Comfort temperature is interchangeable with neutral temperature in the scientific literature, which can be calculated through regression analysis between thermal sensation votes and indoor temperature. The neutral temperature is the solution of the resulting regression model by setting the thermal sensation vote as zero.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language identifies room temperature as around , while the
Oxford English Dictionary states that it is "conventionally taken as about ". Ideal room temperature varies vastly depending on the surrounding climate . Studies from
Indonesia have shown that the range of comfortable temperature is for local residents. Studies from
Nigeria show a comfortable temperature range of , comfortably cool and comfortably warm . A field study conducted in
Hyderabad, India returned a comfort band of with a mean of . A study conducted in
Jaipur, India among healthy young men showed that the neutral thermal comfort temperature was analyzed to be , although a range of was found. People are highly sensitive to even small differences in environmental temperature. At , a difference of can be detected between the temperature of two rooms. Owing to variations in humidity and (likely) clothing, recommendations for summer and winter may vary; a suggested typical range for summer is , with that for winter being . Some studies have suggested that thermal comfort preferences of men and women may differ significantly, with women on average preferring higher ambient temperatures. Rooms may be maintained at an ambient temperature above the comfort temperature in hot weather, or below it in cold weather, if required by cost considerations or practical issues (e.g. lack of air conditioning or relatively high expense of heating). In the recent past, it was common for winter house temperatures to be kept below the comfort level; a 1978 UK study found average indoor home temperatures to be while Japan in 1980 had median home temperatures of to . ==Health effects==