Is 23 C considered cold? Understanding temperature perception

September 23, 2025 •

4 min read

According to the World Health Organization, an indoor temperature range of 18–24°C is generally considered safe and well-balanced for healthy adults. Therefore, is 23 C considered cold? The short answer is no, but your personal experience can vary significantly based on context.

Quick Summary

For most people, 23°C is a comfortable indoor or outdoor temperature, falling squarely within the recommended thermal comfort range. However, personal feelings of hot or cold are highly subjective and influenced by physiological factors, clothing, and environmental conditions like humidity and wind speed.

Key Points

Objective vs. Subjective: While 23°C is objectively a mild temperature, whether it feels cold is a subjective experience based on personal factors.
Humidity Matters: Higher humidity can make a temperature feel warmer, while lower humidity allows for more effective cooling and can make it feel cooler.
Wind Chill Effect: Air movement, such as a fan or breeze, increases heat loss from the body, making a 23°C environment feel colder.
Personal Biology Plays a Role: Factors like metabolism, body fat, age, and gender influence how an individual's body generates and retains heat, affecting temperature perception.
Acclimatization Adjusts Perception: Your body adapts to its surroundings over time, so coming from a very cold or hot environment changes how you perceive 23°C.
Context Is Key: Wearing heavy winter clothes at 23°C indoors will feel warm, whereas wearing light summer clothes outdoors on a windy day at the same temperature could feel cool.

What Exactly is 23°C?

Temperature perception is a fascinating interplay between objective measurement and subjective experience. Objectively, 23°C is equivalent to approximately 73.4°F. This places it comfortably within the range that many organizations and individuals consider ideal for indoor environments. For example, for the storage of pharmaceuticals, the United States Pharmacopeia-National Formulary (USP-NF) defines “controlled room temperature” as 20 to 25°C. This standard confirms that 23°C is a mild, non-extreme temperature in a controlled setting.

Yet, this number alone doesn't tell the whole story. The human body is not a machine that reacts predictably to a fixed temperature. What feels pleasant to one person might feel slightly chilly or warm to another, and the same individual might feel differently about 23°C depending on the situation.

Why Your Perception Is Not Just About the Numbers

Multiple factors combine to create your personal sensation of temperature. A simple reading on a thermometer only captures the ambient air temperature, ignoring many other crucial details. Understanding these factors can help explain why you might feel cold at 23°C in one instance and perfectly fine in another.

The Role of Humidity

Humidity, the amount of moisture in the air, can profoundly influence how a temperature feels. In high humidity, the air feels muggier because sweat does not evaporate as efficiently from your skin, hindering your body's natural cooling process. This can make a hot day feel even hotter. Conversely, on a day with low humidity, your sweat evaporates more quickly, creating a cooling effect that can make you feel cooler at the same temperature.

The Effect of Wind and Airflow

Wind speed is another significant variable. When the air is still, 23°C may feel quite comfortable. However, a gentle breeze can increase the rate of heat loss from your skin through convection, creating a wind chill effect that makes the temperature feel colder than it is. This is a common phenomenon that explains why an air-conditioned room set to 23°C can feel colder than being outdoors at the same temperature, as the moving air from the vent creates a consistent, localized wind chill.

Personal and Biological Factors

Your body's unique biology is a major determinant of how you perceive temperature. These innate differences explain the classic thermostat wars between people sharing a space.

Metabolism: Your body's metabolic rate, which determines how much energy it burns, directly affects your heat production. Individuals with a higher metabolic rate generate more internal heat and often feel warmer than those with a slower metabolism.
Body Composition: Body fat acts as a natural insulator, helping to retain heat. People with higher body fat percentages often feel warmer, while those with less fat may feel colder, especially in cooler conditions.
Age and Gender: As we age, our metabolic rate can slow, and the insulating fat layer under the skin may thin, making older people more susceptible to feeling cold. Research also indicates that women, who on average have a lower metabolic rate and smaller body mass, often feel colder than men at the same ambient temperature.
Acclimatization: Your body’s recent exposure to different climates plays a huge role. If you’ve just come indoors from a cold winter day, 23°C will feel very warm. If you’ve been in a hotter climate, the same temperature might feel cool by comparison.

Is 23 C Considered Cold? A Detailed Comparison

To illustrate how contextual factors impact perception, consider the following comparisons:


Temperature (°C)	Relative Sensation	Common Context
23°C	Comfortable	A pleasant indoor temperature with normal clothing, or a mild outdoor spring/autumn day.
18°C	Slightly Cool	The lower end of the ideal indoor comfort range. Might require a light sweater or jacket.
15°C	Chilly	Feels noticeably cool, especially with wind. A jumper is likely needed outdoors.
25°C	Warm	A standard summer day. T-shirts and shorts are comfortable, especially outdoors.
-23°C	Extremely Cold	Well below freezing, a dangerously cold temperature requiring significant protective measures.

Health and Comfort: Finding Your Ideal Temperature

Maintaining a comfortable temperature is important for general health, influencing everything from sleep quality to immune function. While 23°C is a good baseline, paying attention to your body's signals is key. Signs you might be too cold include shivering, confusion, or fumbling hands, while symptoms of being too hot can include heavy sweating and dizziness.

To find your optimal comfort level:

Adjust clothing: Before changing the thermostat, try adding or removing a layer of clothing. This is the simplest way to manage your body temperature and can significantly affect your comfort level without wasting energy.
Use fans: In warm conditions, a fan can create airflow to increase evaporative cooling without substantially lowering the air temperature, which is more energy-efficient than air conditioning.
Stay hydrated: Drinking plenty of water is essential for your body to regulate its temperature effectively, whether you're too hot or too cold.
Consider humidity: If humidity is making you feel uncomfortable, using a dehumidifier can help. In dry conditions, a humidifier can add moisture to the air for comfort.

Your perception of heat and cold is a complex, multi-faceted biological process. While 23°C is objectively a mild temperature, your subjective experience will depend on a combination of external factors like humidity and wind, and internal ones like your metabolism and acclimatization. The ultimate determination of whether 23°C is cold rests with you and your body.

For more information on temperature and health, a useful resource can be found on the Global Heat Health Information Network website.

Conclusion: The Final Word on 23°C

So, is 23 C considered cold? The consensus from a scientific and health perspective is that it is a comfortable, mild temperature for most healthy people. However, the feeling is purely relative. It is neither inherently hot nor cold. Instead, it is your body's nuanced and ongoing interaction with its environment, including humidity, wind, clothing, and your own physiology, that determines your thermal comfort. By understanding these factors, you can better manage your comfort and well-being, whether indoors or out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, for most people, 23°C falls within the ideal range for a comfortable room temperature. It is often a temperature where you can wear indoor clothing without feeling too hot or too cold.

The moving air from an air conditioner creates a wind chill effect, which increases the rate at which your body loses heat and makes you feel colder. Outside, factors like sunlight or lack of wind can make the same temperature feel warmer.

Yes, humidity significantly impacts temperature perception. In very dry conditions, your sweat evaporates more easily, enhancing the cooling effect and potentially making 23°C feel cooler.

Yes, certain conditions, especially those related to metabolism or blood flow, can make you more sensitive to temperature changes. Additionally, medications can sometimes affect your body's temperature regulation.

Feeling cold at a temperature considered comfortable may not be a health issue, but it can sometimes indicate a lower metabolism or other underlying health factors. Paying attention to other symptoms is important if the feeling persists.

Start with simple steps like adding a layer of clothing, drinking a warm beverage, or getting up and moving around. These actions can increase your body's heat production and retention.

While 23°C is a comfortable ambient temperature, many people prefer a cooler environment for sleep. A sleeping temperature between 18°C and 22°C is often recommended for better sleep quality, but personal preference varies.