hot or cold?

[livesimply5]

if you HAD to choose would you rather be in hot or cold temps living in van? which is more uncomfortable..

 

[Almost There]

Hot, I can seek shade and use various methods to keep cool.

Cold and I don't get along well at all!

 

[Marie]

I agree: hot. For one thing, you can start up the van and drive someplace cooler. If its cold, there's the not starting issue, the snow and ice issues, frozen water/pipes issues. I don't like it too hot, but I REALLY don't like it too cold!

 

[compassrose]

Personally I choose hot. I can handle hot better and I can always go to a store to cool off in their air conditioning. Normally I shed clothing until I get to the point a lukewarm shower is what I need. Cold gets me right to the bone. I have gone for months freezing and not warming up until summer. And that was when I was young. It's worse now that I am older. I apparently radiate all my body heat as well as run a little hot (normal body temp is 99.3F down from my younger normal of 99.8F). David liked it in the winter because I was his personal heater.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I do not handle heat well at all.  If it's too cold, you can always add another layer of clothes.  If it's too hot, all you can do is suffer.  Similarly, as far as sleeping goes, just add more blankets if it's too cold, lay there and suffer if it's too hot to sleep.  This is all based on the theory that you have neither ac nor heat, right?  Otherwise the question is meaningless.

Regards
John

 

[minimotos95]

double post. and I don't even know how..

Even with no heater I much prefer Colorado's winter late fall and early spring to the hotter months. It's June, I have excellent shade and leave my slider open all day but it's still too hot for me to be really comfortable.
One of these days I will make my way back to the as some say "always miserable, cold and wet" pacific north west. even then I will probably still complain about the heat.

Like john said it's easier to keep warm than it is to cool down.

 

[East]

I sleep better in below freezing conditions than I do in heatstroke level heat, definitely prefer the cold.

 

[BigT]

I've had hyponatremia twice and heat exhaustion (bordering on heat stroke) once, and I definitely prefer the cold.
You can't always go somewhere cooler. Two summers in Moab when I was younger, baking in the blast-furnace heat, taught me that.

I assume we're talking about heat vs cold when in a van?

If it's too cold, as others have already stated, I can always bundle up, but there's only so much I can do when it's blazing hot.

 

[SoulRaven]

As far as living IN my van, what the outside temperature is doesn't really matter to me, because I can keep my interior comfortable regardless. Shade in the summer & sun in the winter do help, but having proper heating and cooling is what really keeps things comfortable.

Now if I'm spending a lot of time outdoors, then I'd say somewhere between 70 and 80 degrees is about right.

 

[rvwandering]

Hot for us too. We stay in the shade for the hottest part of the day and face the RV so that any breeze blows through the windows. We can still get out and do things in the early morning or late evening especially in dry climates where it cools off every night. Can't get away from too cold though.

 

[sephson]

Define cold please, bearing in mind that I'm a Southern California native and therefore consider anything below 65 degrees cold. :angel:

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Define cold please, bearing in mind that I'm a Southern California native and therefore consider anything below 65 degrees cold. :angel:

For me (from northern Minnesota) -20° F wind chill outside is too cold.  Inside, below 50° F is cold (except for sleeping = just right).

As I get older (I'm 66 now), my comfort zone is shrinking.  I prefer 70's to 80's with low humidity, a slight breeze, and shade.  Having to choose, I would choose cooler rather than hotter (especially with high humidity).

Used to like to go to LA in the winter.  No problem getting a tee time at golf courses on a 65° day and everyone knew we were from 'up north'; we were the only ones in tee shirts and shorts.

 -- Spiff

 

[ahh_me2]

I much prefer cold!
Pretty much everything we do produces heat, so there is usually always a way to warm up.
I can't think of anything outside of A/C that produces cold, so when it's hot out or in the van, it's
much more difficult to cool it down.

 

[akrvbob]

Fortunately, as a Snowbird I don't have to make that choice, I just move to where it's comfortable. But sometimes in the spring and fall you have no choice but tolerate a little bit too hot or too cold. I'd prefer the heat until it hits 95 and then I'm gone no matter what the temperature is at the other end. In AZ you have the choice of sea level, 3000 feet 5000 feet 7500 feet or 9000 feet. There is never a time when one of them isn't reasonably comfortable.

If I couldn't be a Snowbird, I'd choose a place like Prescott, AZ or Asheville, NC where you get a true 4 seasons but none of them are extreme.
Bob

 

[BigT]

Define cold please, bearing in mind that I'm a Southern California native and therefore consider anything below 65 degrees cold. :angel:

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I live in the SF Bay Area where anything below 55-65 degrees is considered freezing.   

Every once in a long while we'll get snow up on the hills and "real" freezing temps (20's - 30's), but it's rare.  
So when I say I can simply bundle up against the cold, what I'm really saying is I can put a sweater on over my t-shirt.  

 

[highdesertranger]

below 20 is cold above 90 is hot, anything between is ok. although I prefer under 60 to sleep in. highdesertranger

 

[SoulRaven]

if you HAD to choose would you rather be in hot or cold temps living in van? which is more uncomfortable..

Either extreme incapacitates me. If it was merely a matter of comfort I'd be golden wherever!

When I'm too cold, my brain slows to the consistency of molasses and my body does the same. I become pretty much a useless lump that requires concentrated effort to force myself to move at all. I'm high risk for hypothermia and still suffer aftereffects from my bout with it this past January.

When I'm too hot, I cannot go upright for long without passing out. This can lead to dangerous situations when I'm parked in the sun and cannot get upright to drive away.

With enough money and space all temperature extremes can be mitigated successfully, and then it becomes a simple matter of preference. Which is probably what this question was geared towards in the first place...

 

[GotSmart]

I will take the hot. The cold hurts too much. Too many accidents in my time.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

id take cold i think, i can easily heat the van to 80 degrees with a heater or bundle up.

However, It can get so hot in the van there is little you can do but escape it. That said i would prefer moderate temps all the time...

 

[SoulRaven]

id take cold i think, i can easily heat the van to 80 degrees with a heater or bundle up.

However, It can get so hot in the van there is little you can do but escape it.  That said i would prefer moderate temps all the time...

I don't remember where you're located, but are you parking in the sun?  I generally park in the shade and it's pretty rare for it to be too hot that just a fan can't keep it pretty comfortable.  I probably haven't used my A/C more than maybe 10 days over the last couple of years.