwear short enough to be worn under skirts. When I see the actresses in Downton Abbey wearing sleeveless dresses, I really do wonder…) </p>
<p>This was in the late sixties, when it was common for American central heating systems to have a “comfort zone” marked at about 72F. Guess what? I adapted. (I also think that this is why I grew to like colder indoor temperatures.) Your roommates need to adapt, at least to the point of dressing appropriately for a northern climate and moderating their heating demands. They WILL get used to it. Some of my schoolmates came from places like Malaysia, “Persia,” Bahrain, and Kuwait. They adjusted.</p>
<p>Oh, and did I mention morning runs? We had to get up at the crack of dawn each morning when the gong was struck, put on shorts, sneakers, and a polo shirt–nothing else allowed–and line up shivering in the front hall to be taken on a jog around the grounds. We were exempt only if there was ice on the ornamental fish pond. :D</p>
<p>Yes, everyone should live like the nutty English boarding schools. Do they also exclude dental care?</p>
<p>Sigh. No barrons, I am not suggesting that the regimen we followed is a model for how anyone else should live. Just putting things, including the abiltiy to adapt to different conditions, in a little–hopefully amusing–perspective.</p>
<p>And why should the majority freeze for one person? He can adapt too.</p>
<p>anongrad and Consolation, are you enjoying the snow today? My son attends USM, which is closed today. He’ll be happy when he wakes up!</p>
<p>The fire in our wood boiler went out overnight, so it was chilly when we woke up. Things heated up quickly once we restarted the fire. We haven’t burned any oil since December.</p>
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My point is just that they don’t “need” to do this, as long as they can afford to pay the heating bill, any more than they need to get used to eating beans if they can afford steak. They might choose to accomodate the OP more than they’ve already done–the challenge is to figure out how to persuade them to do so.</p>
<p>Grad. students are adults. It is not easy to adjust to each other at this age. Just get your own place and life will be much easier. The heating is usually central anyway. You pay the same amount no matter how cold/hot you have in your apartment. I asume it is apartment. If it is a house, then definitely getting your own place is a solution.</p>
<p>The snow is beautiful. I was wondering when we were going to get winter! I have to drive into Portland to make a delivery…the big question for me is always whether I will be able to get back up my driveway. :)</p>
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<p>Time to break out the Bermuda shorts and flip flops!</p>
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<p>Spoken by someone who hasn’t met “the one” yet, LOL.</p>
<p>I like it to be 80 all the time, my husband would like 60. Our deal has been quite fine for almost 30 years.</p>
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<p>They would not be “freezing” at 68F, let’s not exaggerate. At that temperature, they would all be reaching a reasonable compromise: it would be warmer than he likes, and they would be wearing climate-appropriate clothing.</p>
<p>I think that it is actually UNETHICAL in this day and age to heat a place in a cold climate up to the upper 70s so that you can wear t shirts and shorts in the dead of winter. YMMV. We are not talking about a medical condition here. We are talking about selfish stupidity on a micro and macro level.</p>
<p>68 was the suggested JC temp and at the very low end of what most consider comfortable indoors. 70-72 is more common</p>
<p>If others do not object to nuditity, whoever is too hot can go in bithing suit and whoever is cold can pile up lbankets at whatever temperature. Many in our offcie have to wear short sleeves in a winter, I stopped buying long sleeves, but most time it is not 80. If it was 80, then none will be working, we will have fired brains. But we have an option to work from home. I cannot stand higher than 65. If my H. is too cold, then he has to wear more clothes. Actually, I am much colder, but I love my hands and feet being icy cold, cold keeps me awake and focused. I would not live with other non-family people though, this is sure way to loose friends, too much nervous resources wasted on urtificially created problems like the one we discuss…
BTW there is no such thing as general comfy temp for every person preferences are different.</p>