What’s the perfect indoor temperature for your home?

Not too hot, not too cold… but just right. It’s that Goldilocks of temperatures. But what exactly is the perfect room temperature?

Well, unsurprisingly, it varies from person to person and can be influenced by quite a few different factors – from your age and gender to your general health and activity levels.

Did you know that the average indoor temperature for UK households (according to this recent government study) has risen by a whopping 5.5ºC since 1970? It’s shot up from 12ºC to 17.5ºC with the arrival of central heating. But, while this may be the national average, is it really the best average temperature for our homes?

It’s certainly not far off… according to The World Health Organisation (WHO), that is.

What does WHO recommend?

WHO recommends 18ºC as the ideal home temperature for appropriately-dressed (i.e. no vest tops and shorts on indoors during the winter) and healthy individuals. However, if you have any allergies or respiratory issues then WHO suggests a minimum of 16ºC for you. And if you’re unwell, very old or very young then your home should be a minimum of 20ºC.

Further research shows that an average of 18-21ºC is the ideal comfortable living room temperature. This study also discovered that temperatures higher (21-24ºC) and lower (16-18ºC) than this could cause some discomfort – whilst temperatures lower than 9ºC expose homeowners to a greater risk of getting hypothermia. Brrrrr!

So, when it comes to home temperatures the bottom line is that 18, 19, 20 and 21 are the magic numbers. This certainly seems to be the case amongst those of you who voted in our recent Twitter poll – with 53% stating that your ideal home temperature is somewhere between 18-20ºC whilst 27% voted for between 21-23ºC.

What’s just right for you may not work for others

But, as we mentioned right at the start, different people can have very, very different ideas about what the perfect indoor temperature is. This difference in personal temperature preference is particularly evident when it comes to the preferences of men and women. And with one such study showing that women prefer temperatures that are around about 2.5ºC warmer (between 24-25ºC) than men, it’s hardly surprising that the so-called thermostat wars rage on in households up and down the country.

Another thing that’s worth bearing in mind is how your perception of whether you feel warm or not depends on what you’re doing. This can change throughout the day – depending on whether you’re sitting still working at your computer or jumping up and down screaming, “She’s taken your Baked Alaska out of the freezer!” at the latest episode of GBBO.

Luckily help is at hand in the form of a new breed of smart thermostats, like our very own Cosy heating controller. Thanks to Cosy, it’s easy to change your home’s temperature – using either your app or display – to suit your heating needs at a particular moment in time.

For more information…

To find out more about how Cosy can help keep your home at the perfect temperature for you and your family, take a look at our handy Cosy info pages. You can also pop your questions (or tell us your ideal home temperature!) in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you!