# Fahrenheit vs Celsius for day to day use ...and Regulo **URL:** \ **Category:** Scuttlebutt\ **Created:** [March 29, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790 "2020-03-29T11:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/1 "2020-03-29T11:17:34Z")
> [@Covid-19 News/Updates](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/covid-19-news-updates/54622/148): > > I could do without the mental work of turning Fahrenheit into Celsius, I do wish the USA would get with the program. You’re right – everyone should use the Regulo system, at least for oven temperatures. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/2 "2020-03-29T11:31:50Z")
> **[Gas Mark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Mark)** > > The Gas Mark is a temperature scale used on gas ovens and cookers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth of Nations countries. > The draft 2003 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary lists the earliest known usage of the concept as being in L. Chatterton's book Modern Cookery published in 1943: "Afternoon tea scones… Time: 20 minutes. Temperature: Gas, Regulo Mark 7". "Regulo" was a type of gas regulator used by a manufacturer of cookers; however, the scale has now become universa... ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/3 "2020-03-29T11:44:13Z")
> [@dbeierl](#): > > at least for oven temperatures For day to day use Regulo suffers from the same problems as Celsius. Humans can detect temp changes as small as 1 degree F, this means that F is useful without using decimals. Also the range, 0 degrees F is very cold and 100 F is very hot for humans. Celsius requires negative numbers for year round daily use. The 0 - 100 is of little use as there is no kiloCelsius etc. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/7/76d012cf024bab4eec3eeca59ae43a9c4c4edaf5.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/4 "2020-03-29T12:06:28Z")
> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > For day to day use Regulo suffers from the same problems as Celsius. It’s particularly not-horrible for oven temperatures, especially if you want to make your recipes obscure outside The Commonwealth. But for other day to day uses it’s no good at all since it’s only defined between 107 and 270C (225 and 520F). ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/5 "2020-03-29T13:14:00Z")
> [@dbeierl](#): > > But for other day to day uses it’s no good at all since it’s only defined between 107 and 270C (225 and 520F). Under no plausible scenario will Regulo displace other scales already in use. But as a technical matter the range problem could be solved by using negative numbers, which would be inconvenient for day to day use. Celsius suffers from the same problems but to a lesser degree. ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/6 "2020-03-29T13:21:21Z")
> [@](#): > > ## Cel·si·us (sĕl′sē-əs, -shəs) > > _adj.__Abbr._ **C** > > Of or relatingto a temperature scale that registers the freezing point of water as 0° and the boiling point as 100° under normal atmospheric pressure. For more about Celsius (Centigrads): > **[Celsius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius)** > > The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The degree Celsius (symbol: °C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale or a unit to indicate a difference or range between two temperatures. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a variant of it Si... Or about Anders Celsius, the person: > **[Anders Celsius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Celsius)** > > Anders Celsius (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Swedish pronunciation: \[ˈânːdɛʂ ˈsɛ̌lːsɪɵs\]; 27 November 1701 – 25 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/7 "2020-03-29T13:39:05Z")
> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > Under no plausible scenario will Regulo displace other scales already in use. That was a necessary element of my little joke. ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/8 "2020-03-29T13:42:14Z")
> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > range problem could be solved by using negative numbers, Not without doing violence. As laid out you’d have to use 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 just to get down to 100F ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/9 "2020-03-29T13:42:17Z")
> [@dbeierl](#): > > That was a necessary element of my little joke. Yes, but also a necessary element of my explanation of how it could be adapted for day to day use. But looks like not linear? The last two 1/4 and 1/2 breaks the 25 degree increments? ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/10 "2020-03-29T13:47:15Z")
Your point? I expect everyone on here knows what Celsius is, and most of us know what Centigrade was as well. Some of us even know that “normal” body temperature is listed at 98.6F _because it was originally determined on a population of 250 people – in Centigrade – as 37C +/- 1C._ ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/11 "2020-03-29T13:49:26Z")
It’s broken at the top end as well – high number is +45F from the next. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/12 "2020-03-29T14:09:15Z")
> [@dbeierl](#): > > I expect everyone on here knows what Celsius It would be very weird if that was not the case. ![Farmall_temp](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/0/0df3f18da3d6e5c509f6cd2179bf5a86bd4f90e4.jpeg) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/8/8e39a8d3be70743489f7544e02da23e7012dffba.jpeg) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/2X/c/cbbcf14c430cb0b911f970e3034adc8b2fa77bb2.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Klaveness](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/klaveness/32/7001_2.png) [@Klaveness](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Klaveness)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/13 "2020-03-29T15:07:05Z")
“Oh, you mean _European_ degrees…” ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/14 "2020-03-29T15:11:48Z")
Maybe “everybody knows what Celsius is, and most also know what Centigrade is as well” (although I’m not sure if that is so) Fahrenheit, on the other hand, is a mystery to most people outside the US and the few countries and territories that still use it. (Which is most of the world’s population) It doesn’t harm to put in a link to the Wikipedia page for Fahrenheit for the many members here that belongs to that last group: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit) Kelvin degrees are mainly used by scientists etc. and not by the general public, but it doesn’t harm to add that to the knowledge bank: > **[Kelvin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin)** > > The kelvin is the base unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol K. It is named after the Belfast-born, Glasgow University engineer and physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907). > The kelvin is now defined by fixing the numerical value of the Boltzmann constant k to 1.380 649×10−23 J⋅K−1. This unit is equal to kg⋅m2⋅s−2⋅K−1, where the kilogram, metre and second are defined in terms of the Planck constant, the speed of light, and the dur... ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/15 "2020-03-29T15:14:36Z")
And Rankine gets no love? \ ---
**Author:** ![ombugge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/ombugge/32/11217_2.png) [@ombugge](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/ombugge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/16 "2020-03-29T15:22:18Z")
No, since that is even more obscure than Kelvin. But maybe you want to add in a link? ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/17 "2020-03-29T15:27:49Z")
We use Celsius on the ship of course. So as a result I am familiar enough but at sea I mostly only encounter temps above 0C. Same in the engine room. All temps in C so the engineers are intuitively familiar but not so for cold temps. I was once asked what was typical for Maine winters. I said about 20F was a typically winter day. The person I was talking to was from California but had spent one winter in Russia so wanted to know in C which I didn’t know off the top of my head. When I got home I switched the family over to C for a winter. Worked out OK for us after a bit but confusing for interaction with others. I took my daughter to X-C ski practice one very cold day (-20C) and when I got out of the car lightly dressed, a vest, no coat, , the coach said I was dressed more for 20 degrees. I told him it was 20 degrees in the car. He just gave me a puzzled look. The car was 20C. Toasty warm. My daughter had to explain to me later what had happened. Switched back to F after that. ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/18 "2020-03-29T15:31:59Z")
Kelvin’s not obscure! Every high school kid taking science courses knows about it. Rankine is just Kelvin but in Fahrenheit units, but it’s a lot more obscure because science everywhere uses C and K. ---
**Author:** ![dbeierl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/dbeierl/32/11833_2.png) [@dbeierl](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/dbeierl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/19 "2020-03-29T15:45:22Z")
> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > Switched back to F after that. 0F is ~-18C, and -40F is -40C. That should be enough to get a feel for cold. 10C is 50F 20C is ~70F (68F) 30C is ~85F (86F) (37C is 98.6F) 40C is ~100F (104F) 50C is ~120F (122F) 60C is 140F 70C is ~160F (158F) 80C is ~175F (174F) 90C is ~195F (194F) ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790/20 "2020-03-29T15:54:22Z")
> [@dbeierl](#): > > That should be enough to get a feel for cold. I meant being able to look at the thermometer and know what the weather is like without having to convert in your head. It comes easy for 0-30 C because that’s what we use on the ship. [Next page](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/fahrenheit-vs-celsius-for-day-to-day-use-and-regulo/54790.md?page=2)