What’s the ideal room temperature?

Kemley
16th Jun 2022

16th June 2022

There are lots of myths surrounding the average room temperature in your home. You may have been told that it’s cheaper to have your heating on all the time or you are looking to find the best way to heat your home efficiently without wasting money. If you’re unsure about the best temperature for rooms in your home, Hometree is here to help.

Today we will look at the best temperature for sleeping, the correct temperature for a child, a newborn sleeping baby or for elderly people to be comfortable. We’ll also look at ways to keep your temperature right in the Winter and Summer along with the wealth of new ways you can control the temperature of your home, like smart thermostats. Let’s get started!

What is the average room temperature?

UK studies have shown that the average room temperature is 18 °C but that UK citizens think that the ideal room temperature is 21 °C. Reducing your room temperature by one or two degrees can make a huge difference to your energy usage and, therefore, your energy bills.

How warm should my house be? what is the ideal room temperature?

The best room temperature for your home is a steady 18 °C or 19 °C. This is what we call an ambient temperature. It is amazing what a huge difference some small changes can make to the energy use in your home. Simply reducing your thermostat or smart thermostat temperature settings by as little as 1 °C can save you 10% off your energy bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

What is the best temperature for sleeping?

Your room temperature is vitally important to ensure that you create the perfect sleep environment. Good sleep impacts your health, concentration levels and general wellbeing. The Sleep Council confirms that your body heat peaks in the evening and then drops to its lowest levels when you are sleeping, so your ideal sleeping temperature is 16 °C to 18 °C for a bedroom. Over 24 °C is too hot for your bedroom if you want to be comfortable.

What temperature is too cold for a house?

A cold room, at 12 °C or less will make you restless and you will likely struggle to get to sleep. Nobody blocks blocks of ice for feet when they are trying to sleep.

What’s the best temperature for a room in winter or summer?

Of course, weather impacts your bedroom temperature which is why it is great to have a room thermostat to keep an eye on temperature fluctuating. Extra blankets, suitable warm sleepwear, and the correct tog of duvet will bring further comfort in Winter whilst aiming for the ambient 18 or 19 °C. The higher the duvet tog rating, the warmer you will be. In Summer, you may need to open your window and put your heating off to drop the temperature down to 18 or 19 °C. The best tog for your duvet depends on the time of year, in Spring and Summer a 2.5 to 7 tog will keep you comfortable whereas in Autumn and Winter 10.5 to 14.5 will keep you at the ideal temperature. You can also purchase all-weather duvets which allow you to clip thinner duvets together or separate them depending on the temperature.

16th June 2022

Why would I want more control of my room temperature and heating use?

By having greater control over your heating, you will likely reduce your carbon emissions and be more environmentally friendly. By wasting less energy, you will also lower your energy bill saving you money. Adding further controls to your central heating system like a smart thermostat will mean you can also benefit from the flexibility with technological advances of switching your heating off and on from any location through a smartphone app. Encouraging consumers to be more energy efficient is the key goal of the Energy Efficiency Directive, to increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020, which has been updated in December 2018 to 32.5% by 2030. More energy-efficient buildings can save energy, reduce bills, address health issues, lower air pollution, and improve people’s quality of life.

Additional technology to control your room temperature

Hometree Gas Safe engineers know that having the right heating controls will allow you to keep your home at a comfortable temperature without wasting fuel or heat. They recommend that you get either a programmable or smart thermostat installed in your home so that you can set regular heating schedules.

In your central heating system, your controls should ideally include:

Boiler thermostat
Timer or programmer
Room thermostat
Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)

How does a smart thermostat work?

Smart thermostats allow you to manage your heating controls remotely from your computer, tablet or smartphone which is why Hometree provides customers with a free smart thermostat with every boiler installation. You can read more about smart thermostats here.

Smart thermostats include sophisticated features like learning your heating routine and using your location to automatically turn your heating on or off when you leave or arrive near your home. Isn’t that ‘cool’?
Smart thermostats are also particularly good at helping you to keep your home at an ambient temperature, which is the best way to keep your home warm without wasting money. These thermostats set different temperatures at different times in the day and at night, unlike a standard thermostat which sets one temperature and time for the boiler to be on or off.

One feature of a smart thermostat is that it will keep your home at a median temperature between two points – so the boiler is not working really hard to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. You only need to use a little bit of gas to get from 14 to 18 °C. It uses more gas to heat your home up from 2 to 18 °C than it does to keep the home at 14 °C overnight and kick it up to 18 °C when you wake up.

With smart heating control systems, you can make changes remotely if your plans change, for example, if you find yourself working late or decide on a spontaneous weekend away, you can make sure your hot water and heating aren’t wasting your hard earned cash.

Best Temperature for a baby’s room? What is the correct temperature for a child?

If you have a newborn baby or a toddler, the instructions are slightly different as babies often need to be slightly warmer. If the room temperature drops you may want to consider adding another blanket to their cot or bed. The UK Baby Centre recommends that a baby’s room should be between 16 and 20 °C, which fits with our general recommendation of 18 or 19 °C. Along with having a room thermostats in your home, most baby monitors now include a thermostat so that you can keep a close eye on your little one’s temperature and ensure they are comfortable and get plenty of sleep. After all, a peaceful sleeping baby, means everyone in the household sleeps better.

What is the ideal room temperature for elderly people?

People aged 65 and above are often most at risk when cold weather hits and their family and friends are regularly concerned that the temperature is too low in their homes. The recommended room temperature in the home of an elderly person is above 18 °C according to the NHS. The NHS also recommend that you draw your curtains at dusk and keep doors closed to avoid drafts as well as getting your boiler regularly serviced by a professional Gas Safe Engineer.

Will a higher temperature heat my home faster?

Turning your thermostat all the way up will not heat your home better or faster and this method, especially when paired with leaving the heating on all day, will waste a lot of energy, as well as increasing the amount you spend on energy bills. Leaving your heating on low all day is also a waste of energy and money.