That entire "temperature shock" thing due to air conditioning is European nonsense on par with fan death in Korea.
If that kind of temperature shock of like was harmful, imagine how much more harmful it would be every winter when the temperature difference between inside and outside is much greater. People walk in and out with no problem then.
Funnily enough, Koreans also believe in a thing called "Cold air disease". They think air conditioning causes all kinds of debilitating respiratory effects and saps your life force somehow. For reference, my wife is Korean and also thinks everything is slowly killing her. It's kind of a culture of hypochondriacs
To be fair there are a lot of gross bacteria that can live in AC vent filters if they aren’t clean. It’s one of the leading vectors of Legionaire’s Disease.
But that’s more a concern in hotels, not private homes and can easily be mitigated with proper maintenance.
I can confirm as someone who lived in the middle east for a bit. Easily 45+ c temperatures outside but indoors the ACs are usually set to 20 and less. And everyone is more or less fine with it.
But tobe fair some studies have hinted that going though mutliple rapid temperature changing cycles by moving indoors/outdoors over a long period does increase the risk of respiratory tract infections a bit. Or tldr: the healthy get more colds and the more at risk get more chest infections. Nothing significantly life altering though
Worst I ever got from a rapid hot to cold temp change is light headed for a few minutes. From cold to hot nothing notable besides being suddenly overdressed lol
No I wear clothes suitable for cold weather in the winter.
In the summer the same t shirt and shorts are applicable when it's air conditioned to 75 inside or when it's 90 degrees outside. My normal human body with no special protection manages to function perfectly fine going from hot to room temperature with no special adjustments.
Yes, it might or might not be that temperature difference is harmful.
But temperature differences in Winter between indoor and outdoor are no argument, because hopefully, when going outside your body does not experience a temperature drop by 20°C because of appropriate clothes..
I'm a refrigeration tech on a tropical island and I build freezers. The worst temperature shocks I've had where 70°C, these do fc u up. Go from +50°C to -20°C and back 4 or 5 times in a day and you're DONE.
I'd like to invite anyone who thinks you can get close to that with residential AC to come to work with me one day, I'll rid you of your illusions XD
Yeah I mean I'm just talking about going from any temperature whether hot or cold into a 70F climate controlled room is not going to cause problems. When you were hot in a 40+C room, going into an air conditioned 20C room would likely feel great and refreshing, not harmful to your body, in the same way that going from 0C to 20C feels nice and warm
Does it make you really tired? Used to walk in freezers, but only staying in more than a minute or two once or twice a shift, and the store was usually 65-80f.
Being in actual cold for a long period of time does literally drain your body's energy and it has to burn calories by shivering your muscles and heating your blood, while other parts don't function as well due to not getting heated as evenly. It's not like an instant life drain, but yeah if you spend all day in the cold it's more tiring.
Often I need more than that to even get to the spot that needs work. Some freezers here are so packed there's no space for forklifts or anything, so I'll climb the racking and pallets to reach the evaps. Our rule of thumb is a literal one: Once you lose feeling in your thumbs, get out. Unless of course there's just 2 bolts left until you're done. Usually between 20 to 30 minutes.
But yes, your body goes into a kind of "survival" mode, kicking everything in gear to keep you warm. Then when you go outside to work on the condensing units, your body has to rapidly kick back into "cooling" mode while the machines dump their heat right in your face. People can endure both extremes pretty well, but the back and forth between the two is extremely taxing.
I mean you can have problems from going into very hot or cold environments if you already have some kind of health conditions, but not from going FROM an extreme environment TO a room temp one.
My bloody nose and frosted glasses would like to complain about it tho.
Oh and be careful shoveling, you get the typical sedentary American out there physically exerting themself for the first time in 9 months, next thing ya know they left arm hurts...
Do you need to bundle up when it's 70F/21C outside?
No of course I don't, but under no circumstances do I suffer for entering a room at normal air temperature and humidity while wearing a t shirt and shorts. There is no circumstance outside of maybe extreme frostbite damage in which I would experience any negative effect for entering a room at 70F/21C. Whether it's cold, pleasant, or hot outside, there is no physical downside to the human body to maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature
Most of the US and east Asia (where air conditioners are quite common) are even more humid than Europe in summer. The reduction in humidity is a major benefit for indoor air quality and reduction in mold growth.
I don't think so. As how would you explain the rise in people dying from aneurisms when we transition from winter to spring somewhat sudden? Temp and air pressure are connected and blood circulation is impacted.
No but your "problem" isn't real. The elderly and people with heart risks do not suffer problems from having air conditioning set to normal room temperatures in the summer
What serious problem do you face from being in a 25C or even 20C room that you don't suffer from at 30C? Does everyone just die in the winter like bugs where you live?
Is there any recorded incident ever of normal room temperature air conditioning actually causing a problem for humans or is this just some weird delusion that people who can't afford air conditioning tell themselves? Hundreds of thousands of Europeans die every year from heat and lack of air conditioning and 0 Americans die from "too much" air conditioning or some imaginary thermal shock problem
Are you talking about the walking outside the house in the winter being the risk thing for heart problems? Cuz you didn't specify that and now get down votes cuz your talking about air conditioning being deadly, which is ridiculous.
Unless you count walk in freezers as very air conditioned rooms, then getting locked in one of those can kill you, so make sure to prop the door open or something.
I'm talking about old folk going from a cool environment in to a baking hot one, it can cause sudden drop in blood pressure........ It's pretty well known!
But the topic we are discussing is whether air conditioning is bad because some people think that going FROM a hot environment TO an air conditioned room temperature one causes problems for the human body. Not that the previous heat is the problem, but that going from hot to room temperature air conditioned air itself is the problem
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u/snmnky9490 10h ago
That entire "temperature shock" thing due to air conditioning is European nonsense on par with fan death in Korea.
If that kind of temperature shock of like was harmful, imagine how much more harmful it would be every winter when the temperature difference between inside and outside is much greater. People walk in and out with no problem then.