# When did 68 degrees become the normal room temperature? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201 "2012-02-08T16:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/1 "2012-02-08T16:09:23Z")
I’m sitting here thinking it’s a bit chilly, so I go to the thermostat and it says it’s 68 degrees in this room. When did 68 become the norm? Back in the old days, we had one of those gold-tone round Honeywell thermostats with a shaded “comfort zone” marked on the dial from 72 to 76. Has it just been in the name of energy conservation that us humans have been asked to withstand cooler homes? We don’t seem to have been asked to endure chilly offices though. Our nationwide corporate specification for office areas calls for 69-71 degrees for heating and 74-76 in summer for air conditioning. Fortunately, I am more comfortable at 70. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/2 "2012-02-08T16:12:24Z")
68F is almost exactly 20C. Could this be an subtle tip of the hat to international standards - and another step down the road towards one-world government? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/3 "2012-02-08T16:27:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > 68F is almost exactly 20C. Kind of like how human body temperature in Fahrenheit is slavishly quoted as being 98.6, implying accuracy to the tenth of a degree, when it is really just a translation of “37 degrees Celsius”. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/4 "2012-02-08T16:28:29Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Has it just been in the name of energy conservation that us humans have been asked to withstand cooler homes? Who is asking you that? What makes you think 68 is the “norm”? I don’t think your premise is accurate at all. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/5 "2012-02-08T16:38:48Z")
My office is set to 72 during the winter and 74 during the summer. My house is set to 65. My parents’ house was always set to 74. I don’t think 68 is as universal as you think it is. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/6 "2012-02-08T16:41:41Z")
April 16, 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/7 "2012-02-08T16:41:48Z")
I’m most comfortable in the late sixties indoors (and it could get cooler at night, and I’d be fine because memory foam holds body heat very well). Around 72 I start to feel uncomfortably warm. It’s easy to put on a light sweater if I’m a little chilly. I suppose it depends whether you like to wear clothes at home, or be naked. Lots of people seem to like running around starkers at home, so I imagine they’d want the temperature warmer. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/8 "2012-02-08T16:51:24Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > When did 68 become the norm? Back in the old days, we had one of those gold-tone round Honeywell thermostats with a shaded “comfort zone” marked on the dial from 72 to 76. Has it just been in the name of energy conservation that us humans have been asked to withstand cooler homes? > [@Rigamarole](#): > > What makes you think 68 is the “norm”? I don’t think your premise is accurate at all. Au contraire. The premise is accurate. When I was growing up (50’s & 60’s) standard room temperature in the U.S. was 72ºF. In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the government pushed for a number of energy conversation measures, among which were the 55mph speed limit, changes in Daylight Saving Time, and turning thermostats down to 68º. Read about it [here](http://books.google.com/books?id=1Hj6tJuEWC4C&pg=PA814&lpg=PA814&dq=opec+oil+embargo+68+degrees&source=bl&ots=cWtaQf5J0j&sig=EOV6lqtiy9WUwSJ6mHvNrQzwtS4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hqYyT9aOHK_5sQLg_M3pBg&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=opec%20oil%20embargo%2068%20degrees&f=false) (scroll down a couple paragraphs). ETA: Not so say that everyone adheres to the 68º standard, but it is the current standard. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/9 "2012-02-08T17:54:23Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > 68F is almost exactly 20C. > > Could this be an subtle tip of the hat to international standards - and another step down the road towards one-world government? Chilling thought. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/10 "2012-02-08T18:06:54Z")
It turns my blood into ice water. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/11 "2012-02-08T18:15:02Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the government pushed for a number of energy conversation measures, among which were the 55mph speed limit, changes in Daylight Saving Time, and turning thermostats down to 68º. It was in response to the 1973 crisis, but wasn’t it Jimmy Carter who asked us to turn our thermostats down? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/12 "2012-02-08T18:21:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It was in response to the 1973 crisis, but wasn’t it Jimmy Carter who asked us to turn our thermostats down? I think you’re right – government offices went to 68 during the Nixon ear, but Carter urged the general public to follow suit. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/13 "2012-02-08T18:39:04Z")
It became the norm for me when I started having to pay the gas bill to heat the underinsulated house I live in. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/14 "2012-02-08T18:41:56Z")
I don’t remember him talking about government offices, but I do remember seeing him on TV urging us to turn it down to 68. Not everyone did, but we did in my house. What year did we stay on daylight saving time? My sister was in junior high and I wasn’t yet, so she had to be in 7th or 8th grade. She was born in 1960, so that would have been in… 1973? I remember because my mother was scared about her walking along a highway in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/15 "2012-02-08T18:47:48Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > … We don’t seem to have been asked to endure chilly offices though. . . Every office I’ve ever worked in, every shopping mall I’ve every visited, and every movie theater I’ve ever sat in have all been on the chilly side - very air-conditioned. This may be a regionalism, though - I live in the land of 100+ summers (Tx) so people tend to crank the A/C up to eleven and then just leave it there. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/16 "2012-02-08T19:00:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t remember [Carter] talking about government offices… No, that was done a few years before Carter, under Nixon. > [@](#): > > What year did we stay on daylight saving time? My sister was in junior high and I wasn’t yet, so she had to be in 7th or 8th grade. She was born in 1960, so that would have been in… 1973? I remember because my mother was scared about her walking along a highway in the dark. From [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis#Conservation_and_reduction_in_demand): “Year-round daylight saving time was implemented from January 6, 1974 to February 23, 1975. The move spawned significant criticism because it forced many children to commute to school before sunrise. The pre-existing daylight-saving rules, calling for the clocks to be advanced one hour on the last Sunday in April, were restored in 1976.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/17 "2012-02-08T19:02:57Z")
It was Carter. He was a lead by example kind of guy, and took to wearing a cardigan around the White House. The really funny local legend was that when they changed the White House thermostats to 68 degress it caused an increase in the power usage - because the Air Conditioning came on. . . ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/18 "2012-02-08T20:42:31Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I’m most comfortable in the late sixties indoors (and it could get cooler at night, and I’d be fine because memory foam holds body heat very well). Around 72 I start to feel uncomfortably warm. It’s easy to put on a light sweater if I’m a little chilly. I suppose it depends whether you like to wear clothes at home, or be naked. Lots of people seem to like running around starkers at home, so I imagine they’d want the temperature warmer. Ditto. I always forget how warm my parents keep their house and find myself sweating when I visit them in the winter. We keep our house at 67 in the winter and 74 in the summer, and I’m pretty sure they reverse it. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/19 "2012-02-08T20:50:47Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Every office I’ve ever worked in, every shopping mall I’ve every visited, and every movie theater I’ve ever sat in have all been on the chilly side - very air-conditioned. This may be a regionalism, though - I live in the land of 100+ summers (Tx) so people tend to crank the A/C up to eleven and then just leave it there. I agree. I feel like every office building I’ve ever been in could save thousands by just taking it easy with the A/C or heat. In the winter I’m all bundled up in my parka and then as soon as I step into the office… _bam_ SWEAT. Then in the summer I have a little flowy dress on and I go to work and I freeze my butt off. It’s like there’s too settings to public buildings: Tundra and Sahara. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201/20 "2012-02-08T20:55:31Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Ditto. I always forget how warm my parents keep their house and find myself sweating when I visit them in the winter. We keep our house at 67 in the winter and 74 in the summer, and I’m pretty sure they reverse it. My parents do this, too. I think my mother likes actively defying the elements. (We’re keeping our house at 66 right now just because pregnancy has made me ridiculously warm. It’s usually 68 in winter, 73 in summer.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-68-degrees-become-the-normal-room-temperature/612201.md?page=2)