4 Ways to Keep Cool While Sleeping

Have you been struggling to sleep through the night? Or find that you’re still waking up groggy even when you went to bed on time?

Here are the things to consider when it comes to a troubled sleep pattern:

We’ll help you understand the importance of temperature and air quality in your sleep cycle and introduce a few tips and tricks to help you get a better night's sleep.

Our bodies are always fluctuating ever so slightly in temperature to keep our internal systems stable. When it’s hot and we sweat, we’re generating moisture to evaporate and cool ourselves quickly. Meanwhile, when it’s cold, blood pulls inwards to keep our core and organs warm.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, all healthy adults experience a drop in body temperature when they sleep. That’s why you’ll feel more awake when you’re warm and more tired when you’re cold. Cooler temperatures instigate that sleepy response from our bodies and help keep us asleep through the night.

It’s essential to keep our rooms cool to aid our bodies in maintaining that lower temperature that allows us to get the good, deep sleep we need to feel refreshed and energized come the morning.

So what is the perfect temperature for sleeping?

It depends on each person. Some people run hot in their sleep while others get colder. However, most people feel comfortable sleeping in the 60 to 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit temperature range.

Humidity contributes to how warm or cool the air feels around you. Most sleep experts recommend a humidity level between 30% and 50% inside your home. This level is not just for comfort but also to prevent mold growth in your home, which can contribute to allergies and insufficient sleep, which we’ll go into more depth about later on in this article.

With such a wide range, you’ll be able to find the temperature that best fits your and your household’s sleeping needs.

Air quality plays a prominent role in maintaining temperatures. Due to poor air circulation or lack of regular cleaning, dust and mold can build up in your home and impede your air quality and sleep quality. This buildup can also affect allergies and cause asthma flare-ups that, in turn, affect how you breathe when sleeping. Coughing, raspy breath, and inhaling microbes can all contribute to inadequate sleep.

Mold buildup has even worse effects and can induce sickness and more severe allergic reactions that affect your sleep, including but not limited to hives, chronic cough, sneezing, insomnia, and even lung infections.

There are a significant number of reasons that air quality can be poor, and below are just a few tips to prevent those reasons that you can tackle on your own.

Regular cleaning and vacuuming of your home, furniture, and carpets can eliminate a significant amount of dust and debris. Out of all the possible cleaning activities, vacuuming is highly effective on its own in removing mites, mold, and other allergens tracked inside from your day-to-day lives like dander and dust. If you’re short on time for cleaning, make sure to vacuum at the very least.

Another reason can be that your ventilation system is dirty. According to the EPA, a dust buildup could prevent healthy air circulation throughout your home and possibly contribute to dust and allergen moving in the air. Air ducts can grow mold, and then spores end up circulating through the air we breathe in.

It’s crucial to remove dust, mold, and debris from your ductwork by having them professionally cleaned every 3 to 5 years, depending on where you live. A visual inspection done on your own can let you know the conditions of your ductwork and if cleaning is necessary. Ductwork cleaning is only necessary if you see visible mold, excessive dust, or if you have a vermin problem.

The last reason could be that your air filter needs to be changed. Having a clean filter is the primary way your HVAC system traps dust and microbes, keeps them from recirculating through your home, and maintains the temperature you set for your home.

If you can’t remember the last time you changed your air filter, it would probably be good to change it as soon as possible and to remember to change your air filter at least every 3 months from now on. Checking once a month to ensure that it’s clean is a must, and if it looks dirty, change it.

Here are a few additional tips to help you stay cool through the night:

1. Turn on your ceiling fan or introduce a fan to your room to help circulate air. Airflow and movement provide the feeling of windchill, which helps you feel cool even if your AC is at a warmer temperature to keep your energy bills down.
2. Showering at night contributes to rapid evaporative cooling, similar to how and why we sweat. It will help lower your core body temperature faster to keep you cool and is just a good way to help you relax after a long day.
3. Consider the fabric of your sheets and covers. Cotton, Tencel, and rayon sheets made from ingredients such as bamboo and silk are proven to provide a comfortable and breathable sleep experience. Fabrics like these are great temperature and moisture regulators.
4. Install a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat is an energy-efficient and effective way to boost your nighttime comfort. Having a series of temperatures pre-set that help you stay comfortable and let you maintain deeper sleep cycles for longer takes the stress of worrying or forgetting to do so off your shoulders. You can set your thermostat to slowly raise the temperature as morning comes to help wake you up for your day.