Homes mimic temperatures experienced by our ancestors

IT MAY be millions of years since our human ancestors evolved in Africa, but we still like our homes to feel distinctly sub-saharan, a study has found.

Researchers in the US collected information about the temperature and humidity of 37 homes across North America throughout a year.

In winter, most homes were heated to minimum average temperature of 46F to 71F (8C to 22C), while in summer the mean maximum was between 71F and 96F (22C and 36C).

After studying climates of countries across the world, scientists found that the seasonal temperature and humidity ranges most closely mapped those of Baringo County, Kenya, in the Rift

‘In west central Kenya, conditions are essentially the same as ... inside homes in North America’

Valley, the birthplace of mankind. The researchers from North Carolina State University believe that people may be instinctively recreating the climate of their forebears.

Writing in Royal Society Open Science, Dr Michael Just, the lead author, said: “Human preferences influence human houses. Our houses are built to reflect both comfortable temperatures and levels of humidity.

“If our house is too hot or cold, we modify it in such a way as to produce more heat and vice versa.

“In west central Kenya, outdoor conditions are essentially the same as the mean conditions created inside homes in North America.”

Although the study was carried out in the US, the temperatures are close to British averages, with the average thermostat setting around 68F (20.1C).

Temperatures in Kenya during crucial periods of hominid evolution have been continuously hot and would have been similar to conditions today. Scientists say the temperatures found in homes are likely to be close to humans’ thermoneutral zone, the range of environmental conditions where, for a given animal, heat loss equals gain and core body temperature is maintained.