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How
to Sleep Better by Creating the Ideal Temperature
To
sleep well, the temperature in your bedroom or bed needs to
be just right. Think Goldilocks. No too hot. Not too
cold.
The ideal sleeping temperature is between
60 and 72 degrees for most people. If this seems a bit chilly,
you are right. But
a little chilly is good because a lowering of body temperature
often induces sleep.
If the temperature is below the above range, you need
to cover up... preferably with an electric blanket. Click
here for the 10 benefits
of using an electric blanket.
If the temperature is too high, then things get more
complicated because getting and staying cool is often harder
than getting and staying warm. This is especially true, of course,
if you don't have air conditioning or want to save energy
by using your air conditioner less, or not at all, at night.
I've tested dozens of ways to stay cool and comfortable
at night with little or no air conditioning, and the solutions
below have proven themselves to be most effective.
Fan and Ice
Cold Thoughts
Get Used To It
Evaporative Cooling
Cold Compress on Chest
Turn Off Heat Sources
Drink Cold Water Throughout Night
Sleep Low
The Bedfan®
Fan
and Ice
When a hot night keeps you from sleeping or sleeping well,
try the fan and ice solution. There are a couple of ways to
do this, so let's start with the best way.
Frozen container
Find a plastic container of some kind, such as an empty gallon
bottle. Fill it with water about 75% full, put the lid or
cap on and then freeze it. Then put the frozen gallon bottle
right in front of a directional fan and turn the fan on. (A
ceiling fan will not work as well.)
As you may have guessed, the air blowing from the fan will
be cooled as it passes by the frozen container. For maximum
cooling of your body, place the fan close to where you are
sleeping and direct the fan toward you, keeping the frozen
container between you and the fan.
If you don't prefer having the air blowing directly on you,
then direct the fan elsewhere in the room, but be sure to
keep the frozen container in front of it. This will eventually
circulate the ice-cooled air to where you are sleeping. How
long it will take for the container to thaw depends largely
on how hot it is in the room, but it should last long enough
to allow you to fall asleep comfortably.
Ice cubes
Another way to use ice-cooled air to help you sleep better
is to use (a few dozen) ice cubes. You will need a container,
bowl or tray to place the ice and to collect the water as
the ice melts. You should probably be able to find such a
container in your kitchen.
Put the ice in the container and then place it right in front
of the fan and turn the fan on. Just as with the frozen container,
for maximum cooling of your body, place the fan close to where
you are sleeping and direct the fan toward you, keeping the
ice between you and the fan.
If you don't prefer having the air blowing directly on you,
then direct the fan elsewhere in the room, but be sure to
keep the ice in front of it. This will eventually circulate
the ice-cooled air to where you are sleeping. How long it
will take for the ice to melt depends largely on how hot it
is in the room, but it should last long enough to allow you
to fall asleep comfortably.
The ice cube method is not as good as the frozen container
method for a few reasons.
First, with the frozen container method, you don't have to
worry about collecting the melted ice. Second, the ice cube
method will likely add to the humidity in the room because
the ice and melted water are exposed to the air. However,
the frozen container is sealed with its top or lid, which
will not allow for significant evaporation. Third, ice cubes
make noise when they melt by tumbling down on one another
or onto the tray. This noise may wake you or keep you on edge.
Cold
Thoughts
When a hot night is keeping you from getting good sleep, remember
this: The mind has tremendous power over the body.
Our thoughts, attitudes and beliefs can affect our physical
state, for better or worse. For example, by thinking cool
or cold thoughts when you are hot, you can actually make yourself
more comfortable. And, by contrast, by focusing on how hot
you are when you are hot, you can actually make yourself more
uncomfortable.
Skeptical? The next time you are struggling to sleep because
of heat, say the following passage a few times to yourself.
I'm
so cold. The wind won't stop blowing snow in my face. The
freezing temperature leaves my hands, feet, arms, legs and
face feeling like thick blocks of ice. I can see my breath
so clearly. A burst of frigid wind just blew up under my
jacket causing me to gasp in shock. Numbness.
The sky is thick with icy clouds and I feel no warm sunlight.
I only feel unending, merciless bitter cold that seems determined
to rob me of the little warmth that I have left in my body.
I would give anything--anything at all--to be warm for just
one minute. I'm so cold.
You
get the idea. (Just writing this made me cold.) You can make
up your own passage if you wish. The key with using these
kinds of thoughts effectively is to make them as specific
as possible to paint a vivid picture in your mind. It may
take some practice to get good at creating and using these
cold thoughts, but the effort will likely result in better
sleep on hot nights.
Get
Used To It
This is the solution for the tough people out there.
If having to sleep in warm temperatures is more common than
not for you, then you may just want to surrender to the heat.
Instead of fighting the heat by using the solutions on this
page, you can face the heat head on. By fully exposing yourself
to the heat over a period of time when you try to sleep, your
body will get used to the heat to to some extent.
In other words, your body will toughen against the heat, and
you'll find that you can sleep better in it. How long it can
take for a person to get used to the heat varies for each
person. The young and healthy, of course, will likely adapt
more quickly. Regardless of your age and health, however,
expect to have at least a few nights of being uncomfortable
before you begin to get used to the heat.
And, of course, there is a limit to how much heat you can
get used to. Sleeping in temperatures above 75 degrees can
be difficult for anyone, no matter how hardened to the heat
one may be.
Use
Evaporative Cooling
Evaporative cooling is not just a fancy scientific term. It
can save you from misery on a hot night, allowing you to sleep
better.
What is it? Evaporative cooling is a phenomenon in which evaporation
of a liquid, typically into surrounding air, cools an object
or a liquid in contact with it. For example, when our bodies
sweat and then the sweat evaporates upon contact with air,
we feel cooler because the heat needed for this evaporation
is taken from our body.
It's important to remember that evaporative cooling cannot
occur much, if at all, in high humidity because the air cannot
take any more water.
Make sure you have air circulation on a hot night
On a hot night, you will often sweat a lot. To make sure that
this sweating results in you being as cool as possible, you
should have air circulation in the bedroom, either by using
a fan or having a breeze coming in through the window.
Even if the air is warm it's important to do this because
the air movement will cause your sweat to efficiently evaporate
and cool your body as a result. The worse thing to do when
you are hot is just lay there with no air circulation.
When air circulation alone is not enough
Sometimes, however, when it's really hot, sweating and air
circulation are not enough to keep you comfortable and relaxed
enough to sleep well. In these times, you need to create some
additional evaporative cooling. To do this you will need,
in addition to a fan or breeze from a window, a water adsorbent
cloth (a medium-sized cotton towel is suitable) that is soaked
with cool water. You don't want the cloth dripping wet, but
you do want it saturated with water. Lie on the bed on your
back and place the wet cloth on your chest area. Make sure
the fan's air or breeze from the window can reach the cloth.
Because of evaporative cooling, the air blowing on the wet
cloth will cool the cloth and your chest since it is in contact
with it.
By having the cloth on your chest, you are cooling the blood
that your heart is circulating all around your body, resulting
in a cooler body, not just a cooler chest.
Hopefully, the evaporative cooling will make you comfortable
enough that you fall asleep quickly. If you don't fall asleep
quickly, keep in mind that when the water in the cloth has
evaporated, you will need to wet it again. (How long it takes
for the water in the cloth to evaporate depends on the strength
of the air circulation and the humidity level in the room.)
Understanding a little about evaporative cooling and how to
achieve it can make a big difference. It may just make the
next hot night bearable and allow you to sleep better.
Cold
Compress on Chest
When you are lying in bed, place something cold on your chest.
Remember that your heart pumps blood around your body, so
by keeping something cold on your chest, you can cool the
blood as your heart pumps it out. For this reason, if you
are going to place something cold anywhere on your body to
help you cool down, it should be on your chest.
What exactly should you place on your chest? You could use
a cold, wet cloth. And it will achieve maximum cooling power
if air is blowing on the wet cloth because of evaporative
cooling. Or you can fill a plastic bottle with water about
75% full and freeze it.
Placing this on your chest will feel quite cold, however.
You can reduce the coldness somewhat by placing a cloth between
you can the frozen bottle.
Turn
Off Heat Sources
If you have incandescent lights, computers or a TV in your
bedroom, or anything that gets warm when it is on, turn it
off well before you try to go to sleep. This will give the
room a chance to cool down as much as possible.
Incandescent lights give off heat as well as light. The higher
the light bulb's wattage, the more heat it will give off.
If you have just one or two high wattage incandescent lights
on in your bedroom, this can increase room temperature as
much as 5 degrees, perhaps more depending on the size of your
room. If you must have light on in your bedroom when the weather
is warm, consider using a compact fluorescent bulb. It gives
off little heat.
Also be sure to close window blinds if the windows allows
in direct sunlight. The direct sunlight will heat up whatever
it comes into contact with, such as carpeting or furniture.
These things will then radiate the heat they have absorbed
for possibly hours after the sun has set, leaving your bedroom
warmer than it needs to be.
Drink
Cold Water Throughout Night
Take a few sips of ice-cold water throughout the night. This
will cool your core temperature leaving you more comfortable.
(Do not, however, drink an ice-cold caffeinated beverage since
this may keep you awake.)
Sleep
Low
Because cold air is denser than warm air, it sinks to near
the floor or ground. Therefore, you may find that sleeping
on the floor on a hot night is a few degrees cooler than sleeping
in your bed which is higher up. Or for a more dramatic difference,
if your bedroom in upstairs consider sleeping downstairs on
a hot night.
The
Bedfan®
Are you a hot sleeper? Do you have night sweats? Want to sleep
cooler?
The Bedfan® seems like a useful and intriguing product
if you want to sleep cooler. This is the one solution I have
not personally tried, but the fan appears to have many satisfied
customers. You can learn more at www.bedfan.com.
From their website:
The
Bedfan® will help you sleep cool and stop night sweats.
The Bedfan® cooling system is designed to remove body
heat that causes night sweats while you are sleeping.
At the same time helping to keep your body cool so that
night sweats don't have a chance to start. The Bedfan®
will instantly cool you down for a peaceful night’s
sleep.
The Bedfan® has a fully adjustable speed dial that you
can place right under your pillow. This allows you to find
your own personal cool zone without ever having to leave
the comfort of your bed. Turn it low for a little relief
or turn it all the way up for a super cooling effect. And
don’t worry….you can find your cool zone where
night sweats will no longer exist, without freezing out
your bed partner, because the cooling breeze will only surround
you!
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