How much energy does your body give off on a normal basis? Which part of your body gives off the most heat? What is this amount
How much energy does your body give off on a normal basis? Which part of your body gives off the most heat? What is this amount
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/10825. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Basal metabolic rate is about 75 watts. That is, this is the price of keeping a normal body temperature. Can drop some during sleep.
Light exercise -- you can talk, but not sing without excessive pauses -- raises this to 200-300 watts. A trained athlete can generate 500-1000 watts for extended periods of time.
A person has about 2 square meters of skin. Under comfortable conditions, the skin is at a fairly constant temperature. As you bundle up for colder weather, more heat is lost on the exposed bits, and less on the covered bits.
Exceptions:
A: When under cold stress, the body shuts down surface circulation to the extremities. (Cold fingers, toes) then arms and legs.
B: Blood circulation to the head is not restricted during cold stress.
The combination of these two factors and given environments is the source of such sayings as "You lose X% of your heat through your head"
However, "if you hands are cold, put on your hat" remains good advice.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10828. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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