18 °C minimum
The WHO recommends a minimum indoor temperature of 18 °C for healthy adults, and 20 °C for elderly people and infants. Below this, respiratory illness rates rise sharply, blood pressure increases, and excess winter deaths spike.
For low-income households, behaviour change can only do so much. Real impact comes from: insulation grants (EU member states' national renovation schemes), social tariffs on energy (covered in Environment module), warm spaces in winter, and 'heat the human not the home' equipment — electric throws, heated cushions — which can be hundreds of times cheaper to run than gas central heating.
Ready to test what you've learned
When you mark this module as finished, the assessment unlocks after a short delay (60 min) so the material can settle into longer-term memory.
Scroll to the end of the module to enable the finish button.