The thermostat on the hallway wall blinks 19 °C. Outside, the wind knifes down the street, and inside, Sophie is wrapped in two jumpers and a blanket, fingers stiff as she types on her laptop. She remembers all the advice from the last energy crisis: 19 degrees, no more, that’s the responsible, “adult” thing to do. Except her nose is frozen and her kids keep wandering into the kitchen to hover over the oven for warmth. She’s saving money on paper, but she’s not living well.
At some point, comfort has a price too.
And that’s exactly what scientists are quietly starting to recalibrate.
The old 19 °C dogma is cracking
For years, the 19 °C heating rule was treated almost like a moral code. Governments repeated it, energy companies printed it on leaflets, and neighbors judged each other by how low they could go. If you raised the thermostat above that number, you were almost a traitor to the planet and to your winter energy bill.
Yet behind closed doors, many people simply nudged it back up when nobody was looking. The myth remained, but daily life told another story.
In 2022, during the big push for energy sobriety in Europe, surveys showed a curious gap. A large share of households claimed to target 19 °C, but when technicians checked actual indoor temperatures, they often found 21 or even 22 °C in living rooms. The rule survived mostly in speeches and on infographics.
One French energy consultant told me he routinely entered “19-degree homes” that felt almost tropical. People felt guilty, but they also felt cold bones and stiff shoulders. Faced with that choice, they picked warmth and tried not to talk about it.
This gap pushed thermal comfort experts to dig again into data that had been sitting in drawers. They looked at sleep quality, productivity, respiratory health, and realistic behavior patterns, not just theoretical savings on a spreadsheet. Slowly, a new consensus started to appear: a rigid, one-size-fits-all 19 °C wasn’t matching real bodies or real homes.
*The human body doesn’t read a policy memo; it reacts to sensations, drafts, humidity, and clothing.*
The new ideal: a flexible band, not a magic number
The emerging message from building scientists and energy specialists is clearer now: **the new “sweet spot” for most homes sits between 20 °C and 21 °C in living areas**, and around 17–18 °C in bedrooms. Not an iron rule, but a realistic comfort-energy balance. The idea is simple: slightly warmer than 19 °C where you spend the day, slightly cooler where you sleep.
This range reduces the shock between rooms, cuts condensation risks, and aligns with how we actually move through our homes.
Take an average apartment in a mid-sized city. The living room is set to 20.5 °C, the kitchen hovers near 20 °C from cooking, and the bedrooms stay at 17.5 °C overnight. Over a winter, the heating bill is only marginally higher than a strict 19 °C regime, especially if the building is decently insulated. Yet the difference in lived comfort is striking: fewer complaints of “icy floors”, fewer colds in kids sharing a drafty room, less temptation to crank the thermostat to 23 °C after a particularly damp, grey day.
Energy models show that each extra degree above 19 can raise heating consumption by roughly 7%. The trick is not to freeze at 19, but to avoid bouncing wildly between 18 and 23.
What experts now stress is the dynamic picture. A stable 20–21 °C in the main room, with small day-night drops, often saves more energy than a “heroic” 19 °C that people can’t stand and constantly override. Our bodies like stability. Our heating systems like it too. Radiators work more efficiently when they don’t play yo-yo.
Let’s be honest: nobody really calibrates their thermostat every single day according to a perfect schedule. **A reasonable range you can live with beats a strict rule you quietly abandon.**
How to tune your home to the new comfort zone
If you want to try this new band, start with one simple gesture: pick a target of 20 or 20.5 °C in your main living room and keep it there for at least a full week. Don’t touch the dial every hour. Just observe. Notice your hands, your feet, how long you keep your jumper on. Then set bedrooms to 17–18 °C at night, especially if you use a proper duvet.
The aim is not perfection, it’s stability. Let your body adapt and see if those half-degrees are enough to stop the “I’m freezing” complaints.
Many people make the same mistake: they jump from 19 to 23 °C on a bad day, then panic at the bill and crash back down to 18. That rollercoaster is tough on comfort and on your wallet. A smaller, steady adjustment is far more forgiving. You can also play with “micro-comforts”: thick socks, a throw on the sofa, closing doors between warm and cold zones, a hot drink before sitting down to work.
We’ve all been there, that moment when you’re shivering at home while the thermostat still insists you’re “fine”.
“Forget the hunt for a perfect number,” says energy engineer Laura Benett. “Think in ranges and routines. For most people, 20–21 °C in the day and 17–18 °C at night is the new realistic target for both comfort and savings.”
- Daytime living areas
Aim for 20–21 °C, especially if you spend hours sitting or working from home. - Bedrooms at night
Keep them cooler, around 17–18 °C, with a good duvet and closed shutters. - Bathroom window and moisture
Air out quickly after showers to avoid mould, not by dropping the temperature all day. - Slow, small changes
Adjust by 0.5–1 °C and wait a day, instead of big swings you’ll regret. - Look at humidity too
Around 40–60% humidity often feels warmer at the same temperature and is kinder to your lungs.
Beyond numbers: what “comfort” really means at home
Once you move past the old 19 °C mantra, a more interesting question appears: what does comfort actually mean in your daily life? It’s the joy of getting out of bed without a shock to the system. The ability to work from home without numb fingers. The feeling that your kids can play on the floor without slippers and three layers. These experiences don’t show up in a policy chart, yet they define your winter mood.
There’s also health: older people, babies, and anyone with circulatory or respiratory issues often need that extra degree.
The new consensus doesn’t cancel the need to save energy; it reframes it around reality. If 19 °C turns your living room into a place everyone avoids, you’ll migrate to heated shops, cafés, or plug in energy-guzzling space heaters. A warm, well-managed home at 20–21 °C can actually be the more sober choice over a whole season. The real shift is mental: less guilt about nudging the thermostat up a notch, more focus on insulation, stable habits, and how you actually feel when you walk into your own home.
Some winters are harsher than others, some homes are sieves, some radiators are antiques. Your comfort band will evolve. The rule is officially outdated; the conversation is just starting.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| New optimal range | 20–21 °C in living areas, 17–18 °C in bedrooms | Balances comfort, health, and realistic energy savings |
| Stability over extremes | Small, steady settings beat big, irregular temperature swings | Helps control bills while avoiding cold “shock” at home |
| Personal adaptation | Adjust according to age, health, insulation, and daily routine | Lets each household find its own sustainable comfort zone |
FAQ:
- Is 19 °C bad now?Not necessarily. In a well-insulated home and for healthy adults, 19 °C can work. The point is that it’s no longer seen as the single ideal for everyone, every time.
- Won’t 21 °C explode my heating bill?Going from 19 to 21 °C can raise consumption, but if you avoid big temperature swings and improve insulation or drafts, the extra cost often remains moderate compared to the comfort gained.
- What’s the best temperature for sleeping?Most experts now suggest 17–18 °C for bedrooms, with good bedding. Cooler air supports better sleep for many people, as long as you feel snug under the covers.
- Should I turn the heating off when I’m out?For short absences, dropping 1–2 °C is usually enough. Turning everything off can lead to damp and discomfort, and reheating from very low temperatures uses more energy.
- How do I know if my home is too cold?If you see condensation on windows, feel persistent drafts, or need several layers just to sit still, your comfort level is probably too low, even if the thermostat number looks “reasonable”.
