Six adult rats, exposed to 5° for 3-4 weeks and returned to a 26° room for 10-14 days, were acutely prepared by insertion of thermocouples to measure temperatures of the colon, the interscapular brown fat, the arterial and venous blood perfusing the interscapular pad, and the inner and outer surfaces of the skin overlying the pad. From the temperature changes observed when the rats were reexposed to cold, the heat produced by the interscapular pad was calculated and extrapolated to that of the total brown fat. These values compared to the concurrently measured total caloric output indicated that during cold stress the intrinsic metabolism of brown adipose tissue accounted for 8.2% of the total heat production.
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Imai et al. (1968) studied this question.