Top-Rated Temperature Control Products & Methods For Cooler Sleep – 2018
No commission • No endorsements • Based on owner experiences • Since 2008 • More
Many people sleep hot usually because they are naturally warm sleepers or because they experience hot flashes or night sweats. Such problems can be made worse by a mattress that retains heat. Some people have the opposite problem of sleeping cold. Both problems can result in poor sleep quality.
Fortunately, a variety of products and methods exist to help a person control temperature when they sleep. If one solution below is not effective for you, consider using two or more solutions together.
TOP-RATED PRODUCTS TO SLEEP COOLER
BedJet
PeachSkin Sheets
Wool Mattress Topper
Gel Memory Foam
Waterbed
TIPS TO SLEEP COOLER
Fan and Ice
Cold Thoughts
Get Used To It
Evaporative Cooling
Turn Off Heat Sources
Drink Cold Water
Sleep Low
Top-Rated Products To Sleep Cooler
BedJet
BedJet controls bed temperature through the use of moving air. The cooling mode blows room-temperature air to cool the bed, while the heating mode blows heated air to create bed warmth.
Owner Satisfaction: 91% based on 584 owner experiences.
Pros: Cools and heats bed effectively for clear majority of owners • fits under most beds • above-average customer service • controllable from smart phone.
Cons: Pricey • may not cool or heat bed adequately or evenly enough for some • not silent due to some fan noise.
Price: $350-$820 depending on single or dual temperature zone.
Available at Amazon.
PeachSkin Bed Sheets
PeachSkin sheets consists of poly microfiber.
Owner Satisfaction: 88% based on 822 owner experiences.
Pros: Moisture wicking and fast drying • soft • many color varieties.
Cons: Not cooling for everyone • questionable thickness and durability.
Price: $80.
Available at Amazon.
Gel Memory Foam
Many mattresses and mattress toppers (like the one below) use memory foam infused with millions of gel beads. This gel foam is designed to breath better and sleep cooler than regular memory foam. Nevertheless, about 6% of owners still find gel foam to sleep hot.
Owner Satisfaction: 89% based on 2,402 owner experiences.
Pros: Generally effective at reducing heat-related issues at least somewhat • above average pain relief • no noise.
Cons: Not cooling for everyone • initial off gassing odor possible.
Price: Toppers often priced $60-$280.
Available at Amazon.
Wool Topper
Wool mattress toppers accommodate changing body temperature to help you keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
During warm months, the hollow fibers of wool allow the topper to wick moisture to help keep your skin dry, not damp and clammy. As a result, your sleep surface stays cool even if there is high humidity.
Owner Satisfaction: 89% based on 787 owner experiences.
Pros: Moisture wicking • fairly cool in summer, warm in winter • often durable and long lasting.
Cons: May not provide adequate cushion for some • initial "barnyard" smell possible.
Price: $152-$368.
More info: Wool Topper Reviews and Ratings.
Waterbed
The water inside a waterbed tends to keep the bed and sleep surface cool. In fact, if the beds don't have a heater to warm the water, there may be a sleeping cold issue or even a hypothermia threat especially in winter months.
Owner Satisfaction: 78% based on 602 owner experiences.
Pros: Temperature control • contours to body for reduced pressure points • good longevity possible • fairly inexpensive • largely dust mite resistant.
Cons: Can be punctured • heavy • set up / assembly and maintenance • noise and initial odor possible • heating cost.
Price: $50-$1500 depending on type and size.
More info: Waterbed Reviews and Ratings and Mattresses and Sleeping Hot Comparison.
Tips To Sleep Cooler
Below are some ways a person can sleep cooler without having to buy any of the "sleep cool" products described above.
Fan and Ice
When a hot night keeps you from sleeping or sleeping well, try the fan and ice solution.
Find a plastic container of some kind, such as an empty gallon bottle. Fill it with water about 60% full, put the lid or cap on and then freeze it.
Another alternative is to use ice cubes. You will need a container, bowl or tray to place the ice cubes in and to collect the water as they melt.
Then put the frozen bottle or ice cubes 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 or ice cubes. 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 or cubes 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 or cubes 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 thaw and melt depends largely on how hot it is in the room, but it should last long enough to allow you to fall asleep comfortably.
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. 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 85 degrees can be difficult for anyone, no matter how hardened to the heat one may be.
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.
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.
Remember, however, that evaporative cooling cannot occur much, if at all, in high humidity because the air cannot take any more water.
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.
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.
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 is upstairs consider sleeping downstairs on a hot night.
