Why does nobody talk about the air conditioning at the Natural History Museum

I went to the Natural History Museum in DC last weekend and the AC in the dinosaur hall was blasting so cold I had to leave after 20 minutes. I get that they need to preserve the fossils but isn't that like a HUGE waste of energy in August?

3 comments

3 Comments

oliver_fisher28d ago

I read somewhere that museums keep dinosaur halls at like 55 degrees to stop the bones from degrading, but yeah that seems insane for the power bill lol.

david_hayes27d ago

Wow, 55 degrees for fossils. That's colder than my apartment in winter. Feel bad for the guards standing in there all day. Bet they wear parkas to work. Never realized bones needed that kind of temp control. Thought they were just rocks basically, but I guess not.

finley_wells6628d agoMost Upvoted

Huh, I always figured they kept it cold just for the visitors. Never really thought about the bones being that fragile. But yeah, 55 degrees for a whole hall, that bill has to be brutal.