Indoor environment factor · measured in °C
Indoor temperature
The air temperature of a room — the parameter people notice first and the one that shapes every other factor: it drives chemical emissions from materials, sets relative humidity, and decides whether windows get opened.
Why it matters indoors
Temperature is not a pollutant, but it is the master variable of the indoor environment. Warmer rooms release more formaldehyde and volatile compounds from furniture; colder surfaces condense moisture and grow mould; and comfort decides whether occupants ventilate at all.
Health effects
Cold homes are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular illness and excess winter mortality; heat with reduced cognitive performance, sleep disturbance and, in heatwaves, death among older people. Between the extremes, temperature acts mainly through the other factors it governs.
Guideline values
| Body | Value | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Health Organization | at least 18 °C | minimum for health in dwellings, higher for vulnerable groups | WHO Housing and health guidelines 2018 |
| ASHRAE 55 | roughly 20–24 °C winter, 23–26 °C summer | comfort range, depending on humidity and clothing | ASHRAE 55 |
How it is measured
Any monitor includes a temperature sensor; the useful measurements are the gradient between air and cold surfaces (for condensation risk) and the daily profile (for ventilation behaviour).
What the studies report
| Linked to | Effect | Population | Study design | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asthma | difference 0.94 per 1 points | adults with asthma · dwelling | Breathe Easy Project pre-intervention period in Chicago: more than one year of data from 53 adults with asthma in 41 homes, quarterly indoor and outdoor pollutant measurements (HCHO, CO, CO2, NO2, O3, PM), home walk-throughs and surveys; asthma control test scores analysed with mixed-effects models, baseline risk factors with adjusted odds ratios | F-0569 Kang Impacts of residential indoor air quality and environmental … (2022) | machine |
| — | share-above 67 per 27 % | — · classroom | comprehensive assessment of indoor air quality and thermal comfort in classrooms: carbon dioxide, operative temperature and relative humidity measured over the school year and compared with the minimum and the optimum requirements of the Spanish RITE standard and Royal Decree 486 | F-1490 A Comprehensive Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and Thermal… (2023) | machine |
| — | mean 19.4 | — · classroom | measurement study at a New Zealand urban primary school: carbon dioxide, particulate matter and temperature measured in a classroom during school hours and compared with the World Health Organization values and the New Zealand ventilation standard | F-1529 Indoor air pollution at a New Zealand urban primary school | machine |
Each row is one Finding — a sentence as printed in one study, recorded with its page in the Coridum Knowledge Base. Follow the Finding number for the exact wording and the citation. Checked says who verified the row: machine means every automatic check passed and the surrounding text was read; person means someone read the sentence in the document. Rows are re-checked by a person over time. The studies are curated in the Coridum Knowledge Base; the reading of them together is a Claim, shown separately.
Identifiers
- MeSH
- D013696
In the literature
- Zheng Reverse-switching radiative cooling for synchronizing indoor air conditioning… (2024). Nanophotonics (Berlin, Germany). doi:10.1515/nanoph-2023-0699 CKB 0886
- Matsumoto et al. Clarifying Optimum Setting Temperatures for In-Flight Personal Air Conditioning System Considering Individual Thermal Sensitivity Characteristics. doi:10.3390/electronics12020371 CKB 0889
- Flexible thermal perception electronic skin for matter, temperature, and wind detection… (2024). IEEE Sensors Journal. doi:10.1109/jsen.2024.3381972 CKB 0773
Studies in the Coridum Knowledge Base in which this term is used. The definition follows standard usage in WHO, ISO and textbook sources; it is not quoted from these papers.
CKB = document number in the Coridum Knowledge Base, our curated library of peer-reviewed studies. Follow the DOI for the original paper.
Cite this page
Coridum Research. Indoor temperature. Coridum Knowledge G-0049, 16 September 2026. https://coridum.com/k/G-0049/