What Is the Best Temperature for Sleep?
Having Trouble Sleeping in the Heat?
Being in a comfortable environment is essential for healthy sleep. Keeping your sleeping quarters at a temperature near (18°C), give or take a few degrees, is ideal.
Your body’s temperature decreases during sleep, and a cool, but not cold, room will help you settle into and maintain sleep throughout the night.
Babies may need a slightly higher room temperature for sleep, but you’ll want to avoid turning up the thermometer more than a few extra degrees so their little bodies won’t get overheated.
The science
There are scientific reasons why a room temperature of around 18°C is optimal for good nighttime sleep. This relates to your body’s internal temperature regulation.
Your body’s internal temperature shifts during 24 hours. This is known as a circadian rhythm. Your body begins to shed warmth right about the time you go to bed and continues to cool down until reaching its low point near daybreak, at around 5 a.m.
Your body cools by expanding the blood vessels in your skin. When your temperature starts to drop at night, you may notice that your hands and feet get warmer initially. This is because your body is letting heat escape through them to reduce your core temperature.
If the temperature in your sleeping environment is too hot or cold, it may affect the drop in your body’s internal temperature and cause you to have disrupted sleep.
One 2012 study found that the temperature of the room where you sleep is one of the most important factors in achieving quality sleep.
Another study looked at data from 765,000 survey respondents and found that most people experience abnormal sleeping patterns during the hotter summer months when it may be more difficult to keep sleeping quarters at an optimal temperature. This can impact the body’s ability to cool itself at night. Dr Alex Bartle, of the Sleep Well Clinic, has previously said the optimal temperature for sleep is between 16 to 18C but getting your bedroom under 20C will suffice.
Too hot or too cold
Temperatures outside of comfortable sleeping conditions can impact your overall sleep in different ways.
Too hot - You may notice you have restless sleep when the room temperature is above the optimum sleeping temperature. This restless sleep in a hot room could be caused by a decrease in your slow-wave sleep or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In Northland, our humidity, in addition to heat, also contributes to sleep problems.
Too cold - A 2012 study examined semi-nude participants and found that their sleep was more affected by cold temperatures than warm ones. However, these participants did not have blankets or other bedding to stay warm.
In general, the cold will not affect your sleep cycle, but it may make it more difficult to fall asleep and impact other aspects of your health. If you’re too cold during sleep, your body may alter its cardiac autonomic response.
Other sleep tips
Good sleep is vital for your body to function well, so setting the stage for healthy sleep is very important. Here are some tips for creating an environment that contributes to quality sleep.
Regulate the room temperature - There are a couple of ways to make sure your room stays between (16 and 20°C) at night:
- Turn on your air conditioning unit if the temperature rises or falls outside of the ideal sleeping range. If you don’t have one then talk to us about a quote to get one installed ASAP.
- Open windows and create airflow through the room from one side to the other. The downside here is that you also invite mosquitos in to feed and keep you awake with their annoying buzzing. Mosquito nets help here but they can cost hundreds of dollars to install.
- Run a fan during warm months to cool the temperature and circulate the air.
- Those who feel even their electric fan is not doing much might like to try putting a bowl of ice in front of it, so that it blows out colder air.
- The other fan trick which might be a little hard to believe is instead of blasting it towards you - effectively pushing hot air around the room - open a window and face it outside, so that it pushes the hot air outside and cold air in.
- During the day, keep your curtains closed so the sun is not beaming inside, trapping heat in the whole day.
- Use a hot water bottle. But instead of hot water, fill it with cold water and place it in the freezer. When it's time for bed, wrap a towel around it and place it under your feet or legs.
- A similar idea that may just do the trick is to place your sheets or pillowcase in the fridge or freezer. Use them when you go to bed.
- White noise - While air con is ideal, a fan will circulate and cool air, they also provide white noise which is proven to help people sleep. White noise is a sound that remains constant without frequency fluctuation. The "background noise", which can be the sound of the ocean, washing machine, or in this case, a fan provides a barrier to other sounds that are more variable like a dog barking.
Swap out bedding when the seasons change - The duvet you use in July may not be appropriate in the summer months. Keep a lightweight blanket to use on your bed during those hot months to avoid overheating.
Likewise, a bitter cold snap may require you to add another blanket on top of your duvet for a few days or weeks for more warmth.
Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening - Drinking caffeinated coffee, tea, or soda in the afternoon and evening may make it difficult to fall asleep at night. Instead, drink decaffeinated beverages after a certain time of day to avoid unwanted alertness when it’s time to go to bed.
Keep your room dark - Consider your bedroom a cave at night when you lie down to sleep. Cover windows with blinds or curtains to prevent streetlights or sunlight from entering your room.
You may consider removing electronic devices that emit light from your sleeping quarters as well, such as blinking lights, computer monitors, or phones.
Embrace the quiet - Your bedroom should be free from noise that may distract you from falling asleep or wake you up in the middle of the night. Keep gadgets that may buzz or beep away from your bedroom and consider a white noise machine or earplugs if you are unable to block out noises made by others.
Set a sleep routine - Your body’s circadian rhythm establishes a routine for your body, and you should adhere to that for healthy sleep. Try to go to bed at the same time each day. Power down your gadgets or other blue-light-emitting screens a half hour or hour before bed. Consider reading a book or doing something calming like breathing exercises or meditation before turning off the light for the night.
The bottom line - Make sure the temperature where you sleep is on the cool side before you close your eyes at night. This will help your chances of getting a healthy and uninterrupted amount of sleep every night.
Ideally, your room should be between 16 and 20°C for a healthy sleep.
Source: Healthline.com