What's the ideal temperature to stay healthy at home?
Thanks for asking. Winter is coming and this year in particular people are wondering how to strike the right balance between comfort at home and continually rising energy bills.
The World Health Organization suggests that 18 degrees Celsius is the perfect temperature to set your eating to.
But in reality that's just an average, there are a number of variables to take into account.
For example certain rooms might need to be heated more than others and generally speaking when we are away from home or sleeping at night we can turn the heating down or off completely.
Isn't it true that some people are more sensitive to the cold than others?
That's right, it can depend on age and medical conditions like thyroid problems for example.
For certain temperature might be comfortable for some but much less bearable for others.
Feeling cold creates stress, fatigue, muscular tension and can even aggravate existing conditions due to a weakening of the entire body.
Cold also leads to vessel constriction which is the narrowing of blood vessels.
That means there's less blood going into the skin and mucus membranes.
The less irrigated they are, the less white blood cells, making us more vulnerable to infections.
Which rooms need to be heated more than others then?
Mainly the living room is around 18 to 19 degrees and also bedrooms for children and vulnerable adults.
A baby's bedroom can go up to 21 degrees.
But if it gets to the same temperature in an adult's bedroom, it may disturb their sleep which is why 16 degrees is generally recommended.
Indeed experts in the field say that a drop in temperature helps us fall asleep.
It gets our body in the right condition, stimulating the process which sees our body temperature drop controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain.
What should you do if your home is humid?
Humidity can be a real problem because it accentuates feelings of cold.
With humidity, dry air simply lacks the capacity to retain warmth efficiently, no matter how much you pump into your home.
To give a concrete example, if room temperature is 20 degrees but your interior wall is at 14 degrees, it will feel like it's only 17.
If the wall is at 19, it feels like 19.5 and so on.
Humidity levels should be between 35 and 60 percent and it's not just about comfort.
Too much humidity brings additional risks of bacteria developing.
At the other end of the scale, air that is too dry can lead to feelings of dryness in the respiratory tract which isn't recommended either, in particular for mucus and bronchial tubes.
It's important to remember to air your rooms for 10 to 20 minutes each day, in particular if your home is humid.
That limits interior air pollution and protects you from any viruses that may be present.
There you have it. Now you know what the ideal temperature is to stay healthy at home.
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