Do you toss and turn every night? Have you tried every insomnia remedy in the book? When you don’t sleep well, you try everything! Lavender oil, white noise, meditation, counting sheep… Every morning, you still wake up feeling like you never even slept.
Your sleeping problems might be the result of a warm bedroom. Science shows the ideal sleeping temperature falls between 60-67°F. Not only can a warm room mess with your sleep quality, but sleeping with thick pajamas or heavy comforters can negate the cooler room temperatures by keeping your internal temperature too warm as well.
Sleeping in a cooler room not only helps you sleep but also provides tons of other benefits to your health! Before we dive into those, let’s go over how temperature can affect your sleep.
Why Cool Air Helps You Sleep
When your body is getting ready for sleep, your temperature naturally lowers. About 60-90 minutes before your body’s natural “bedtime,” you’ll start to lose heat from your central core without realizing it, and that makes you feel sleepy. If you’re not sleeping well, your room might be too warm. If your room is too warm during this process, your body will try to regulate its temperature, and that uses a lot of energy. Unfortunately, hindering this biological process can lead to insomnia.
Since your body temperature lowers in your sleep naturally, keeping your bedroom at a cooler temperature helps signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. Temperatures outside the ideal 60-67°F interrupt your REM cycle. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and it’s the deepest part of the sleep cycle. During REM, your heart rate and breathing are both faster, and your brain is more active (this is when you might have dreams). Getting enough sleep but still feel like you’re not sleeping well? Studies show that people wake up feeling groggy and unrested if their REM sleep is interrupted, even if they get enough sleep!
As you get closer to waking up, your body temperature rises. If your room is too warm, or if you wear thick pajamas or use a thick blanket, you can wake up sweating before it’s truly time for you to wake up. Keeping a cooler room helps you stay comfortable all night long!
Recommended: “Why Some Rooms Are Colder (or Hotter) Than Others”
Room Temperature for Babies
Is your baby not sleeping well? Even though the ideal temperature for sleeping is fairly cool, infants need their rooms a little bit warmer. The ideal temperature for babies to sleep in is between 68-72°F. Anything warmer than that is too warm! Anything cooler than that range is still safe, but infants can get fussy if they’re too cold (wouldn’t you?). Since babies shouldn’t have blankets or anything in their crib that could tangle, they aren’t able to bundle up when they feel too cold at night.
What Are the Benefits of Sleeping in a Cold Room?
Not only is a cooler room a natural way to combat insomnia, but it also provides tons of other health benefits, from improving your mood to fighting heart disease.
1. Beauty Sleep
They call it “beauty sleep” for a reason! When you sleep in a room that’s warmer than 70°F, your body can stop releasing melatonin. Melatonin is known for helping you sleep, but it’s also one of your body’s best anti-aging hormones! Sleeping in total darkness and keeping your bedroom in the optimal range of 60-67°F can signal to your body to release melatonin, helping you sleep and keeping you looking young!
2. Mood Booster and Weight Reducer
When you don’t have healthy sleep patterns, your levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) and insulin increase. High cortisol can lead to high anxiety and has been shown to increase some peoples’ desire to snack. The excessive snacking can lead to weight gain. Higher cortisol and insulin levels can also tell the body to store energy as fat. Not only that, but researchers believe poor sleep can make your metabolism work less effectively. That means less of your energy is used, and that excess energy is stored as fat. The reverse of this means that proper sleep helps your body burn energy (and fat) better! Setting your room to 66°F can also keep your insulin levels regulated, which can help prevent metabolic diseases like diabetes.
Related: “How to Go Green: HVAC & Plumbing Tips to Help the Environment”
3. Healthier Heart and Mind
Sleep deprivation can lead to heart disease, delayed reaction times, difficulty with decision making, and impaired cognitive function. It’s also a leading cause of car accidents and industrial accidents because the effect it has on your ability to react quickly. When you keep your room cooler at night, your body can repair the daily wear and tear that can lead to these diseases and dangers.
Remember when we talked about how cooler temperatures can increase your melatonin levels? Melatonin aides in your body’s ability to protect brain health, fight certain cancers and heart disease, and can help prevent Alzheimer’s.
Adjust Your Thermostat from Anywhere… Even from Your Bed!
Sometimes, you don’t realize your home is too warm or too cold until you wake up uncomfortable in the middle of the night. Did you know there’s a way to adjust the temperature without ever getting out of bed? The Nest Learning Thermostat lets you change the temperature from anywhere, right on your phone! Not only is it easier than ever to adjust your home temperature whenever and wherever, but the Nest Learning Thermostat can help you learn the best options for saving energy, and it can adjust itself based on what it learns about your preferences.Interested in learning more about going green with your home’s HVAC and plumbing? Check out our article: How to Go Green!
Did you know… our technicians are certified Nest Pros, which means we can set up your Nest Learning Thermostat for you and make sure you’re confident in how to use it.
We Can Help!
Do you wake up sweating? Or struggle at all to get comfortable? We’re here to help! Our trained professionals are the best around! When it comes to your comfort at home, you’re our number one priority. We understand the importance of a good night’s sleep, and we offer same-day service to make sure your room is cool before bedtime.
Wanna make sure your air conditioner runs like new all summer long? We’ve got a solution for that, too! If you become a Priority Advantage® Member, you get two free system renovations (one for cooling season, one for heating) to make sure your HVAC unit is running great year-round! Not sure if you need routine maintenance? Check out this article!
