Lisa walks barefoot into her kitchen on a gray Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. The sky never really wakes up. She frowns at the thermostat. For years, the little screen has been set to 19 °C, like an unspoken rule that she got from her parents, her energy company, and half the country. She raises it to 20.5 °C today. Just a little bit. A small protest against cold fingers on the laptop and that constant chill that hangs around in old apartments.
She stands there with a cup of coffee in her hand, waiting to feel bad, but nothing happens. No thunder, no bill that came out of nowhere. The air is just a little softer, and there’s not as much “put your jumper back on.” All over Europe, things like this are happening quietly, one thermostat click at a time. Our habits when it comes to heating are changing.
The end of the holy 19 °C rule
For a long time, people thought 19 °C was a magic number. The “right” indoor temperature, the one that adults should set, the one that is repeated in public campaigns and written down in government pamphlets. You felt a little spoiled if you heated it more. Lower, and you were a hero of thrift. But the world has moved on. People work from their sofas, homes are better insulated, and kids spend more time inside than ever. When your living room is also your office, gym, and classroom, that old rule about blankets starts to break down. The question is no longer “19 or 21?” but “What feels good and wastes less?”
Take a look at what’s going on in real homes. A recent survey of European energy users found that many of them used to lie about how they set their thermostat. They said it was 19 °C when it was really closer to 21 °C on cold nights. A smart thermostat helped one family in Lyon keep track of their habits for a month. Their “official” home temperature of 19 °C averaged 20.3 °C from 6 p.m. to midnight. They weren’t cheating on purpose. They were just going about their lives. Kids doing their homework, parents glued to their screens, and grandparents coming over and asking for “a little more warmth, please.” Energy rules met real life, and real life won without making a fuss. The data tells the same story behind the scenes: the ideal temperature of 19 °C has broken.
Experts are starting to change the message for a reason. Back in the day, when windows leaked, radiators were heavy, and people stayed inside for short periods of time, the old rule came from. Smart zoning, timing, and comfort science are more important for heating efficiency today than just one temperature. Experts now say that a living space temperature of about 20 to 21 °C during the day is a better balance between health, comfort, and modern lifestyles, with cooler bedrooms at night. Saving energy isn’t going away; it’s just getting more complicated. “Stay cold to save the planet” is being replaced by “heat where and when it counts.”
How to aim right in the new comfort-efficiency range
So, what’s the new sweet spot? When you’re active and at home, the best temperature for living areas is about 20–21 °C. When you’re out or at night, it’s about 17–18 °C. Not one stiff figure taped to the boiler, but a small band that you can move around in. A lot of energy advisors say to use 20 °C as your “base camp.” For three days, deal with it. If you still feel cold, raise the temperature by 0.5 °C, but not more. Make small changes, then wait. Your body and your walls need time to get used to it. A jump from 19 to 23 °C in one morning is sure to shock your bill.
We’ve all been there: you get home from work and the place feels like a fridge. You turn the thermostat up “just for a bit.” You wear a T-shirt twenty minutes later, and the radiators sound like an engine. That setting? You often forget to turn it down again. The simple truth is that the degrees that cost the most are usually the ones that people get without thinking. Not the steady 20–21 °C, but the “I’ll treat myself to 24 °C while I cook” spikes. Experts say that every extra degree above your normal comfort zone can make your heating use go up by about 7%. One degree doesn’t seem like a lot. For a whole winter, your bill is just a long string of zeros.
A physicist who works on buildings told me this in simple terms:
“Stop worrying about 19 °C.” Set a stable, realistic comfort temperature between 20 and 21 °C in your main rooms and lower the rest. “Comfort first, guilt out.”
Next comes the practical part. To make that range work, you have to do more than just play with numbers. You also have to play with spaces. Expert guides keep saying the same things over and over:
- Don’t heat the guest room you only use twice a year. Instead, heat the rooms you actually use to about 20–21 °C.
- For better sleep and lower bills, keep bedrooms between 17 and 18 °C at night.
- Instead of a big on/off cycle, set a gentle drop when you’re not home.
- Wear thin wool, warm socks, and a throw on the couch to beat the 23 °C air.
- Before blaming the thermostat, make sure there are no drafts around windows and doors.
This is where the new rule lives: not one sacred degree, but a small area that can change.
How to live differently when it’s hot at home
There is something deeper going on in the way we live in our homes that is causing this change. Heating is becoming a conscious choice we make every day, like what we eat or how we get to work, instead of something we do automatically. People talk about “my ideal is 20.5 °C” the same way they used to talk about diets. They check apps and compare notes with coworkers. Some people find that they are naturally warmer or colder than their partners. Some people realize that their old radiators aren’t working properly, so one room is a sauna and the other is a cave. The new temperature suggestions just make it easier to ask a better question: “What really feels right for me in this room at this time?”
| Main point | Detail: What the reader gets out of it |
|---|---|
| Not a magic number, but a comfort range | Set the temperature in your living spaces to about 20–21 °C, and a little cooler at night or when you’re not home.Lessens guilt while being aware of energy use |
| Small changes can save you a lot of money. | Change by 0.5–1 °C at a time and stay away from big jumps.Reduces bills without making you feel bad |
| Heat where you live | Before turning up the thermostat, make sure that rooms that are already occupied are insulated and drafts are kept to a minimum.Simple actions make things more comfortable and efficient. |
Questions and Answers:
What temperature do experts now say is better than 19 °C?
When you’re at home and active, most experts say that living areas should be around 20–21 °C and bedrooms should be 17–18 °C at night.
Is it really too cold at 19 °C?
For a lot of people, especially those who work from home or sit still for long periods of time, 19 °C feels cold. It can work with warm clothes and good insulation, but it’s not the only “right” choice anymore.
Will turning up my thermostat by 1 °C make my bill go up?
There was no explosion, but there was a noticeable effect: energy experts say that for every degree higher, you use about 7% more heating, especially if you stay higher all winter instead of using short boosts.
Should you leave the heat on all the time at a low level?
In homes with good insulation, it is often more efficient to keep the temperature stable and a little lower with programmed ups and downs than to turn it off completely and heat it back up from scratch each time.
How can I get warmer without going over 21 °C?
Put on layers of clothes, warm socks, a throw on the couch, close doors, block drafts, and bleed your radiators. These small changes can change how your body feels at 20–21 °C.
