Singapore airconditioning too cold

After spending a month in Istanbul with 3-7°C degrees of winter, I have managed to get sick in the tropical weather of Singapore thanks to one of my customer's air conditioning. Their indoor temperature is so low that I can comfortably wear a winter jacket and can easily get sick if I do not wear something extra. In another customer, I regularly need to go out of the building to warm my self in hot and humid weather of Singapore!

It looks like these are not an isolated cases. WWF Singapore for Earth Hour 2011 has recently polled 450 people here in Singapore and - to my suprise - many complained about the air conditioning:

Some 52 per cent of respondents felt that cinemas were too cold; offices and schools followed closely with 40 per cent indicating the same. 

In order to keep themselves warm in cold offices or schools, most respondents wrap themselves in a shawl or wear a winter jacket (69 per cent), while others (another 25 per cent) would either go out for a walk in the sun, go to the washroom, or take a coffee break. 

WWF said it is focusing on the message "24 degrees or higher" in Singapore for 2011, when it comes to air-conditioning settings. 

WWF Singapore managing director Amy Ho said not only will this make for more pleasant temperatures indoors, it will also save significant amounts of energy across the country, contributing towards the fight against climate change".

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WWF is trying to determine how comfortable people currently are with air-conditioning temperatures in Singapore, and encourage individuals and organisations to set their air-conditioning temperatures at 24°C or higher.

In the typical home, air conditioning uses more electricity than anything else, and in a typical Singaporean home it probably uses more than half of the total electricity consumed. Each degree below 25°C will increase your energy consumption by 3-4%! So over cooling is not only unhealthy, it is also expensive and wastes a lot of energy.

In relatively cool season I do not use air-conditioning at all. A simple fan is usually enough. When I use the air-conditioning, I personally set the temperature to 28°C and feel very comfortable. 28°C can sound to warm for you but it is not. I have started from 25°C (most comfortable temperature for a human being) a gradually increased it to 28°C, 1°C up each week. It is all about getting used to it.

I hope the businesses can increase the indoor temperatures to 25°C so they can save energy (and the world) and we can save on medical expenses.