Many experts suggest that the best temperature for your home in winter is 68 degrees, while their best temperature for summer is 78 degrees. That speaks to energy efficiency, but what about health?
Does Cold Air Make You Sick?
While cold air doesn’t cause illness, studies suggest cold temperatures can reduce antiviral immune response, and provide ideal conditions for many viruses to replicate in your nose. So, what’s an unhealthy room temperature on the cold side? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), you should keep your house warmer than about 65 degrees, especially in cold months.
What About Health Risks with High Heat?
When your body is unable to regulate its internal temperature, risks of heat exhaustion and heatstroke increase. Further risks from chronic conditions exist too. Cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetic, and mental conditions may also become elevated. High temperatures can also cause acute kidney injury, hospitalization, or in some cases, death.
Remember that high humidity plays a role in high temperature health risks too. The felt temperature from a high heat index inhibits your body’s ability to regulate its temperature. High humidity also affects air quality by promoting mold growth and preventing pollen from dispersing.
What’s a Healthy Indoor Room Temperature?
There are several factors in determining a healthy room temperature. It will vary depending on who’s home, the time of day, and the season. Here are a few more considerations when setting up your thermostat:
- WebMD suggests the optimal temperature for sleeping is 60 to 67 degrees.
- They also suggest the optimal house temperature range for babies is between 68 and 72 degrees.
- The University of Maryland suggests house plants grow best between 70 and 80 degrees during the day, and enjoy night temperatures 10-15 degrees cooler than the daytime temperatures.
- The healthiest household temperature for pets can vary widely depending on the type of pets you have.
- To stay healthy, you’ll want to keep your home temperature warmer than 65 degrees.
So, What’s the Perfect Room Temperature?
Looking at data from various sources, the ideal range is between 64 and 75 degrees. When it comes to energy efficiency, winter thermostat settings should lean colder and summer months should be warmer. So, what should you keep the temperature of your house? It depends on personal preferences and the needs of your fellow occupants. Thankfully, there are a few options you can employ to try to keep everyone reasonably happy and comfortable.
The Right Temperature for Everyone
Today’s smart thermostats can regulate different temperatures for different zones. This strategy can help you maintain more than one temperature if your household has conflicting heating and cooling needs. Here are a few more ideas to improve the comfort level of numerous occupants with different preferences:
- Window coverings like curtains or blackout shades help not only with your home’s heating and cooling efficiency, but also comfort levels in hot or cold seasons.
- Adjust your air vents. Make sure they’re not accidentally blocked by furniture.
- Use ceiling fans, box fans, or tower fans to circulate air and cool the felt temperature by as much as four degrees.
- Adjust your ceiling fans seasonally. In summer, create a downdraft for cooling. In winter, an updraft circulates warm air to the room.
- Ductless mini-splits are a great way to achieve different temperatures in different zones, especially in older or historic homes that don’t have air ducts.
There’s not a single answer to the question “what temp should my house be at?” We’re confident the answer lies somewhere between 64 and 75 degrees, depending on the needs of your home’s occupants. If you’ve experienced a battle over the thermostat, you’ve now got some credible datapoints for the next skirmish.