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.
🍀 Do you know why controlling heat usage and improving energy efficiency are important? There are a few reasons. Heating makes up a significant part of property costs, which are covered by rental income. Moreover, even renewable energy isn’t produced in unlimited amounts. To ensure that renewable energy is available to as many people as possible, consumption should be kept at a reasonable level. Additionally, the infrastructure needed to produce renewable energy also consumes natural resources.
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 MyHoas. 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.
In older buildings, there is not always air conditioning or other cooling systems, as they were constructed according to the building regulations of their time. The property’s ventilation operates automatically, and individual room adjustments are not possible. However, you can try to lower the indoor temperature of the apartment with a few methods:
- Draw curtains or blinds over the windows to prevent sunlight from heating up the apartment.
- Ventilate at night to allow the heated structures to cool down.
- Avoid using large electrical devices (e.g., television, computer, washing machine, or oven) as they generate additional heat in your apartment.
If the apartment’s temperature remains above +32 degrees despite your cooling efforts, or if you have documented health issues due to the heat, please submit a fault report on MyHoas.
The apartments are equipped with water-circulating radiators controlled by a thermostat valve. The valve adjusts the water flow in each radiator individually to maintain the desired room temperature within its area of influence. The temperature of the water circulating in the heating system automatically adjusts based on the outdoor temperature: the colder it is outside, the warmer the water circulating in the radiator.
It is normal for radiators located in different areas to have varying temperatures. A radiator may also occasionally feel cold or warm only at the top. The room temperature may still be suitable and healthy.
The radiator thermostat requires space and time to function properly. It senses the surrounding temperature and adjusts the room’s temperature accordingly. Therefore, thick curtains, large furniture, or heat-producing devices (e.g., a television) in front of the thermostat can cause it to sense the temperature incorrectly and adjust the apartment’s heating accordingly.
Remember not to forcefully turn the thermostats. A typical thermostat adjustment range is about 2–3 degrees. Ensure that during the heating season, the thermostat is not turned off completely. If the thermostat is broken or detached, please submit a fault report on MyHoas.
The bathroom radiator is hot
Bathrooms have a circulating water radiator connected to the hot water line. The purpose of the circulating radiator is to help dry the bathroom and maintain a small, constant flow in the hot water line. This continuous flow keeps the temperature in the hot water network high enough to prevent legionella bacteria and meets the requirements for hot water wait time.
At the same time, the radiator provides heating for the bathroom – whether heating is needed or not. Because the radiator is connected to the hot water line, it heats year-round, even if the property’s other heating systems are turned off.
For this reason, the radiator cannot be turned off, and unfortunately, you cannot adjust its temperature yourself. The bathroom may become uncomfortably warm during the summer, but this cannot be avoided.