Overheating is a major barrier to sleeping comfortably in bed. This is vital for consistent and high-quality sleep. The National Sleep Foundation’s 2010 Bedroom Poll found that almost 70% of respondents said that their bedroom temperature had an impact on their ability sleep well.
A rising thermostat can cause problems with sleep, especially during summer, and even throughout the year for those living in hot climates. You can get relief by knowing how to cool down your bedroom and other tips to help you sleep better and with less interruptions.
How The Body Keeps Cool
The body is equipped with an advanced temperature control system.
The body can cool down in three different ways:
- Convection is When air heats up and moves away from your body. Convection works best when the temperature in the room is lower than your skin.
- Radiation: radiation refers to the heat that moves between your body, and nearby objects. If the objects are cooler than you, the heat from your body will travel through the air between them and warm them.
- Perspiration Sweating: This is the central way your body lowers its temperature. Your body heat is pulled away by sweat, which evaporates onto your skin. If there is moving air, sweat evaporates faster, which helps to cool you down.
Convection and radiation are more difficult in a hot environment. Humidity may also be a factor, as it slows down the evaporation sweat, making perspiration less efficient at cooling you.
Understanding The Dangers Of Heat-related Illness
Even if you take many steps to keep your home cool in summer heat, it is important to recognize the signs of heat-related illness such as heat stroke or heat exhaustion. It is important to seek immediate medical attention if someone feels hot, dizzy, nauseous or near death. Heat-related diseases are more common in older adults and those with chronic conditions.
Tips To Stay Cool While Sleeping
It’s easy to keep cool in hot weather if you have air conditioning. You don’t need A/C to sleep well in hot weather.
You can keep your room cool in warm weather by using two key strategies: cooling down and limiting heat buildup.
Limit Heat Buildup
Multiple methods can be used to keep your home cool.
- To keep the sun and heat out of your home, close your windows and doors during the day and lower your blinds. Honeycomb shades are also known as insulated cellular shades. They can block up to 80 percent of solar heat.
- Get rid of your incandescent bulbs. These bulbs are inefficient. Only 10% of the energy they consume is converted to light, while the rest is used for heat.
- Reduce the energy consumption of appliances that are highly energy-intensive. Avoid indoor cooking using your stove or oven, which can give off a lot of heat. Even microwaves and toasters emit heat, so avoid prolonged use. Other large appliances, such as washers or dryers, can also raise the temperature in your home.
- Attic insulation and reflective roofing materials are options. Your attic can be heated by the sun shining on it. This makes it slower for hot air to rise up and vent out. A reflective roof can help keep your attic and the rest of your house cooler.
Cooling Things Down
Ventilation, which is a form of ventilation, can cool down a room in the summer without the need for air conditioning. It is generally colder at night in most climates. You will want to make sure that your home has as much ventilation as possible to keep it cool. Ventilation can bring in moving air to make your home or room more comfortable even during the day.
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These methods can improve the ventilation of your home:
- Create a cross-breeze inside your room. Cross-breezes are created when air has an entry and exit point. This allows wind and natural movement to provide some relief from heat. Open two or more windows to allow air to flow through the doors and windows.
You can adjust the openings to increase airflow by observing how the air moves. You want the opening where the air is entering to be smaller than that where it goes out.
Evaporative coolers chill the air and distribute it throughout your home. These coolers are also called swamp coolers. They cool and humidify the air before it enters your home. This is done by moving it across a series of damp pads. Evaporative coolers work best in dry climates. They can be installed in many ways, depending on your home’s size and layout.
Some people make a temporary evaporative cooler out of an old table fan and some ice water.
You can also cool down your bedroom and use other tips to avoid hot sleeping even in the summer heat.
- So that your skin can breathe, you should sleep in loose, light clothing.
- Bedding that is cool to the touch should be used. Breathable materials such as Tencel, high-quality Percale cotton, and bamboo-rayon can help to wick moisture away from the body, allowing it to cool down faster. Use a lightweight blanket or top sheet that is breathable to cover your body.
- Cooling mattress pads are a good option. Through their design and materials, cooling mattress pads reduce heat retention.
Advanced models circulate cooled water through tubes within the pad to lower your bed temperature.
It can help you to improve your sleep by reviewing your sleep hygiene.
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