As I am leaving the Relief Society room after finishing my Sunday School class, I hear the following exchange:
“It is freeeeezing in here!” Says one woman with the thin cotton dress, cut well above her knees. In January. In the morning. (With boots)
“I know! It’s like they are trying to chase us away!” Says her friend, wearing similar warm-weather attire. But she is more pro-active – she gets up and marches over to the thermostat and pounds the up arrow a few times until the little green light goes on.
Having seen it a thousand times before, I quietly make my exit, comfortable in my wool suit.
The battle of the church thermostat has been raging as long as I can remember. I see no solution, as personal preferences will always be at odds. But I have made some observations over the years about the conflict.
• The Relief Society room is always the coldest room in the building. Why? I don’t know. Cruel irony?
• The warmest? The Bishop’s office during Priesthood meeting, even though he is wearing a wool suit and there are 18 Priests crammed in there with him.
• The women who complain about the RS room being cold, week after week, always seems surprised that it is cold yet again this week, but do nothing to change their dress to accommodate it.
• When it is nice and cosy-warm in Sacrament meeting, far more people sleep through the meeting.
• In most chapels in the US, the thermostats are pre-programmed for Sunday meetings. This means you can push that button in the chapel until your fingertip goes numb – the light might go on, but it won’t override the presets. They have to be changed on another panel, usually up in the attic.
• A Relief Society room can be 50 degrees, and a few of the poor sisters will be sweating like they are running a triathlon in Cancun. (Someting about “power surges” and “the Change.”)
• This conundrum is never, ever, going to be resolved. Why? Because men are men and women are women. Most men simply put off more heat than most women. I don’t know if it about muscle mass, or hormones, or body fat. (I for one, have walrus-like insulation, and never, ever get cold – much to my EC’s chagrin.)
What compounds the issue is that many men in the church wear suit coats out of reverence, respect and tradition. Those suit coats are not comfortably cool – especially in the summertime, or in an overly heated room.
One thing that cracks me up is when there are 300 people in a chapel, and one person decides that the room is the wrong temperature and gets up and tries to change it. Huh? I don’t remember voting on that?
Of course I would never stir this pot without offering solutions, so here are a few:
• Every building in the US has someone who has the authority to change the pre-programmed thermostats. Someone in your bishopric knows who that person is, and can contact them. So, if your Relief Society room has icicles growing on the inside, go to your bishopric and ask them too have it looked at. It might take a few times, and some patience, but they will try and resolve it.
• The simple truth is that if you run cold, and I run hot, you have more ability to put on more layers of warmer clothes than I have ability to strip off layers. Besides, nobody wants to see that. IF you are cold, it is by your own choice. If you are hot, it might not be up to you.
• As Elder Holland said, “no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.” (Link) Truth.
• We are so stinkin’ spoiled that it boggles the mind. I have attended sweltering outdoor sacrament meetings in Africa under thatched ramadas, and not heard a peep of complaint from the sweaty saints. I have attended meetings in South America where the inside of the building’s windows were coated with ice, but the saints still gathered.
• There is a brilliant sister in my ward who brings a small blanket that she wraps around her legs, as needed, without drawing any attention to herself.
• Or, perhaps, as a last resort we could ask the Church to put a copy of this painting in all the Relief Society rooms: 
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I used to live in Brazil. It was always fun going to church there, I put my floral summer dress, my sandals and never thought about coats. I felt so happy in the church. There was big windows that are always open and big fans and the temperature was comfortable to everybody.The women in Brazil always dress very nice to church, but never overdressed like here in US. Here in US is always cold, I dont feel happy in the church anymore. Even the investigators told the missionaries that the church was so cold that they dont want to come back anymore. The extremely fat people always go to church with so many clothes and they keep complaining about how hot it is and putting the ar conditioning down. The guys in Brazil dont wear coats, only white shirt and tie, but here they are always making a hell in our lives with their heavy coats.
I lived in San Diego, California and now live in Newtown, Connecticut and the RS room is the same freezing temperature in both places! My favorite church survival gear is fleece-lined tights. I sent several pair to my missionary daughter in Chicago for tracting and biking in below freezing temperatures (roughly the same climate as Relief Society rooms church-wide). As I tell my children: “You can curse the darkness or light a candle.”
“IF you are cold, it is by your own choice. If you are hot, it might not be up to you” I’m gonna have to take issue with this sentence. As one who runs cold ALL THE TIME (see wears a blanket on the beach in Cancun in the shade) I don’t think it’s my own choice. My brother and I are the same when it comes to body temperature we both freeze wherever we go. So yes, I dress warmly year round, not immodestly and carry a blanket. All things that people have suggested and I realize that I need to do that because I am the exception and not the norm. In temps where most people are comfortable, I am cold. I get it. But I don’t consider it my choice.
xoxox
Nice comment, but wrong. Very much in the same way that people argue “Agency” issues.
On the beach in Cancun, you COULD wear a ski parka and nestle in a -15 degree mummy bag. You would not be cold. Sure, you would look like an idiot, but you would get warm. If you are cold, it is because you are unwilling to do what it takes to NOT be cold. It is preventable, though not fashionable, in almost all circumstances.
I gladly give up my suit jacket to my sweetie of 30 years and put my loving arm around her
After reading through the comments, all I can say is that I am glad I am not the only one who has to wear a coat in the building all year round.
I’m one of the cold ones. Today I wore heavy boots, thick socks, a long dress, an extra blouse, a sweater, a coat, and gloves. I wish I could play the organ for sacrament meeting wearing all this and a blanket over my head! To begin the prelude music, I have to take off the gloves, obviously, and the coat as it restricts arm movements. I have to take off my boots and socks so I can feel the pedals under my feet, and hike up my skirts so I can see my feet. And I’m blowing on my chilly fingers between hymns. Forgive me if I play a trifle slower in the cold!
Freezing at church has been a really big problem for me. I feel absolutely miserable every single Sunday and just can’t wait for church to be over so I can go outside and thaw out. I live in sunny Southern California, where the weather is always perfect, but where church is always freezing. It is so frustrating to have to drag a coat and a blanket to church every single Sunday and still be cold (Californians shouldn’t even need to own warm coats and blankets!)! Summer or Winter, it doesn’t matter, the a/c is always crankin’ in our building. I especially can’t stand the Summer when it comes down to making a choice between broiling on the way to and from church because your are overdressed, or freezing all during church because you are underdressed. I wish we could just have church outside.
The picture of the snow bound handcart pioneers may have an opposite effect to the one intended. I recently read an internet article that said that pictures of people in cold circumstances made the viewer feel colder. Maybe a picture of a tropical congregation with visible sweat beads could do more good. My personal peeve involves the banks of florescent lights in the Relief Society room. I get headaches from the glare. My solution is to sit near a window or glazed door where natural light dilutes the effect. This is usually a few degrees cooler but I wear an extra wool sweater under my coat if I feel chilly. There are brands of tights that provide a fleecy layer to warm up legs but look quite normal. Layered dressing is often the solution to dealing with temperature differences from room to room.
What about when you have something planned in the gym with your family (that is not during regular church hours-obviously) ie…Saturday afternoon after a baptism or likewise? If it’s in the winter, it is freezing and if it’s in the summer it can be too warm and there is no way of changing the temperature. I assume the thermostat is preset! It would be great for situations similar to a family get together, that the thermostat could be overridden so it’s comfortable in there. Is that possible? Who do we need to contact for that? We’ve had that happen multiple times and with older people and really young children/babies, it’s hard to keep them warm! 🙂
(From my experience) There are no presets during the week or on Saturdays – but you have to remember to have someone swing by the church and turn on the heat/AC HOURS before the activity starts.
Yes Dotcomma…
For non-Sunday use of the HVAC systems, there should be a sensor/control box, approximately 3″x5″ somewhere on a wall in the cultural hall. There are a couple of different models…but the newer ones have an occupancy button that you can push which should light up a light green dot sized light on this sensor. There may even be a blue and a red arrow button pad on your sensor/control box. You can push the blue arrow to lower the temperature or the red to raise the temperature. By pushing this button you can activate the furnace and/or A/C to bring the temperature to the ‘Occupied’ settings, as if it were Sunday.
If you are there for several hours you may have to push the button again after the first hour. Most of the sensors will be programmed to stay on for 60 minutes, other than the chapel sanctuary, it should stay on for 3 hours.
You can ask you bishop or a counselor too. They are likely to know where the sensor/control pad is in most areas of your building.
Good luck.
I’ve been known to wear thermals under Sunday clothes with long skirts. The right ambient temperature is a perennial problem.
On the other hand, there are few things that make a woman feel less reverently and nicely dressed than wearing her snow coat during church services – to say nothing of the hindered moveability and the awesome swishing sound when wrangling children. I totally agree that it is the cold person’s responsibility to bundle up, but I’m just sayin’, it doesn’t feel “Sunday best” like the men’s options. #FirstWorldProblems, am I right?
As a facilities manager for the church in Utah, I am always looking for ways to find the “perfect temperature” setting to please all. It is probably easier to predict the exact day of the Second Coming.
My wife is our relief society president our ward, so I have an added interest in pleasing her classmates too. We are both 53 and more sensitive to temperature differences than we used to be when we hadthe priviledge to wrestle our (5) sons at church. Life is a lot less stressful now as we sit and smile at the cute children of the younger half of our ward’s families.
Things I’ve noticed and some possible ‘Helps’:
-Most people appear to be fine with the temperature in the buildings.
-The persons that complain the most about it being too hot in church are sometimes the ones presenting (speakers or teachers) probably because they are a little nervous. They will often times express this publically, and a well intending class helper reaches over to the blue arrow on the sensor/control box and pushes it several times (which normally only drops the temp 2 degrees). So now everyone else is a lttle on the cool side. Except the instrutor who remains overheated regardless.
-Feel free to open a window to cool down or warm up…just make sure you secure it after class.
-The people who are too cold in the winter generally are under dressed…but not always.
-If my body is thirsting for water in the winter, generally I am colder than I would be otherwise…so make certain that you are hydrated if you have problems keeping warm too.It’s not always easy to drink water when we are cold, but it definitely contributes to our personal body climate control. Your kidneys will love you too.(as I just had some stones blasted just yesterday).
-Get healthy. Work out regularly. Your body will be less sensitive to these temperature differences when you are feeling healthier.
-Get to church 5 to 10 minutes earlier, you won’t be as hot and bothered, and you can sit by the sensor and you can adjust it to your hearts content 🙂
-Find out who your PFR is in your stake (Physical Facilities Rep). He will be a member of the high council in charge of communicating with the FM Group (Facilities Management). He can review the settings and make adjustments for the general good of all. But PLEASE let him know if there is a problem. We highly value your input.
Thanks and good luck.
There you go kids – straight from the horse’s mouth!
For the record, I think it is super cold in the temple (every one I’ve been to) also. So I wear a heavy sweater. Year round.
At first, I was the only one who was freezing, so I dressed for winter, brought a blanket & a healthy serving of self-esteem…people laughed at me or made comments about being like an early morning seminary student because I brought my “blankie.” No biggie to me because, as mentioned in the post, it’s easier for me to layer up than another to layer down. Also, I realized early on that the bishopric member responsible for requesting thermostat changes LOVES it ice cold, so complaining didn’t matter. Ironically, he was one who ribbed me the most about my ‘blankie’, lol. Now, there are other sisters who began complaining about the cold, one going so far as to try to change the thermostat, and others who started bringing their ‘blankies.’ I only wish that they made stylish “Sunday Snuggies.” The planets would align & peace would encompass the earth (at least in my little world).
Apparently the Bishop had received enough complaints that he had the Sunday School President to look into it. Being a very straight forward individual, the SS President asked the hundred people in the chapel for a vote: “How many in the room are so cold it is uncomfortable?” Only 6 people raised their hands. They were offered blankets, and one or two took them. “How many think it is too hot?” Another handful of people raised their hand. He joked that not much could be done for them. This left the vast majority of men AND women in the room (about 90 of 100) voting that it was “just right” or at least tolerable. I think it is the vocal minority that seems to drive the controversy.
I used to work as a Production Manager in a manufacturing plant with mostly women working at stations in a variety of rooms. Each day certain women would ask me to turn up the heat, with others in the same room to turn it down as it was too hot. Each time I would say I would look into it. Each time it was exactly the same: 72 degrees. The next time I would walk through the room I would get a “thanks, that is much better” after having done nothing.
In the 6 years I worked there, I never once had one of the men ask me to adjust the temperature. Coincidence? I think not.
Having said this, I do believe we need to “honor and respect” the fairer sex whatever their situation. So I wish you all luck in adjusting up and down all meeting long 🙂
There are actually biological reasons that cause women to have a more difficult time regulating their thermostats. I have read several articles verifying this fact.
Having said that, I have no sympathy for any woman who comes to church barelegged in a short sleeved cotton dress in winter. Those of us who dress warmly, bring a blanket, and are still cold are the ones I identify with. And IF my building were 70-72 degrees – winter or summer – I would be beyond thrilled!
This is a really funny post, thank you. I really enjoyed it because I have a little experience with this subject matter on a work basis. Things to point out are, as one person said above, when the thermostat is on, it is pre-programmed to a temperature with a min and max. If the thermostat in a room has the extra buttons, like most chapels do, you can adjust it up and down but only to the point of programming. I can speak for a number of AZ buildings where you can adjust a room up or down 3 degrees from the programmed temp. The other thing to point out is that there are colder or warmer spots in the room depending on if you are sitting in the direct line of the vent. I personally like to sit by the return vents in the chapel ;-). Lastly, if we polled just 10 people in one room you would get a variety of responses making it virtually impossible to make all happy. I know that the people that oversee the maintenance of the buildings try to keep as many people happy as possible. Keep in mind that the feedback comes from the stake presidents or the stake PFR’s. But just remember the very popular verse, many are cold but few are frozen.
We had tenants in a 4 plex who would turn the hall thermostats up real high and then leave the outside door open or crack a window to get some “fresh” air while they had their apt. set at 80. There wasn’t much we could do about the apt. ones, but believe me, my husband “fixed” the hall ones to be total dummies. I moved to Alaska from Gilbert 30 years ago and I learned to appreciate the cold. And yes, the main issues are men’s suits and women not dressing at least equally warm. Usually the only ones who dress that skimpily up here are the teenage girls. The adult women have learned to dress smarter! Also, can you imagine a bldg. in Alaska with a huge AC and a small furnace? It has happened up here with bldgs. designed in Utah.
Is it me, or is it hot in here?
When I was growing up we had an old building with a broiler. It was always broken. For years our stake requested a new building. Finally the day came when a new building was built for our wards. The old building was bought by a Baptist Church. The first week that the Baptists met in their “new”building, they invited anyone who had previously met there to come. The entire meeting they sang praises of how blessed they were for the wonderful building, how great the Lord was to bless them so abundantly. I remember our bishop commenting on feeling guilty for his years of complaining. I was a teenager…I was grateful for the new building.
Another great blog! As one who has lived the past 20 years out side of the US and sees extreme meeting situations, we should just be grateful, so grateful, that we have a place to meet!
I live in Arizona. If I have to put up with 115-120 degrees in the summertime, I am sure as heck not going to turn the heat on in the wintertime. Except in the early mornings when a fireplace fire will do just fine, you don’t need heat on here.
We have a woman in our ward who was born without functioning sweat glands. If the room is too hot, she can’t stay in it. That’s reason enough for me to err on the side of cold when it comes to Church room temperature.
I’m sitting in my own house right now, 73*, next to the fire, wearing wool socks, jeans, long sleeved shirt, and a hoodie. I’m freezing. There’s no hope for some of us.
Also, that painting is by my father’s best friend. 🙂
Some of us just can’t be accommodated anywhere, and that would be me. I go from hot to cold all day long … In my own home, in the car, in a store, outside, and at church. I have a broken thermostat and thyroid pills have yet to fix it. I always dress in layers and have a sweater with me as well as a small fan. It’s annoying but it is what it is.
Ah heck just for the fun of it here’s my input. Our RS room had an old heating/cooling unit. The ones who seem to be warm natured and always complain about the heat ALWAYS sit in the airflow thus making it their personal mission to keep, those like me out in the outer fringes of that arctic room. Do they move up to the front of the room where I am forced to sit. NO! They would never sit at the front of the room, they might be asked to pray or read a scripture. I am well into the change and relish each and every hot flash! Regardless of what I wear my feet and hands are freezing. And to those who say “I am so fat”; as if it is a gift…should see their heat issue as their problem that they should suffer through without including me in their suffering. Then one day we got a new unit. It is so noisy when it is on… we not only have the too hot/cold issue we now have a noise issue. It is so noisy, then while it is running…hot or cold…no one can hear anything!
I am one of those “cold” sisters who freeze in church. My normal attire – winter or summer – is tights, a slip, skirt, layering shirt, normal shirt, sweater. And a blanket. Still cold. We have contacted our building guy FOR YEARS and he won’t fix it. In fact he got upset when our bishop figured out how to fix it and “messed” with it – not a happy day. My solution – men wear skirts (like they do in the islands) and women wear wool suits! (I agree on being spoiled, however… so I try not to complain too much.) LOVE your blog!
I attended one ward where the RS room wasn’t connected to the heat when they built it. Every sister was handed a thick fleece blanket as she entered the room. Now I attend a building dedicated in 1929, which was added onto in pieces. The RS room has wonderful windows, two air conditioners/heaters, and is warm enough to take off one’s coat in the winter. In the summer, we talk about the temp, and agree what to do before anyone touches the A/C. Nobody even tries to mess with the thermostat in the chapel. We all know who has the power of the thermostat, and if something goes wrong, it is almost always fixed by the next week.
“There must needs be opposition in all things!” 🙂
Like someone said above, there has never been a building that even has the same temperature across the rooms. I live where it is warm and even in the summer some rooms are freezing. I was a primary teacher and the primary room was always in the low 60’s. I eventually found that the outside compressor was accessible, so I would go switch that off for a while. I just had to remember to go turn it back on. I do think they send out “the A/C guy” during the week, but the building can be different when 4 wards occupy it than some other morning.
Indeed we are SO SPOILED and it worries me terribly! I love and admire the Saints in other countries who walk for miles in the predawn hours just to attend Sacrament. I dare say there would be few of us who would do the same. Where is our devotion? Would we have been able to cross the plains and ford the frozen rivers as they did? Yes, I worry greatly about how spoiled we are and fear we have much to repent of! Thanks for another brilliant post!!
A good friend told me once they could not get the correct temps in their building. Summer was hot and winter was cold throughout the building. Until someone decided to change the main thermostat and found the wires connected backwards. So maybe we aren’t all crazy, just freezing in the RS room no matter how warm we dress.
I agree that women deserve to be cold when they wear bare legs and light fabrics to church in the winter. But, the same is true for the men in the summer! Wool suits? The culture needs to be more accepting of just a shirt and tie on men, in my opinion.
I don’t know that I would feel comfortable “dressing down” and wearing anything less than my best at Sacrament meeting.
The same could be said for women forced to wear their thick winter coats, yes? At least men dropping the suit coat leaves a nice shirt and tie – much harder for women to find a nice looking, warm enough, and affordable coat that is “Sunday Best”.
They must have different stores where I live. And websites.
Hahaha – made me smile today!
“We are so stinkin’ spoiled that it boggles the mind. I have attended sweltering outdoor sacrament meetings in Africa under thatched ramadas, and not heard a peep of complaint from the sweaty saints. I have attended meetings in South America where the inside of the building’s windows were coated with ice, but the saints still gathered.”
Isn’t that the truth! I am going to FREEZE when I finally return to Utah . . . (I’ll be the one with all the layers in July!) I’m now used to sitting in Church with sweat running down my back like a waterfall and don’t think a thing about it 🙂
The worse part will be actually wearing real shoes in the winter once again . . .
Kristin
My husband said I could make a killing by renting out quilts each week. $5 for a quilt during sacrament meeting! At least 75% of our ward wears their coats the whole time. I also had a friend who had been told that the Church keeps the thermostat so cold so women will dress modestly. (I assured her that information couldn’t be correct since it was a covert way of undermining our agency to choose what to wear.)
I have always run cold and even with multiple layers (even thermals) sacrament meeting and Sunday school tend to be miserable for me because the building is so cold. Maybe I should start bringing the hot water bottle?
In my MIL’s ward, they keep a bunch of blankets and quilts in the RS closet for those who may have forgotten to bring one. Quite a nice idea!
Very funny – but quite a hot button for me. I am one who used to be quite comfortably warm in almost any situation, and who sniggered at those silly women who were always cold, Now, 40 years later and with thyroid issues, I’m almost always freezing at church – to the point that, at times, I’ve been so miserable I have debated leaving. We don’t keep the heat in our home very high so it’s not as though I’m used to it being 72 degrees in the Winter, but In my building, the thermostat can be overridden – and it ALWAYS is. The temperature is usually put on the coldest setting – in the dead of winter. We have even had the people open a window in Relief Society “to get some air” on 40 degree days when most of us are cold. In the Summer they keep it so cold that it’s about 66 degrees in the RS room. Many of us (myself included,) bring a blanket. Every. Single. Week, And I would never dream of wearing something short sleeved to church – year round. It’s just too cold. It’s funny to look around the chapel and see so many sisters bundled up during sacrament meeting while a few quite heavy women and burly men in their wool blazers sit smiling as the rest of us have icicles dripping from our noses. And those people always manage to grab a seat next to the thermostat which is within easy reach of the back side pews. (One woman actually told me that she was so fat that it kept her quite warm thus needing the thermostat to be turned down.) My husband, though the cold doesn’t bother him, complains that the people who insist on the building being so cold are wasting the Lord’s resources and I agree.
“the people who insist on the building being so cold are wasting the Lord’s resources and I agree”
Amen. That’s been my thought as well on more than one (cold) occasion.
That makes sense in the Summer, when the AC is on, but the opposite is true in the Winter. You could make the same case that in the Winter, “the people who insist on the building being so warm are wasting the Lord’s resources.”
Actually, they are wasting the resources when they have the windows open on a cold winter day or turn on the AIR CONDITIONING in winter. It blows my mind!
And BTW, when I made the comment about the heavy women, (and I’m not skinny, being a size 16 myself!) I was repeating what some of them have actually said. I truly meant no offense.
Exactly. I would be fine bundling up in the winter to save some expense, but when I get to church in the summer and realize I forgot bring my parka or blanket and will therefore be braving the cold when it’s 90 outside, it’s tough to bear meekly. The wisdom of Google places room temperature at 70, while Wikipedia puts the average at 73. I wish!!
I had to laugh at this one. You could have been describing my building/Relief Society room/complaining women. For years I wondered if our building(Southern CA) was even equipped with a furnace because it is NEVER warm in the RS room. However, I also think it’s also just individual body chemistry at work. Sunday I was comfortable in a sweater, long skirt & boots, while two friends (one wearing long skirt, blouse & sweater, the other still in her coat) were both complaining of the cold. Go figure.
Wait, did someone say women can wear pants to church? Has there been an announcement I missed?
It seems you missed there was never an announcement that you couldn’t.
Our building here in Brazil is older and has no air conditioning at all (except a small wall unit in the bishop’s office). The ceiling fans are old and quite noisy. This past Sunday’s 93-degree heat with 60% humidity was pretty awful, especially in my very pregnant state. When we move back to the US later this year, I look forward to having to take a sweater to church because the building is too cold!
I always have a sweater on at church even in summer because its always cold in the church. Now that I know women can wear pants, if its super cold I’m wearing pants.
I totally agree with the part statement
about being stinking spoiled. I laugh, but truly, we should be ashamed.
HAHA! Love it! I remember as a missionary in Bulgaria, we met for church in this really grody bar (now that was something to complain about). The bar owners were cheap and would never turn on the heater for us on Sundays, so we’d all sit and shiver in our coats and hats. Once an investigator told us she was done with our church if it was going to be so cold in meetings. If I remember correctly, my companion asked the District Leader to start looking for a new place to meet for church because of that.
I so agree. I would rather the brothers be comfortable so less BO is generated.
Several of the complainers about being cold (in Idaho) are dressed in skimpy dresses and wearing no hosiery or socks all winter. Fashion vs sense? I’m with you–if you are cold, wear layers!
Why is it that our church can trace your family history back to Adam (almost), but can never get the heat and a/c right in any building? New or old. In my 6 decades, I have lived all over the US and in Germany , and I can tell you with some certainty that EVERY building has too hot/too cold rooms. This question baffles me more than how the pyramids were built, or where the 116 lost pages of the Book of Mormon are.
Amen.
So true. In our building, the gymnasium (ie multicultural room?) is always 82* whilst the relief society room rarely cracks 65*. It’s a puzzle.
Yep, I found out that pushing the warm or cool side of the thermostat will only change the setting by 2 deg. no matter how many times you push it. My solution has been to ALWAYS wear long sleeve something to church no matter the season because the building is cold in the winter due to the furnace settings and cold in the summer due to the AC settings. Although, winter seems to be a bit warmer, but summer is always cold probably because of the drastic change from outside to AC. We sisters have realized it is set for men in suits and we just have to figure out how to deal with it. Some RSs stock lap quilts in their room to help out. Or just keep our coats on in the winter and as mentioned wear long sleeves in the summer!