We Don’t Lose Most of Our Heat Through Our Heads
**Secret Revealed**
Winter hat, stocking cap, beanie or toque; whatever you call it, it keeps your head warm. But, it doesn’t necessarily keep you warm.
An old US Army survival manual suggested wearing a hat since “40 to 45 percent of body heat” is lost through your head. This recommendation is thought to have come from a military experiment over 60 years ago when participants were dressed from neck to toe in Arctic clothing, but no headwear. Over time, this has snowballed into “most” heat is lost through our heads.
Where you lose heat comes down to what is exposed or poorly insulated. If you’ve worn shorts on a day that was way too cold to wear shorts, you know how quickly you can get cold when half your body is exposed. I know I could last longer on a cold day without a hat than wearing shorts.
Some areas of your body are more sensitive to temperature changes, including your head, face and chest. Protecting these areas will make a big difference in comfort even though it may not have as big an impact on actual heat loss compared to properly insulating all other areas of your body.
New studies in body performance show that less than 20 – 30% of heat loss is from the head, depending on environmental temperature. In extreme cold, this 20 – 30% could make a significant difference, so don’t skip the hat.
Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.
Thanks for reading,
Sources: healthline.com, guardian.co.uk, bmj
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They also found you can lose the same amount of body heat out of any other exposed area on your body. So the trick is to cover everywhere.
That’s completely false information. Most heat IS lost through the head, then the kidneys. This does not depend on what is insulated and what isn’t. It’s how the human body works. If you had bothered to take anatomy and physiology courses in university, you would know this.
clearly if only your head is exposed most of your heat loss , which will be minimal, will be through the exposed head, if you were naked the percentage would be down around 10% or less
But it still is a correct fact.
I have been taught that it was a scientific fact that *breathing* causes the body to loose heat the most. And I thought that that was what this ‘urban myth’ was based on.
Not that wearing a hat would help against it but there are loads of ideas to statistical fact that in themselves have not ‘that’ connection to that fact.
Like sitting close to the TV gives you bad eyes. Not true. Even though the statistic fact will be that kids that sit close to TV’s will need glasses. It’s the other way around. If you have bad eyesight you will sit closer to the TV. It’s an effect not a cause.
i love Winter hat, stocking cap
What about underpants? :3
I saw an experiment on a local news show a while back, where two presenters had their temperatures taken, then stood in the cold for an hour, both well dressed, but one wearing a hat while the other wasn’t.
At the end of the hour, they both had their temperature taken again; neither had changed.
I’m not quite sure what they thought this proved . . .
Impromptu photographs with a thermal infrared camera suggest people in sweat pants lose a lot of heat through their butts.
I think you’re splitting hairs a bit…no pun intended. When you say 20 to 30%, you need to realize that the head makes up far less than 10% of the surface area. The top of the head, where the brain is, takes up much less than 5%. So, proportionally, this is significant. Compare this to the chest area, the ‘core’, that makes up 25 to 30% of the body’s surface area and you see the proportional importance.
Also, consider those shorts. If you’re wearing a hat, you could be quite comfortable wearing those shorts in cool weather. Put on long pants and take off that hat and you’re going to quickly become hypothermic.
Whether it is 20% or 50%, the fact remains that ‘head warmth’, and keeping dry, is the most important element in dealing with a cold weather environment.
Source:
Eagle Scout
Scout leader with 15 years experience
BSA cold weather survival instructor
that’s cool. I figured we lose about 1/3 of it that way. Since are head is the place where we need the most heat. our brain is located there.
I’ve noticed personally that my “cold spots” are my ears, nose and feet. If they aren’t warm, than I will feel like I’m freezing all over, no matter how warmly the rest of me is dressed.
I go by experience. I’m much more comfortable with a hat rather than not. So I prefer to go by experience, than something someone else decides to put into print….
Thank you……♥♥
Personally i believe that the body’s thermostat is the feet, if they feel cold, you will be also. The secret of course, is to layer, i work outside during the winter so i know. typically my regala is 2 pair of wool socks, long johns w/ 2 pair heavy pants, thermal top, 2 shirts, jacket and coat. Glove liners, work gloves, scarf, Balaclava, wool hat, hood from jacket and hood from coat. Foot wear is thinsilate boots. For a hightech look at layering google ECWECS.
A bald head will lose more heat than a head full of hair.
There needs to be some research done on Donald Trump to see if his hair causes any loss of heat at all.
I thought it was most important to keep your core warm in cold weather.
A baby body surface area is 80% of their head.
Very important to wear a hat!!!
R.N.
It is True that most of your heat is lost through your head, hence why Hats are always placed on Premature Babies! Although that said it doesn’t mean if you only wear a hat then you will be warm/hot, common sense tells you what you need to keep you warm, everyone is different!
Heat is lost to the environment by convection and evaporation…As surface area increases so does heat loss…So the majority of loss would be through your largest surface area, your torso….However, we wear clothes, we insulate ourselves from heat loss….We cover our legs, we cover our torsos, but rarely do we cover our heads….So effectively, we lose most of our heat through our heads.
to fix the whole problem. i wear a wet suit with a hood while diving thru the ice. look outside the box here folks. if you want warmth this is it. when i hunt i wear light camo clothing over the suit.. its comfortable and very sufficiant
You are very smart to figure this out.
If wearing a hat doesn’t matter, why is it that I always feel warmer all over when I wear one in cold weather?
If it covers my ears, all is well. A scarf with the hat makes a world of difference….don’t know why. Don’t care. It just does.
When camping in cold weather, I find that a hat is worth TWO blankets. You can also stay comfortable on cold nights at home—thermostat to 40 degrees, if you wear a hat to bed. They knew how to save energy in the old days.
the statement 40 to 45% more body heat is lost through the exposed head is still true if done according to the experiment which is, comparing apples to apples (covered heads vs. uncovered heads, all other parts being covered). all other parts being covered is a given, because no one goes out into winter naked (unless a frat boy)
whether you consider 20-25% of total heat loss from the head, or the 40-45% incremental value for all other parts being automatically covered, as not “most” well it is still a heavier proportion than the head’s space takes up. therefore, it is foolish to think that a hat or other head covering is optional, just because of how you define “most”.
Go by the Victorians..old photo’s always show men wearing hats ..they know about the cold due to no modern heating
GEE thanx for informing us of something we we learned in grade school 50 years ago!
Most important to trap the warm air you create. It’s not about losing heat so much as not letting cold air in.
I am not convinced , we are often being advised by experts this or that is good for your health , then later its not good for you . I will continue wearing a hat .
Hi this comment is true if you were covered completely exept for your left foot you would loose moor heat From your left foot
“So the trick is to cover everywhere.”
No, the trick is to move south. ;o)
I suspect this study is more accurate than the old belief that most of your body heat is lost through the head. I can go without a hat in very cold weather and will feel much colder than if I was wearing a hat and scarf as well, but 40-45% (I’ve also heard it as 50%)? No. Try wearing a hat in frigid weather, but with a summer jacket on…you’d freeze much faster than if you were wearing a good down-filled winter coat and no hat. (Your poor ears might not fare so well though.)
It appears that we still have no facts, just a bunch of people trying to sound like they know something. I know from my own experience that I need a coat first and long pants second. I only need shoes to protect from rocks, and I only need a hat if it’s cold enough to freeze my ears.
true
true
It is true that we lose most of our body heat through our heads and I will tell you why. If you don’t cover up a hand or a foot when it is cold, the body will simply reduce blood supply to those limbs in an effort to keep your bodies vital organs warm. It’s why hands and feet get cold so easy. One area that the body cannot reduce blood supply to is the head because the brain is the most vital organ of all. Therefore if you don’t keep your head covered, you are going to lose more heat through it.
If your feet are cold, put on a hat. Why? Because your body will protect your brain’s need for heat by robbing your less important extremities of heat. Why do you think we have so much hair on the noggin? What would you rather lose your brain or your toes?
We humans dicipate the majority of our heat through our hands our feet our head and our chest’s
that’s why hats are as common as they are
helmets are worn in contact sports
to suggest that our brains are not organs
and our greatest advantage in the animal kingdom
is to say that we are not related to fish
If I’m cold and put a hat on, doesn’t do much, but put on a pair of socks and I am comfy cozy. Wonder how much heat is lost through one’s feet?
Many people lose a lot of heat through their mouth in the form of hot air. This could be prevented by talking less and listening more.
Well I have to say, I’m one of the many people who lose most of my heat through my hands…
The head loses heat equivalent to its surface area, the same blood the pumps through it pumps through the rest of the body and so the percentage of heat lost is relative to the % of body area exposed with all else being equal (equal coverage by clothing).
One person claimed kidneys which is foolishness at its finest. It’s not possible for an internal organ to cause more heat loss than the skin itself, with one notable exception which is the lungs since they are directly exposed to the cold air.
40 percent of your body heat exits through your cranium. Or 60 percent. Or 80 percent. Sure, the explanations are a bit dubious—the skin on your scalp is extremely thin, heat rises, and if you’re wearing clothes the heat has nowhere else to go.
You had better believe it is true the shortest distance from the heart is the head this is by design of nature since the brain needs more oxygen and nutrients like sugar than the rest of the body. The brain had a big nerve that is call the vagal nerve and it sends impulses directly to all the major bodily organs like temp regulation digestion and breathing and heart rate. So year your head dose a lot og things besides aches the morning after. HA HA.
This is quasi science at its worst.
The only link that works is to the Guardian, which is a newspaper and not a medical journal. They then link to a study in the British Medical Journal but this link is broken.
Simply finding a newspaper article and posting it does not make it neither science nor true.
Wear a hat with your shorts!
Actually, it’s through the ears. “Head” is generally specific, but the fact that winter hats only cover the top of the head, instead of perfectly closing the ears.
It’s funny when people are completely wrong and make themselves look like fools. I went to a university so I know everything…get over yourself. Heat loss has to do with surface area, it’s pretty simple. It’s an old wives tale that your head loses the most heat.
Sometimes I sleep with a hat and it really helps keep me warm at night.
Keeping your hands and feet warm will make you feel warmer too.
I belive its from ur feet
The biggest problem on the body retaining heat is, the type of food a person consumes and the type of medication they use, the type of clothes worn and the wind chill factor temperature.
The less movement you do outside, the closer you move to cotton overalls with hats, gloves, earmuffs, scarfs, socks, shirt and underwear long, all made of cotton.
The more physical work you do out-side, you wear overalls, short underwear. and a tshirt. When you heat up to working conditions, you can remove your hat, and keep going. All you have to do is change your clothes with fresh ones if parts of your clothes freeze up except your overalls. It’s ok if your overalls freeze up.
When people wear the clothes they think they need to keep warm and stay outside for long periods of time, the body calls upon itself to remember what to wear and when to wear it, so that parts of our body do not freeze up to the point of frost bite, as well as not to overheat too much, which causes sweating.
so, people who work outside learn when to remove their hat, and wear their earmuffs, always keep your neck covered with cotton scarf, and change your scarf with a fresh one, just like changing your socks and sometimes your short underwear. Learn to wear light material nylon when the wind chill does not effect the temperature that much. This will allow you to work better and let your skin to breathe better.
Nylon does not retain moisture, so, you do not carry extra weight when working.
If it is snowing, then wear the overalls. You want to protect your chest, from the wind. If cotton overalls and a tshirt is not enough to stop you feeling the wind hit your chest, then maybe a thick short sleeve cotton tshirt. Once you heat up, you might change to a regular tshirt.
Of course, if you consume liquids and food that you do not really need, your body has to work harder delivering these items through the blood system.
eating hard candy by way of sucking on it, is much better than eating.
Eating a light snack is just a treat keeping you motivated to finish the job.
Yes It is true
Head hands and feet are the three primary heat loss areas.
This information isn’t completely false, it’s true. The only reason people believe that most of it is lost through the head, is because the head is the most exposed. We cover everything else but leave our faces exposed, if not our entire heads. Whatever is exposed will lose the most heat, so if you wore a bellaclava but left an arm bare, the arm would lose the most heat. This is scientifically proven.
My guy has to wait for his ride and its been in the 20s in the early morning. He was complaining how cold he was waiting for the van, normally he rides his motorcycle over to the transportation area. I told him he had his watchcap in the closet and to use it when he removed his helmet. He noticed a vast improvement when he was not only outside waiting for the van but when he was in the van because its large the heat doesn’t always go to the back where he sits.
So it is working for him!!
think of this; look at the guys playing football in the dead of winter in green bay, minnesota, chicago, or buffalo. you cant see the steam when they’re on the field, but on the sidelines, when they take their helmets off as they breathe steam while they watch the field, is there steam coming off their arms, hands, legs or head? (the bald ones) the ones with hair don’t steam too much. (clay matthews e.g.) you know why? insulation. check it out. heat rises, it is a scientific fact.
Or maybe I could be completely naked and still be kept warm with a cap on my head.
yo,did not no dat
tanks
ALL OF U R WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
U LOSE HEAT FROM UR CLOTHES,SO IF U R OUTSIDE WHEN IT IS REALLY COLD,…JUST TAKE OFF ALL OF UR CLOTHES◔‿◔
Given that your body will in the freezing to death process – let parts of itself freeze as the cold deprives you of body heat – (it – intentionally – Cuts OFF circulation first to the extremities – arms and legs – then the internal abdominal organs) – that process is set up in such a manner as to preserve the Head the Heart and the lungs as the LAST items in your body to freeze – wearing a hat is paramount to keeping in body heat -
Obviously in the Marines your hair is very short, some, including myself would shave with a bic razor as a mark of brotherhood. Virgiinia is a helluva lot colder than where I’m from. I would say how much hair you have on your head makes a big deal However, A Marine doesn’t complain.
Jack
I go without my hat all the time. Just try, TRY, going barefoot in the cold. I call hooey on the head thing. My hands and feet are way more temperature sensitive than my head will ever be.
I have always heard that if you want to keep warm in the winter time. ” WEAR A NECK TIE “
Think of how the body works. The heart pumps blood to the brain first.”Where do you think the term “hot head” came from? Then the blood trickles down due to gravity. The second avenue is to the vital organs, and then to the extremeties. You can live without limbs or a lot of the guts. Brains are necessary for you to exist at all.
Those that have cold toes have poor circulation(usually due to a weakining pumping heart)
Do not compare a person with a full head of hair(insulation) with one who is bald..
Then there is also the physical properties of heat – it rises
your wrong we live in ny and its very cold it’s -40 and just a hat can keep you nice n cozy
unless your a chrome-dome
I am a surfer. When it is cold, I can extend my ‘session’ time by a good 30% IF I wear a ‘lid’.. neoprene beanie.
Next priority is the chest and back – a armless and legless wet suit will do that, then there is the ‘extremities’, feet and hands – and if frostbite is a problem, also the other ‘bits that stick out’ like your nose and ears.
That is my survival sequence, and gauged by the time it takes to get the ‘rattles’.. pre-hypoythermia!