question: Most of not all of us prefer hot showers, due to it being more comfortable. However, same cannot be said said for a hot room to sleep in, which is labelled uncomfortable. Why is this?
comment: Water has a higher heat capacity than air and it also conducts heat better than air. This means that 70 degree air is refreshing for many people, but 70 degree water would have them shivering uncontrollably. The water conducts heat away from the body much faster than air (which is a good insulator) and it also has the ability to absorb and store that heat, making it an ideal material for wicking heat away from the body. So in order to prevent a shower from sucking out all of your body heat, we use hotter water. When you get out of the shower you also lose heat from the evaporation of the water off of your skin and hair. This is why toweling off doesn't make you cold, but staying wet and letting the air dry you does. So the heat from the shower also helps with the transition when you get out, before you've dried off.
passages: Navy showers originated on naval ships, where supplies of fresh water were often scarce. Using this method, crew members were able to stay clean, while conserving their limited water supply. The concept has also been adopted by some other people who wish to conserve water and the energy needed to heat the water, for both environmental and economic reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, water heating is typically the second-largest energy expense in homes (after space heating).
   Since the 1950s in cities, towns and many rural areas more comfortable dwelling became a nationally required standard, and almost all apartments are designed with both cold and hot water supply, and a bathroom with a bathtub, but a percentage of people living in them still go to public steam baths for health treatments with steam, tree branches, aromatic oils.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Bathing
  
  BULLET::::- Steam shower
  
  BULLET::::- Water park
  
  BULLET::::- By culture
  
  BULLET::::- Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
  
  BULLET::::- Banya – Russian
  
  BULLET::::- Sauna – Finnish
  
  BULLET::::- Hammam – Turkish
  
  BULLET::::- Hanjeungmak & Jjimjilbang – Korean
   Greek Baths
  
  Section::::History.
  
  "The history of public baths begins in Greece in the sixth century B.C.," said by Françoise de Bonneville in his book "The Book of the Bath." Greeks original form of bathing consisted of nothing more than a quick plunge into icy water until the people of Laconica came upon the idea of a hot-air bath. The hot-air bath later came to be known as a laconica bath. The people of Laconica were from the Sparta area. With this bath came the idea of a Spa along with Public bathing.
  
  Section::::Laconica Bath.
   BULLET::::- It can be difficult to account for minority preferences. For example, consider the duration of human occupation of rooms in a house as an indication of preference. We probably occupy the living room and bedroom for the greatest durations of time, indicating these are the most preferred rooms; however, although we probably spend least time in the bathroom, making it the minority preference, this does not necessarily mean the bathroom is the least preferred room at all times of the day, i.e. minority preference can be important.
   Invented in Brazil in the 1930s and used frequently since the 1940s, the electric shower is a home appliance often seen in South American countries due to the higher costs of gas distribution. Earlier models were made of chromed copper or brass, which were expensive, but since 1970, units made of injected plastics are popular due to low prices similar to that of a hair dryer. Electric showers have a simple electric system, working like a coffee maker, but with a larger water flow. A flow switch turns on the device when water flows through it. Once the water is stopped, the device turns off automatically. An ordinary electric shower often has three heat settings: high (5.5 kW), low (2.5 kW), or cold (0 W) to use when a central heater system is available or in hot seasons.
   By the late 1930s more than 2,000 hot- or cold-springs health resorts were operating in the United States. This number had diminished greatly by the 1950s and continued to decline in the following two decades. In the recent past, spas in the U.S. emphasized dietary, exercise, or recreational programs more than traditional bathing activities.
  
  Up until recently, the public bathing industry in the U.S. remained stagnant. Nevertheless, in Europe, therapeutic baths have always been very popular, and remain so today. The same is true in Japan, where the traditional hot springs baths, known as "onsen", always attracted plenty of visitors.
   Showers has mentioned as inspirations the decorators Billy Baldwin, Francis Elkins and David Hicks. To Southern Accents she described Billy Baldwin as such: “He embodied clean, simple glamour―such wonderful understatement. I love the living room he did for Mary Wells Lawrence at La Fiorentina in the south of France―those blue sofas and French woven blue-and-white rugs will be forever in my memory.”
  
  Her work has been published and photographed extensively, in such magazines as Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, Veranda, Traditional Home, Southern Accents and Western Interiors.
   These areas were not policed, and around 1860–75, under pressure from the church ever stricter bylaws were passed but not enforced. Mixed bathing was a popular activity for families, who would take their custom to the next resort along the coast if mixed bathing was forbidden. Resorts were trying to placate the Evangelicals without upsetting traditional bathers by designating separate areas of the beach. There are very few records of magistrates enforcing the bylaws. In 1895 "Cosmopolitan" reported: "At most English resorts, buff bathing is available before eight o'clock in the morning" while Brighton, Worthing, Hastings, Bexhill, Bognor and Folkestone still tolerated nude bathing at any time of the day, in areas away from the central bathing areas.
   By the late 20th century, the use of hot-water bottles had markedly declined around most of the world. Not only were homes better heated, but newer items such as electric blankets were competing with hot-water bottles as a source of night-time heat. However the hot-water bottle remains a popular alternative in Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom, developing countries and rural areas. For example, it is widely used in Chile, where it is called a "guatero". There has been a recent surge in popularity in Japan where it is seen as an ecologically friendly and thrifty way to keep warm.
   Section::::Japanese bathing culture.:Public baths.
  
  In public baths, there is a distinction between those with natural hot springs called, "onsen" (hot), and the other, the "sento". Since Japan is located in a volcanically active region, there are many hot springs, of which about 2000 are swimming pools. Most "onsen" are in the open countryside, but they are also found in cities. In Tokyo, for example, there are about 25 "onsen" baths. Locations of known mineral springs spas are on the Western model.
   Section::::History.:Decline.
  
  Immediately after World War II, resources were scarce and few homeowners had access to a private bath. Private baths began to be more common around 1970, and most new buildings included a bath and shower unit for every apartment. Easy access to private baths led to a decline in customers for public bathhouses, and subsequently the number of bathhouses is decreasing. Some Japanese young people today are embarrassed to be seen naked, and avoid public baths for this reason. Some Japanese are concerned that without the "skinship" of mutual nakedness, children will not be properly socialized.
  
  Section::::History.:Future.
   Also in 1842, a house in Cincinnati, Ohio, received the first indoor bathtub in the United States. Bathing, however, was still not a universal custom. Only one year later — in 1843 — bathing between 1 November and 15 March was outlawed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a health measure, and in 1845 bathing was banned in Boston, Massachusetts, unless under the direct orders of a physician. The situation improved, however, and by 1867 in Philadelphia most houses of the well-to-do had tubs and indoor plumbing. In England, hot showers were installed in barracks and schools by the 1880s. The taboos against bathing disappeared with advancements in medical science; the worldwide medical community was even promoting the benefits of bathing. In addition, the Victorian taste for the exotic lent itself perfectly to seeking out the curative powers of thermal water.
   The earliest hot tubs were calderas in which hot stones were placed to heat the water. Therma in Ikaria has been a very popular place particularly for hydrotherapy ever since the 4th century BC. The remains of wrecked marble bathtubs along with a pre-historic aqueduct that have been unearthed from this area bear ample testimony of the place’s popularity in the ancient times.
  
  In 737 A.D., Japan's first onsen opened near Izumo, Shimane, and centuries later the first ryokan (inns) were built, offering food, accommodations, and soaking tubs called ofuro.
   Section::::Comfort levels.
  
  "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language" identifies room temperature as around , while the "Oxford English Dictionary" states that it is "conventionally taken as about ".
  
  Owing to variations in humidity and likely clothing, recommendations for summer and winter may vary; a suggested typical range for summer is , with that for winter being , although by other considerations the maximum should be below  – and to avoid sick building syndrome, below .
  
  Some studies have suggested that thermal comfort preferences of men and women may differ significantly, with women on average preferring higher ambient temperatures.
   There is a wide range of electric showers, with various types of heating controls. The heating element of an electric shower is immersed in the water stream, using a nichrome resistance element which is sheathed and electrically isolated, like the ones used in oil heaters, radiators or clothes irons, providing safety. Due to electrical safety standards, modern electric showers are made of plastic instead of using metallic casings like in the past. As an electrical appliance that uses more electric current than a washer or a dryer, an electric shower installation requires careful planning, and generally is intended to be wired directly from the electrical distribution box with a dedicated circuit breaker and ground system. A poorly installed system with old aluminum wires or bad connections may be dangerous, as the wires can overheat or electric current may leak via the water stream through the body of the user to earth.
   Though sometimes said to have been "condemned" by the Roman Catholic Church's Legion of Decency, that body gave the film its less critical rating as "morally objectionable".
   In ancient Rome there were three types of baths: baths at home (balnea), private baths (balnea privata), and public baths (balnea publica). The practice of bathing was so engrained that the Roman legions, during their long occupations in foreign lands, built their own baths at mineral and thermal springs in the newly conquered lands. Examples are found all over Europe.
   The idea however, was anything but new, and goes back to the Roman Baths – on a more modest scale naturally. The bather graduates unhurriedly through a series of rooms offering a choice of experiences from the tepid to the very hot emerging finally into the swimming pool. The experience is both physical and social, as the user moves leisurely from one temperature to the next, so they also move from one conversation to the next. The idea of a relaxed combination of physical exercise and sociability lies at the heart of what the founders of the Club set out to achieve, and it remains the dominant idea behind the Club to this day.
   Water typically enters residences in the US at about , depending on latitude and season. Hot water temperatures of are usual for dish-washing, laundry and showering, which requires that the heater raise the water temperature about if the hot water is mixed with cold water at the point of use. The Uniform Plumbing Code reference shower flow rate is per minute. Sink and dishwasher usages range from per minute.
   Section::::Types.
  
  Section::::Types.:Domestic.
   In the United States today, domestic hot water used in homes is most commonly heated with natural gas, electric resistance, or a heat pump. Electric heat pump hot water heaters are significantly more efficient than electric resistance hot water heaters, but also more expensive to purchase. Some energy utilities offer their customers funding to help offset the higher first cost of energy efficient hot water heaters. 
  
  Section::::Types of water heating appliances.
   Hot water bottle
  
  A hot-water bottle is a bottle filled with hot water and sealed with a stopper, used to provide warmth, typically while in bed, but also for the application of heat to a specific part of the body.
  
  Section::::Early history.
  
  Containers for warmth in bed were in use as early as the 16th century. The earliest versions contained hot coals from the dying embers of the fire, and these bed warmers were used to warm the bed before getting into it.
   Two conflicting safety issues affect water heater temperature—the risk of scalding from excessively hot water greater than , and the risk of incubating bacteria colonies, particularly "Legionella", in water that is not hot enough to kill them. Both risks are potentially life-threatening and are balanced by setting the water heater's thermostat to . The European Guidelines for Control and Prevention of Travel Associated Legionnaires’ Disease recommend that hot water should be stored at and distributed so that a temperature of at least and preferably is achieved within one minute at points of use.
   In contrast to a typical bathtub, a hot tub is designed to be used by more than one person at a time, with many models accommodating four or more people. Hot tubs are usually located outdoors, although they can be installed indoors. Also, the water in a hot tub is not changed with each use, but is kept sanitary using methods similar to those used for swimming pool sanitation. Another difference between baths and hot tubs is that soaps and shampoos are not used in wet-jetted hot tubs (although they can be used in air-jetted hot tubs).
  
  Section::::History.
   Domestic showers are most commonly stall showers or showers over a bathtub. A stall shower is a dedicated shower area which uses a door or curtain to contain water spray. The shower over a bathtub saves bathroom space and enables the area to be used for either a bath or a shower and commonly uses a sliding shower curtain to contain the water spray. Showers may also be in a wet room, in which there is no contained shower area, or in a dedicated shower room, which does not require containment of water spray. Most domestic showers have a single overhead shower head, which may be adjustable.
  