Why do we feel cold inside the house more than outside?

Weather of Arabia - Most of us notice when returning home after spending time outside, that the atmosphere in the house is cooler than outside, which contradicts the main goal of the house, which is to provide maximum comfort for humans, so what is the reason for this strange feeling of cold inside homes and buildings ?!

In fact, there are several answers to this question, but we must first understand that our feeling of cold or warmth in a place depends on our bodies losing and gaining heat, and this heat transfer process occurs in three ways:

• Conduction (direct contact with a heat source).
• convection (air flow).
• Radiation (heat flows directly from a warmer surface to a cooler surface).

The amount of heat your body loses or gains is affected by the difference in temperature between the body and the surrounding environment, so we wear winter clothes in cold weather, because it preserves our body heat and reduces the loss of that heat through radiation, and also reduces the effect of convection by keeping the movement of cold air away from Our bodies, greatly inhibit conduction.

Reasons related to the house itself

Your house or any building has a similar response to heat and cold. In the summer when the exterior walls get warm, heat is transferred to the interior of the house. In the winter the walls cool and heat is transferred from the inside of the house to the outside .

After the cold weather continues for several days, the external walls continue to lose heat, so the contrast in temperature increases between the external and internal surfaces, which leads to a decrease in the temperature in the internal face of the wall, so the house cools down.

in summer. The difference in temperature between the inner and outer surface of the house is not as great as it is in cold weather in winter, so we do not notice a large temperature difference between the house and the outside.

Also read: The most common types of home heating methods

Personnel reasons

There are also reasons related to our bodies and our behavior indoors. We usually do less physical activity indoors than outside, so your body generates less heat. Indoor air is also drier in winter, so sweat evaporates faster, skin cools and we feel colder more.

Nature reasons

We do not forget the effect of the presence of solar radiation outside, which provides us with warmth and heats the objects on which it falls, and thus heats the air near it.

Solutions to increase the feeling of warmth inside the home

• Opening the windows at noon: It is important to open the curtains and windows at noon and when the weather is warm, so that the sun's rays enter and the cold leaves the houses and the warm air enters.
• Physical activity: Movement and physical activity help the body produce heat and feel warm. Sitting at home, lack of movement and laziness make us feel colder.
• Home maintenance: Check windows and doors and close any vents that could bring cold air into the home.
• Arranging the rooms: rearranging the rooms to suit the thermal requirements of each activity. For example, it is not preferable for the bed to be directly under the window, or next to an external wall, bearing in mind that the inner rooms are warmer in the winter than the rooms that have facades on the outside.
• House insulation: A well-insulated house reduces the heat contrast between the inner and outer surface in the windows and the wall, which reduces the amount of heat lost to the outside, and increases the level of warmth and comfort inside the house. Double doors and windows can be used, or floors are poor conductors of heat, which reduces heat loss. from home.

Also read: 10 tips to keep your body warm in the winter