Suitable indoor air temperature
The healthy housing guide defines the following temperatures as a guideline:
- Room temperature should be 18 °C – + 26 °C during heating period.
- Room temperature should be 18 °C – + 32 °C outside the heating period.
These guidelines are for the actual living areas of the apartment; window surfaces, walls, floors and ceilings may be cooler than these reference values.
Heating period
The actual heating period begins when the daily average outdoor temperature drops to 15–17 degrees. Room temperature can often feel cool even if it is within the guidelines. This is common particularly at the beginning of the heating period, when the seasonal relative air humidity is high. In the autumn it takes a while before all structures warm up and relative humidity is reduced.
Hoas properties are heated by district heating and the heating is automatically regulated by thermostats according to the outside temperature. Larger drops in outdoor temperature can make it feel cold inside the apartments before the indoor temperature stabilizes to match the change in outdoor temperature.
If it is too cold in your apartment, you should check a few things first before submitting a fault report.
- First of all, measure the temperature in your apartment. The room temperature should be 20–22 degrees.
- If the thermometer indicates that it is warm enough in the apartment, check if there is a draught coming from the windows.
- If there is a draught, check that all the locks on the window are properly secured. If you do not have a window handle to check this, you can submit a fault report to request one.
- Check that ventilation works and that the vents have not been closed completely or otherwise blocked. If the apartment is not getting fresh air from the proper inlets, this will cause the air to enter in other ways – often it will be from the edges of the windows.
If the temperature of your apartment is constantly under 20 degrees, check a few things before submitting a fault report.
- The thermostat needs time and space to work correctly. Do not place thick curtains or heat-producing devices like televisions in front of it. You should not place a bed or a couch directly in front of the thermostat either. The thermostat will detect the ambient temperature wrong and will not be able to adjust the temperature in the apartment correctly. In addition to this, the curtains and the furniture will block the heat from radiating into the room.
- Extra heaters can also make the thermostat detect the temperature in the apartment incorrectly. The more you heat with extra heaters, the lower the thermostat will set the temperature.
If the ideas above do not solve the problem and the temperature is still less than 20 degrees in the apartment, please submit a fault report. In the fault report, please mention the solutions you have already tried as well as the current temperature of your apartment, so that we can get the matter looked into as soon as possible.
The buildings adhere to the building regulations used at the time of their construction. For this reason, they do not always have air conditioning or other cooling systems. The ventilation in the property is automatic and cannot be adjusted per apartment. Small apartments get hot quicker and it is not always possible to cross-draught in the apartment.
The Healthy Housing Guide (The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2003:1) does not specify an upper guideline for the non-heating period in the summer. According to the Healthy Housing Guide: ”Room temperature should not be over +26°C, unless the rise in temperature is caused by outdoor heat.”
Passive methods to lower the temperature include, for instance, reducing the heating effect of sunlight entering the apartment by covering windows with curtains and shades. Night-time airing (for example cross-draught at night) can cool the structures that heat up in the daytime. If you open windows during the day, remember that if the air outdoors is hotter than your indoor air, the airing may only serve to warm up the apartment more. When you air your apartment, please make sure the windows cannot slam shut and shatter the window glass. You should always use a window that is designed for airing.
Particularly large appliances, such as televisions, computers, washing machines and ovens produce heat and thus further warm up the apartment. Therefore, if you are not using an appliance, turn it off to avoid producing extra heat. You should also remember that individual cooling appliances can heat the room more than they cool it if they are incorrectly installed.
If the temperature in your apartment is constantly over +32°C despite trying to cool the apartment down or you have proof of health detriment due to the temperature, make a fault report.
There are a few things to remember when measuring room temperature:
- Room temperature is measured in the living area of the apartment, at least 0.6 metres from any walls and at a height of about 1 metre. Do not measure the temperature for example on the wall or against the window – these surfaces may be cooler than the living area.
- You should carry out the measurement several times and at different times of the day. Your apartment may be a little cooler than normal first thing in the morning and any electronic devices you use will warm up the apartment when they are on.
- Do not measure the temperature during the window is open or just been shut.
If the temperature in your apartment as measured by you is repeatedly below 20 degrees, please submit a fault report.
Our apartments are equipped with water circulation radiators, which are controlled by thermostatic valves. The valve adjusts water circulation in each radiator in such a way that the room temperature around the radiator is at desired levels and the space is not overheated. For this reason, radiators in different locations may provide differing levels of heat. The temperature of the water circulating in the radiators is automatically adjusted to the outdoor temperature – as the outdoor temperature drops further, the water temperature will increase accordingly.
The radiator may sometimes be cold or only its top may be warm, but this is perfectly normal. Even if the radiator feels cold, the room temperature can be normal and healthy.
The thermostat needs time and space to work correctly. Do not place thick curtains, large pieces of furniture or heat-producing devices like televisions in front of the thermostat. The thermostat will detect the ambient temperature from the air trapped between the thermostat and the piece of furniture and most likely adjust the temperature of the apartment incorrectly.
You must never rotate thermostats by force. Their adjustment range is approximately 2–3 degrees. However, please make sure that during the heating season, the thermostat is never fully closed. If the thermostat is broken or has come off, please submit a fault report.