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Dupes getting hypothermia while working in 23 C water?


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How is this even possible? I tried to expand my water reservoir which required them to dig underwater, all 3 of them caught hypothermia. I am pretty new to this game but a temperature of 23C for water is pretty comfortable irl, why would they get hypothermia? And what is the cut-off temperature in-game for hypothermia?

23C is about 75F which is plenty comfortable to swim in, even better to "work" in since working would raise body temperature. Either way getting hypothermia in 75F water is ridiculous. My main issue is that the hypothermia happens so fast in water that isn't even cold...

Duplicants have an internal body temperature of 38 C. They get hypothermia if this drops significantly.
         
In air, a temperature of 23 C is comfortable because they don't lose very much heat to air. Air is an insulator, and the small amount of heat loss is balanced by them generating body heat from calories.
         
Water, on the other hand, is very thermally conductive. It sucks the heat out of their body. So a comfortable temperature in air feels cold in water. You can see this on the 'thermal comfort' overlay.

Real life science has basically found out that a simple core temperature drop of 10C can lead to BAD THINGS. And sustaining this drop over a long enough period will lead to hypothermia-like symptoms, and quite a fair bit longer than that leads to death.

Just 10C.

Note the other keyword: "core temperature". This is why we need to be dunked in cool water to experience hypothermia; water absorbs body heat faster and harder than mere air.

And paradoxically, it is also why bathing in cold water is possible; while we feel comfortable and cool as we enjoy the lower temperatures, our bodies are still maintaining optimal core temperatures from that little wash of cool water, quite often by abandoning warming up our limbs leading to them feeling weaker after a long soak. Do that cold shower long enough, and you'll start to shiver. Shiver long enough, and you'll begin to really suffer...

Like Qu said liquid has a much higher thermal conductivity than gases, so dupes transfer body heat very fast in liquid. I believe hypothermia happens around 35 degrees body temp, so you don't have very long to work in liquid before it happens. Oil has the highest conductivity, carbon dioxide the lowest of the gasses.

 Soggy feet/ sopping wet debuff *might* also reduce insulation thickness, this would make situation worse. The 'cool suit' also reduces insulation.

I do agree it is obnoxious dupes can catch hypothermia this way on the first few cycles, but now that you know you can plan around it. You can build tiles at the bottom of liquid then dig around, but its best to just avoid it or pump it out. Pumps can move 6 tons liquid per day, water fills 1 ton per tile, so you can pump pretty fast even with just 1 pump.

You will have to equip exo suits if you want to work prolonged time inside cold liquids. The extra thick clothing can also help a little, but no where near as good as exosuit.

4 hours ago, eloy2030 said:

not so sure about that, try to spend a couple of hours in water at 20 C

What do hours have to do with anything? they get hypothermia after like 15 seconds. They get hypothermia before they even have to come back up for oxygen twice lol...

Meanwhile they take showers with 96C water without a problem, nice memes.

Just now, GangStarrWoWp said:

What do hours have to do with anything? they get hypothermia after like 15 seconds. They get hypothermia before they even have to come back up for oxygen twice lol...

Meanwhile they take showers with 96C water without a problem, nice memes.

well, seconds, hours... you know it doesn't really work like that in a game, right?

does your day last 600 seconds?

mine lasts 86400... last time i checked...

Just now, eloy2030 said:

well, seconds, hours... you know it doesn't really work like that in a game, right?

does your day last 600 seconds?

mine lasts 86400... last time i checked...

do you get hypothermia in 23C water faster than it would take you to hold your breath twice?

1 minute ago, GangStarrWoWp said:

do you get hypothermia in 23C water faster than it would take you to hold your breath twice?

dupes don't, they do after a few runs, it is not instant. I make the go to the cold biome and some get home without hypothermia after more than one run.

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