Health experts including the NHS, UKHSA, and WHO recommend keeping homes above a minimum temperature
Energy costs are soaring and have been escalating each winter, but there’s a compelling reason to ward off the chill. Feeling cold isn’t just uncomfortable – the temperature of our homes plays a significant role in our overall health.
With colds, flu, norovirus, and Covid, winter bugs are abundant and hard to dodge. You’ll be familiar with one of the simplest ways to protect yourself being handwashing, but maintaining warmth is also crucial in preventing illness.
Cold weather impacts the body and keeping your home chilly can lead to sickness, NHS Inform explains. When it’s cold, our hearts have to work harder to keep the body warm, which consequently raises blood pressure. Cold air can irritate the lungs and leave joints feeling sore.
So, what temperature best wards off illness? The guidance from the NHS, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) all point to the same minimum temperature: 18C.
The WHO’s Housing and health guidelines state: “Indoor housing temperatures should be high enough to protect residents from the harmful health effects of cold. For countries with temperate or colder climates, 18C has been proposed as a safe and well-balanced indoor temperature to protect the health of general populations during cold seasons.”
This advice is mirrored by the guidance given by the UKHSA for staying well in winter. The agency advises: “Our top tip is to heat the home, or the parts of it you’re using, to at least 18C.
“This is the temperature at which we start to see changes in the body, when the blood starts to thicken. So, temperatures above this are best to protect your health.”
However, it’s worth noting that the thermostat should be set even higher if there are individuals who are more susceptible to the cold, reports the Mirror. As per NHS Inform, “Anyone can become unwell when the weather is cold. However, some people are more at risk.”
The following groups are listed:
- People aged 65 or over
- People with underlying health conditions, like heart or lung conditions or mental health conditions
- Children (particularly aged five and under)
- Pregnant women
- People who are housebound or have low mobility
Public Health Wales has recommended increasing the temperature to 23C in such instances: “For those households with vulnerable people, the recommendations are 23C in the living room and 18°C in other rooms achieved for 16 hours in a 24-hour period.”
The cold itself doesn’t cause illness, but it does facilitate conditions that do. For example, a chilly environment benefits viruses. Studies have demonstrated that the viruses responsible for flu and Covid survive longer in cold and dry conditions, thereby increasing their chances of infecting people.
“Cold temperatures themselves do not cause infections,” clarified Manal Mohammed, a Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology at the University of Westminster in The Conversation.
“Instead, they influence a combination of biological, environmental and social factors that make people more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses, especially during the winter months.”
Being cold also places our bodies at a disadvantage once we become unwell, as UKHSA noted: “Being cold also affects our body’s ability to fight off infection. This is why in the weeks after the cold weather we see more deaths from infections like pneumonia, as lung conditions and coughs can develop into a more serious problem.”