... how are the inanimate objects becoming much colder ?
I am stuck on this part; it has made me think because I have noticed the same thing in my house. For example,
the hollow metal doorknob on the inside bedroom door gets colder at night while the indoor temp remains constant. A hallway with no window on one side, bedroom with blackout curtains closed, on the north side of the house so no sunlight shining into that room, on the other. Interestingly,
the hollow core wood door feels the same, no change like with the metal doorknob.
Therefore, I hypothesize that the material out of which that hollow doorknob is made (inorganic metal?) may be more conducive to absorbing cold from surrounding air than the hollow wooden (organic) door. Even though the air temp on both sides of this door remains the same (due to the artificial addition of heat from an added source), there is still "cold" in the air that can be absorbed/conducted, perhaps more by some objects.
I have also noted that the
solid wood outside entry door with a hollow metal knob, which is exposed to extreme outside temperature changes during any 12 hour period, does
almost the same thing. I have not measured the temps but the wood doesn't
feel very much different, maybe just a little colder?, but that metal knob drastically changes; this is, however, easily explained by the exposure to those outside temps.
BUT...if that is the case, knowing that heat moves towards cold (I think?), then why doesn't the heat transfer on the doorknob do the opposite? Why doesn't the doorknob feel warm on the outside if the heat on the inside moves towards the cold outside? Is there such a thing as temperature "osmosis", depending on the density of the medium through which it is transferring?
I tend to think it does have to do with the material through which the cold/heat is transferring? A more solid object (less space, therefore less air, between the cells) would absorb heat/cold differently?
All of this is, by the way, blown out of the water because why does this only happen during certain times of the 24 hour day (dark vs. light?) if the ambient air temp and light remains the same, as on the bedroom door? Could it be a lunar cycle thing, similar to ocean tides? Okay, now it's starting to sound a bit crazy.
No matter why, I tend to think it has to do with the type of material.
But again, the real question is the night vs day problem. Comments,
@hollydolly? Anybody?
