Some things change, but comfy temperatures stay the same.
An interesting study has revealed that Americans actually like setting their thermostat closer to African temperatures, at least in the prehistoric times. The results were published in the Royal Society Open Science journal.
Researchers came to the conclusion after collecting information from 37 homes all over North America in the span of one year, using sensors installed in each house. The gathered information included home temperature and humidity level, since the original intent of the research was to learn more about organisms within the homes and whether such factors would affect their numbers inside the house.
Based on the results of the study, most of the observed homes set their thermostats during winter to a minimum average temperature of 46F to 71F (8C to 22C). In summer, the average maximum temperature was around 71F to 96F (22C to 36C).
These ranges of temperatures are very similar to those from areas near Baringo County, Kenya, located in the Rift Valley, which is often considered to be the birthplace of mankind.
Scientists conclude that this is because, despite thousands of years of evolution, it’s still the climate that people are ‘most comfortable’ in, and that modern humans are possibly setting their thermostats to temperatures that give them the same climate their ancestors were used to back in the prehistoric period.
