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.
The Best Temperature For Sleep
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 affects 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 core body temperature naturally lowers in your sleep, 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, or Rapid Eye Movement, is 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”
The Best 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.
Why Do You Wanna Sleep 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 helps 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, the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) and insulin in your body can increase. High cortisol can lead to high anxiety and has been shown to increase some people’s desire to snack. 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 of 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 bedroom temperatures can increase your melatonin levels? Melatonin improves your body’s ability to protect brain health, fight certain cancers and heart disease, and can help prevent Alzheimer’s.
Too Much Heat Can Be Bad for Your Sleep
We know how tempting it can be to crank up the temperature in the heart of winter. But the truth is, the heat can take away from your sleep!
Maintain a Comfortable Bedroom Temperature
When your bedroom gets too warm, your body has to work harder to cool itself down, and that makes it tougher to fall asleep and stay asleep. You might toss and turn, wake up sweating, or feel groggy in the morning, even if you got plenty of hours in bed. Keeping things a little cooler helps your body settle in and rest the way it’s meant to.
Don’t sleep hot; keep things cool and comfy!
A Good Thermostat Can Make All the Difference!
Every home has a thermostat! It’s the point of communication between your family and the HVAC system. Want it to be a few degrees cooler? Bump the temperature down on the thermostat. Need it to be a bit warmer? You guessed it—crank the temperature up.
But a good thermostat does more than just adjust the temperature. It helps your system run smoothly, keeps temperatures consistent, and can even protect your HVAC system during extreme temperatures.
You need a comfy (and maybe even chilly!) sleep environment to get the best rest; a good thermostat helps you enjoy that without putting extra strain on your furnace.
Smart Thermostats Let You Adjust the Temperature From Anywhere
So… what’s the best type of thermostat to help you fall asleep? Smart thermostats are a popular choice due to their ability to adjust the temperature from anywhere. Whether you’re already tucked into bed or halfway across town, you can pull out your phone and change the setting in a second.
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. Wanna learn 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.
Fall Asleep Faster With a Nice, Cool Home
Your thermostat goes a long (and we mean long) way toward keeping your home at the best temperature. But it can’t fight that battle on its own! Heating and air conditioning systems need a little care to keep things running the way they should.
If your system isn’t cooling evenly, struggles to hit the temperature you set, or makes your bedroom feel warmer than the rest of the house, you might be dealing with an HVAC issue that’s sneaking in and messing with your sleep.
Regular maintenance helps your system stay efficient, keeps temperatures consistent from room to room, and gives you the best chance at creating that cool, peaceful sleep environment your body needs. A well-cared-for HVAC system and a smart thermostat make the perfect team for better sleep, better comfort, and better mornings.
It’s About More Than Just the Temperature of Your Air…
When it comes to home comfort, temperature is probably the first thing that’s gonna cross your mind. But indoor air quality plays an important role too, and it can have a big impact on how well you sleep. Dry air, too much humidity, or stuffy rooms can make it harder for your body to relax at night, even if the temperature is right where you want it.
A good thermostat can make a big difference here too. Many modern thermostats can work with your HVAC system to help manage humidity levels and keep your air feeling fresh and comfortable.
Morris-Jenkins Can Help Your Home Achieve the Ideal Sleeping Temperature
Our technicians are heating and cooling experts who are ready for any HVAC trouble you may have. We’ll make sure your home is the perfect temperature for you before it’s even bedtime! 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 air conditioning 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!
