Sorry To Be A Bother.

[Monty44]

your body runs at ~98° F, so anything cooler than that won't register to your skin.

Do you have a source for this? Because I'm pretty sure I don't need a sweater in 80*F weather to stay warm.

[tttaylorrr]

Do you have a source for this? Because I'm pretty sure I don't need a sweater in 80*F weather to stay warm.

a source for what, exactly?
to clarify my statement that you quoted: anything lower than 98° F won't feel hot on your body right away since the body is warmer than 80° F.

[Monty44]

Yes. The claim that anything lower than body temperature wouldn't feel warm. It's very warm outside today in my city but it isn't near body temperature.

Sorry if this is coming off as snarky. That's not how I intend this to sound.

[tttaylorrr]

Yes. The claim that anything lower than body temperature wouldn't feel warm. It's very warm outside today in my city but it isn't near body temperature.

Sorry if this is coming off as snarky. That's not how I intend this to sound.

it is a little bit but i understand; no hard feelings.

we're talking about touching something, not ambient temps surrounding your entire body. your body likes the air surrounding it to be ~70° F so it can maintain the desired 98° F that it takes to operate (source). one part of your body touching something cooler than 98° F won't exactly feel warm as soon as you touch it; you need to keep your hand on it to feel the heat build up as that part of the body starts to rise in temperature.

there's no source i can provide. i mean, just go touch something that's 80° and tell me if your hand feels instantly hot.

[Monty44]

it is a little bit but i understand; no hard feelings.

we're talking about touching something, not ambient temps surrounding your entire body. your body likes the air surrounding it to be ~70° F so it can maintain the desired 98° F that it takes to operate (source). one part of your body touching something cooler than 98° F won't exactly feel warm as soon as you touch it; you need to keep your hand on it to feel the heat build up as that part of the body starts to rise in temperature.

That 98°F is your core body temperature. Your extremities, however, aren't that hot.

we're talking about touching something, not ambient temps surrounding your entire body

That doesn't mean you can't sense temperature unless it's surrounding you. The same principal applies. You have nerves (and more importantly the proteins on those nerves) in your hands that act as "temperature sensors."

your body likes the air surrounding it to be ~70° F so it can maintain the desired 98° F

Anything over that ~70°F would register as warm then. (Remember that not everything warm is the same temperature. It can be slightly warm to very warm)

touching something cooler than 98° F won't exactly feel warm as soon as you touch it; you need to keep your hand on it to feel the heat build up as that part of the body starts to rise in temperature.

Heat transfer doesn't happen instantly but it still happens very fast. Your body is always releasing heat so if you keep your hand on anything long enough it'll feel warm.

there's no source i can provide. i mean, just go touch something that's 80° and tell me if your hand feels instantly hot.

It wouldn't be hot, but it would still register as [slightly] warm, depending on the person (Some people are anemic or have other medical conditions, large body size, ect). Your fingers, on average, are about 80°F and they have their own nerves/temperature sensors. With that said, they still give off heat as well. Try holding your fingers together and they'll start to feel warmer.


I'm not saying people should forgo the use of a temp gun. I always recommend confirming with that. But telling people "don't worry if it doesn't feel warm, it is warm but you just can't feel it!" is, in my opinion, irresponsible, and could suggest a faulty piece of equipment is working correctly when it isn't. My Helix was set to 93°F and my heat tape didn't feel warm, so I ordered a temp gun. When I confirmed it with my temp gun it was only reading at ~73°F. Now my Helix is set to 110°F (max temp on this model) and my heat tape is reading at 90°F (and does feel warm now btw.) I'm currently in the process of getting another temp probe to have this replaced.


TL;DR: You can feel warmth from stuff under body temp, but use a heat gun to be sure.


Sorry for the late response, just got home from work.