A temperature of 15°C (59°F) is generally considered too cold for prolonged indoor living, increasing health risks like respiratory issues and cardiovascular problems, though it might be acceptable briefly if you're active and dressed warmly; however, health organizations recommend aiming for at least 18°C (65°F) for most people, especially vulnerable groups, to prevent health impacts and issues like frozen pipes.
15 degrees or below is when problems can occur; therefore, it is not recommended to keep rooms at this temperature or below for long periods of time if it can be helped.
What is the best room temperature for sleep? The ideal bedroom temperature must not be too hot or cold – between 16-18 degrees Celsius. According to the Sleep Charity, temperatures over 24 degrees Celsius will cause restlessness , whereas those below 12 degrees Celsius make it harder to fall asleep!
From a public health perspective, 18 degrees is the coldest your home can be before you start to have serious health implications. 19 degrees is pretty standard for people.
In general, when the wind chill is 32° and above, it's safe to be outside. In temperatures 13° to 31°, you should take indoor breaks every 20-30 minutes. For wind chills of 13° and below, move activities indoors as frostbite can quickly set in.
Below 20 is cool, below 10 degrees is cold, and below zero degrees means that it will be icy outside as the water will freeze and it will feel very cold outside.
Frostbite can start developing in as little as 30 minutes at a wind chill of 36°F. Once the wind chill drops below -20°F, it's best to stay indoors altogether. Hypothermia happens when your internal body temperature drops below 95°F, leaving your body unable to produce enough heat.
What Temperature is Too Cold for a House? While everyone has a different tolerance to cold, ideal winter heat settings should generally be at or above 63 °F (17 °C). Excessive cold (anything below 62 °F or 16 °C) in your home can actually raise your blood pressure as your blood “thickens” in the chilly temperatures.
Cold homes contribute to excess winter mortality and morbidity. Most of the health burden can be attributed to both respiratory and cardiovascular disease, especially for older people. In children, the excess winter health burden is mostly due to respiratory disease.
Is it healthier to live in a cold climate? Yes! Exposure to cold temperatures can strengthen the immune system, increasing the body's ability to fight infections and diseases.
Ideal room temperature for sleeping
According to The Sleep Charity, the ideal bedroom temperature for sleeping is 16–18°C. Anything over 24°C could be too hot and make you restless, while trying to sleep in a cold room with a temperature below 12°C could make it harder to nod off.
For Australia, the ideal sleeping temperature is generally cool, between 15°C and 20°C (59-68°F), with some experts suggesting 17-19°C for deeper sleep, as a cooler environment helps your body's core temperature drop, facilitating better rest, though personal comfort varies. Temperatures above 24°C can disrupt sleep cycles, so using air conditioning, fans, or good ventilation helps, especially in warmer Australian climates, to keep the room cool enough for quality sleep.
Abstract. Background: Cold ambient temperatures are known to increase blood pressure (BP), but the influence of room temperature remains understudied.
Cold Walls, Floors, and Corners
If you keep asking yourself why is my house so cold even though the heat is on, the answer might be hiding in your walls, floors, or attic—not your furnace. When walls or ceilings feel cold to the touch, it's a classic sign of conductive heat loss.
Health effects
For infants, elderly, and those with significant health problems, a minimum of 20 °C (68 °F) was recommended. Temperatures lower than 16 °C (61 °F) with humidity above 65% were associated with respiratory hazards including allergies.
Unless your house is very well insulated, keeping your heating on low all day is usually unnecessary and will cause your heating bills to soar. Instead, set your heating to come on in the morning before you get up and turn it off half an hour before you leave for work.
Cold homes are not good for your health. Problems and diseases linked to cold homes range from high blood pressure and common colds, to heart attacks and pneumonia. Besides poor health, cold-related illnesses cause absence from work, social isolation, and sleep deprivation.
Repeated or prolonged exposure to high levels of some VOCs can cause blurred vision, headaches, nausea, dizziness, coughing, burning eyes, respiratory irritation, skin rashes, respiratory illness, concentration difficulties, and other symptoms.
Over time, the body uses up its stored energy and body temperature begins to drop. Long-term exposure to the cold – especially if the body's core temperature falls below 95 degrees Fahrenheit – can lead to hypothermia, frostbite and other problems.
But while a lower temperature may reduce your heating bill, it could mean disaster if a cold temperatures hit, and your pipes freeze and burst. This doesn't mean you have to keep your house as warm as normal — any temperature 55 degrees or higher is appropriate to keep your pipes safe.
Reports from The World Health Organisation (WHO), the UK Government, and The Energy Saving Trust all agree that during winter your home should be kept between 18 to 21°C while in use, as this range strikes a good balance between comfort and energy efficiency.
At a glance. Set your heating to come on half an hour before you wake up and go off half an hour before you go to bed. Set your thermostat between 18–21 °C to balance comfort and savings. Heat pumps work best when left running all day.
On the temperature scale, numbers further to the left (more negative) represent lower (colder) temperatures. Since -23 is less than -15, it means -23°C is colder (cooler) than -15°C.
But when the air temperature is 102 F (38.9 C) and the relative humidity is 77%, the wet-bulb temperature is about 95 F (35 C), the "danger zone" for humans. The reason people can't survive at high heat and humidity is that they can no longer regulate their internal temperature.
Set it somewhere between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. People sleep better in that temperature range. “Not only in terms of maintaining sleep, but also of falling asleep,” says Alon Avidan, MD, MPH, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center. That also goes for how long you sleep and how well.