  Room temperature is usually considered to be about 72° F, or 22° C.The question we are asking is why this should feel comfortable. Body temperature, after all, is considerably warmer. Shouldn't we feel most comfortable when the air is at body temperature? Why not set our thermostats to 98.6° F, or 37° C? The answer has to do with the fact that we like to wear clothing. Layers of clothes retain heat. If the room air temperature were the same temperature as our bodies (98.6° F, or 37° C), we wouldn't be able to radiate away this heat. We would feel hot. In order for the heat generated by our bodies at 37° C to escape, the air temperature all around us has to be considerably lower than that.  
At a room temperature of about 72° F, or 22° C, and while wearing the normal amount of clothing, enough heat is able to radiate away from our bodies where skin is exposed, through our faces and ears, and through the clothing itself, to keep us feeling comfortable. If the room air were any warmer, this radiation would not be enough to keep us at a comfortable temperature. We'd feel hot.
The opposite is true if we spend a lot of time at room temperature wearing fewer clothes. With more skin exposed, our bodies would radiate too much heat, and we would feel cold. With little clothing, or wearing no clothing, would feel completely comfortable only if the room temperature were close to body temperature, 37° C, and we weren't moving around generating more heat. |