Why Homes Often Feel Warmer Than the Thermostat Suggests

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.

Inside my house on triple-digit days, it can feel like I’m standing near a campfire, even with the air conditioner roaring to maintain 75 F . And when the system breaks – as it did during the long-running 2023 heat wave, when Phoenix hit 110 F every day for weeks – temperatures rise dangerously fast. Without the AC, the hot surfaces plus the swirl of air from the ceiling fan makes the house feel like an air fryer.

However, in an under-insulated building, such as my house, or in some older public housing projects in Phoenix, the high mean radiant temperature can push the operative temperature over 90 F – even with the thermostat set to 75 F . When the surface temperature exceeds the temperature of our skin, heat will begin to radiate from the hot surface into the body, making heat stroke more likely.

Adding insulation to your roof and replacing single-pane windows with double-pane units with low-emissivity glass can help reduce the mean radiant temperature and your energy bills. They’re expensive improvements, but new federal tax credits and forthcoming rebates, to be administered by individual states, can help.

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