Temperature Tangos

Winter – This is temperature tango time, the months of the year when there are lots and lots of heated debates about where to set the thermostat.

Science can end this discussion before it does any more damage to what might otherwise be positive relationships.

The research is clear: at temperatures set between 68 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit (20 and 23.3 degrees centigrade), with humidity levels from 40% to 70%, our cognitive performance is optimized.  To think and reason to your full potential, keep your thermostat in this range.  Some research identifies the midpoint of this spread as the single best temperature to set.  We sleep best at temperatures around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees centigrade).

Clearly, there are some conditions that must be recognized when setting a temperature.  For example, fuel costs and environmental impacts can affect the temperatures at which people feel comfortable because these sorts of concerns can generate stress and, as with many things, when people are motivated, they can find all sorts of conditions pleasant enough. Also, dress influences best temperatures.  If you love to wear heavy wool sweaters and socks, odds are you find 74 degrees F (23.3degrees C) sweltering.

You can use all sorts of tricks to make your mind think that a space is a little warmer or cooler (about 5 degrees Fahrenheit/3 degrees centigrade) than it actually is—and that may be enough to resolve other temperature related “issues.”  For example, rooms featuring warm colours on the walls or throughout the space seem slightly warmer than those where cool colours predominate.  The same goes for warm light and cool light, at consistent light intensities.  When we smell warm scents (for example cedar wood), we also feel a little warmer than when we smell cooler ones (such as eucalyptus).

There are some advantages to feeling a little warm (this does not mean feeling too warm).  When we feel comfortably warm, we feel more socially connected, for example.  When we’re warmer we’re apt to base our decisions less on emotions, make riskier decisions and more likely to go along with the opinions of other people, which can be good or bad, depending on the situation.  All this is particularly important because when we feel physically warmer, we feel we’re interpersonally warmer, which may indeed be the case.