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'{{Refimprove|date=June 2009}} {{globalize/UK|date=November 2013}} [[Image:Mercury Thermometer.jpg|thumb|[[Mercury (element)|Mercury]]-in-glass [[thermometer]] for measurement of room temperature.]] '''Room temperature''' is a [[colloquialism|colloquial expression]] for the typical or preferred indoor ([[HVAC|climate-controlled]]) temperature to which people are generally accustomed. It represents the small range of temperatures at which the [[air]] feels neither hot nor cold, often approximated at 25°C (77°F). In more rigorous scientific contexts, it may denote the range between {{convert|20|and|26|°C}}, with an average of {{convert|23|°C}}. ==Comfort levels== According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory (UK),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmpho.org.uk/publications/item.aspx?id=47|work=West Midlands Public Health Observatory|title=Fuel Poverty|date=1 March 2006|accessdate=25 December 2011|first=Anne|last=Hartley|publisher=West Midlands Public Health Observatory|location=Birmingham, UK}}</ref> an adequate level of warmth for older people (aged 58 and above) is {{convert|23|C|F}} in the living room, and {{convert|24|C|F}} in other occupied rooms. {{convert|27|C|F}} is stated as the maximum comfortable room temperature.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5372296.stm|title=Why more people die in the winter|first=Michelle|last=Roberts|work=BBC News|date=27 October 2006|accessdate=25 December 2011}}</ref> Owing to variations in humidity and likely clothing, recommendations for summer and winter may vary; one for summer is {{convert|23|C|F}} to {{convert|26 |C|F}}, with that for winter being {{convert|24|C|F}} to {{convert|27|C|F}}.<ref name="airQuality">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KBbHmp2yisEC&lpg=PA149&ots=yTqUP4xIOx&dq=%2BASHRAE%20%2B%22recommended%20temperatures%22&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q=+ASHRAE%20+%22recommended%20temperatures%22&f=false|pages=149–151|title=Managing Indoor Air Quality|publisher=Fairmont Press|year=2011|first1=H. E.|last1=Burroughs|first2=Shirley|last2=Hansen|accessdate=25 December 2015}}</ref> Although by other considerations the maximum should be below {{convert|24|C|F}}&nbsp;– for [[sick building syndrome]] avoidance, below {{convert|22|C|F}}.<ref name="airQuality"></ref> ==Scientific use== <!--http://www.csgnetwork.com/tempconvjava.html--> For scientific work, room temperature is taken to be about 20 to 26 degrees [[Celsius]] with an average of 23°C (about 73.4 degrees [[Fahrenheit]] (°F), 293 to 299 [[kelvin]]s (K), or 528 to 537 degrees [[Rankine]] (°R)).<ref>{{cite book|title=The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language|edition=4th}}</ref> For numerical convenience, either {{convert|20|C|F}} or {{convert|300|K|F|sigfig=2}} is often used, without being specified as "room temperature".{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} However, room temperature is ''not'' a defined scientific term, unlike [[Standard conditions for temperature and pressure|Standard Temperature and Pressure]] (STP); admittedly, STP has several slightly different definitions. ==Ambient versus room temperature== ''Room temperature'' implies a temperature inside a temperature-controlled building. ''Ambient temperature'' simply means "the temperature of the surroundings" and will be the same as room temperature indoors. In many languages, such as [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Italian language|Italian]], there is an expression for ''ambient temperature'', but no distinct translation for ''room temperature''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ambiente|work=WordReference.com Spanish-English Dictionary|publisher=WordReference.com|url=http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=ambiente|accessdate=20 September 2011}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Ambient food]] * [[Psychrometrics]], the study of moist air * [[International Standard Atmosphere]] ==External links== {{Translation/Ref|simple|room temperature|oldid=2834076}} ==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Heat transfer]] [[Category:Science experiments]] [[Category:Temperature]] [[Category:Environmental engineering]] [[Category:Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning]]'