Anyone who has rented a home in southern Australia knows just how bloody cold our houses can be in winter. Once referred to as “glorified tents” by QUT professor of public health Adrian Barnett, Australians subject themselves to some of the most inhospitable indoor winter temperatures in the first world.
The World Health Organization recommends that indoor temperatures don’t dip below 18C. But research conducted by the Australian Centre for Housing Research found that 80% didn’t meet those guidelines. For comparison, in the UK, which is notable for having the coldest homes in Europe, the mean indoor winter temperature in the dead of their winter was 18.5C.
