The radiator clicks on before the alarm. Outside, the street still has that pale, blue morning light, the one that makes you hesitate before leaving the duvet. You stretch your arm out of bed, test the air, and instantly feel it: just a bit too chilly to be cozy, just a bit too warm to complain. For years, we’ve been told that 19 °C at home is the golden rule. The “responsible” temperature. The one that saves the planet, the bill, and our conscience.
Yet when your toes hit the cold floor, the theory suddenly feels very far away.
Experts are now quietly shifting the cursor. And the new number may surprise you.
Why the 19 °C rule is crumbling
For a long time, 19 °C was almost a moral standard. Turning the thermostat higher felt like an eco-sin, turning it lower like a heroic sacrifice. The number appeared everywhere: on government campaigns, energy bills, even in office memos. It became less of a recommendation and more of a social code.
But reality keeps pushing back. Kids doing homework in hoodies and fingerless gloves. Elderly parents sitting in the living room with a blanket on their knees in October. People working from home all day, frozen at their screens. The old rule simply doesn’t fit the way we live anymore.
Take Aurélie, 38, who started remote work full-time two winters ago. She tried to hold on to the sacred 19 °C, pushed by rising energy prices and guilt-inducing messages on social media. By January, she had constant neck tension, cold hands on the keyboard, and a stubborn fatigue that coffee couldn’t quite fix.
Her doctor didn’t prescribe vitamins first. He asked a blunt question: “What’s the temperature in your home office?” When she answered “19 °C, like we’re supposed to,” he just raised an eyebrow. He suggested she test 20–21 °C during the day for a few weeks, especially while sitting still. Her headaches eased, and she stopped needing that extra 5 p.m. tea just to warm her bones.
What experts are now saying is simple: the right temperature isn’t a single, rigid figure. It’s a range. And it depends on age, activity level, insulation, and even gender. Studies on comfort show that *our bodies don’t experience 19 °C the same way when we’re moving around versus when we’re sitting for hours*. The rule of 19 °C came from a time when most people weren’t typing in a cold corner of the living room all day.
Energy specialists and doctors are gradually aligning on a new recommendation: around **20–21 °C in living areas during the day**, especially if you’re working or staying still, and slightly cooler at night and in unused rooms.
The new target temperatures experts actually recommend
The updated guideline that’s emerging is less strict and far more human. Rather than a universal 19 °C, many energy and health experts now suggest this: aim for **around 20–21 °C in main living spaces when you’re awake and relatively inactive**. That means the living room, the home office corner, the kids’ study area.
At night, you can drop the bedroom to about 17–18 °C, which helps sleep and lowers the bill. Kitchens can often be slightly cooler, since cooking adds warmth. Bathrooms, on the other hand, are better at 21–22 °C during showers to avoid that painful shiver when you step out of the water.
The thing nobody tells you loudly is that your body is not a thermostat with a factory setting. A young adult who moves a lot, lives in a well-insulated flat and cooks every evening can feel fine at 19–20 °C. A fragile senior with circulation issues in an old, drafty house might actually risk health problems at that same temperature.
We’ve all been there, that moment when you’re at your grandparents’ place and think, “Wow, it’s hot in here,” while they still feel cold. For them, some doctors recommend 21–22 °C in the main room during the day. The “good” temperature suddenly looks a lot more like a sliding scale than a single magic number printed on a flyer.
There’s also a psychological truth: a room at 20 °C doesn’t feel like 20 °C if there’s a cold draft running along the floor or if the wall behind your back is icy. Thermal comfort isn’t just about air temperature, it’s about how your body exchanges heat with everything around it. That’s why better windows or a simple thick rug can make 20 °C feel as comfortable as 21 or 22 °C in a bare, poorly insulated room.
Let’s be honest: nobody really walks around their home with a thermometer in hand, adjusting every hour. What experts are pushing for now is a mix of reasonable targets and small habits, less dogma and more real life.
How to heat smarter with the new temperature range
The practical method many specialists suggest looks like this: pick a base temperature for your living area, around 20–21 °C, and then play with zones and moments rather than with guilt. Start by setting your thermostat slightly lower at night: 17–18 °C in bedrooms, 16–17 °C in unused rooms or the hallway.
If you work from home, try a small routine: bump the living room or office to 20–21 °C during your working blocks, then lower it a notch when you go out, cook, or move more. The goal is not to heat everything, all the time, but to heat where you are, when you need it.
One trap a lot of people fall into is the “all or nothing” logic. Either they freeze at 18–19 °C trying to be virtuous, or they give up and push to 23 °C everywhere as soon as the first cold snap hits. The new approach encourages nuance. You can protect your wallet and the climate without living in a fridge.
A simple tip that changes everything: dress for the season even indoors. Not a mountain parka, just a warm sweater, socks, maybe slippers instead of going barefoot on tiles. That lets you feel good at 20–21 °C instead of chasing 23 °C just to feel “in a T-shirt like summer”.
Energy engineer Léa M. sums it up with a disarming sentence: “We’ve turned 19 °C into a moral benchmark when it should have stayed what it really is: a number in a context.”
She often shares a checklist with her clients to help them adjust step by step instead of obsessing over a rigid rule.
- Set living areas to around 20–21 °C when you’re present and mostly seated.
- Drop bedrooms to 17–18 °C at night for better sleep and lower costs.
- Keep bathrooms slightly warmer during shower times, then lower again.
- Use programmable thermostats or simple time switches rather than manual “on/off marathons”.
- Deal with drafts (seals, rugs, curtains) so 20 °C feels genuinely comfortable.
Rethinking comfort: beyond just a number on the thermostat
The shift away from the sacred 19 °C raises a bigger question: what does “being warm enough” really mean for you, in your own home, with your own body and routine? Some people will feel deeply at ease at 20 °C, wrapped in a sweater with a cup of tea. Others will need that tiny extra half-degree to stop clenching their shoulders all day. The point isn’t to chase perfection on the display, but to find that sweet spot where comfort, health, and energy use can live together.
You might even notice that your relationship with heat is changing. Maybe a few years ago you loved tropical interiors and T-shirts in winter, and now you appreciate a fresher, more alert feeling around 20 °C. Or the opposite. Our needs aren’t frozen in time, and neither should our rules be.
The end of the 19 °C rule doesn’t mean “anything goes.” It’s more like an invitation to reclaim your thermostat as a tool, not a symbol. To talk about it with your family or flatmates. To say out loud what feels good and what feels too much. That kind of small, honest conversation often does more for both the planet and your mood than a number printed on an old poster.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| New comfort range | Around 20–21 °C in main living areas, cooler at night | Helps balance comfort, health, and energy savings |
| Adapt to your profile | Age, activity level, insulation, and health change your ideal temperature | Encourages a personalized, guilt-free approach |
| Think in zones and moments | Heat where you are, when you need it, instead of uniformly | Reduces bills without feeling like you’re “living in the cold” |
FAQ:
- Is 19 °C at home now considered “too cold”?Not necessarily. For some active adults in well-insulated homes, 19–20 °C can be perfectly fine. Experts are simply saying that it’s no longer a one-size-fits-all rule, especially for children, seniors, or people sitting still all day.
- What temperature do doctors recommend for elderly people?Many health professionals suggest around 21–22 °C in the main living room for seniors, with slightly cooler bedrooms if they feel comfortable. The priority is avoiding prolonged exposure to cold, which can worsen circulation and respiratory issues.
- Will setting 20–21 °C explode my heating bill compared to 19 °C?One extra degree does raise consumption, but good habits can offset it: zoning rooms, lowering the heat at night, sealing drafts, and not overheating rarely used spaces. The goal is a smarter use of heat, not simply “more heat”.
- What’s the best bedroom temperature for sleep?Most sleep specialists suggest 17–18 °C. A slightly cool room, with a warm duvet, usually gives deeper, more restorative sleep than a very warm bedroom.
- How do I know if my home is too cold?If you’re constantly tense, layering coats indoors, seeing condensation and mold, or if vulnerable people in the home feel chilled even at rest, it may be too cold. Trust both a thermometer and your body’s signals, and adjust within the new recommended range.
