Getting the full recommended 7-8 hours of sleep is almost impossible if your bed is always soaking wet after you’ve slept a few minutes each night. Fortunately, there are lots of smart ways to stay cool at night, with most of them costing nothing!
Here are a few effective ways to stay cool at night:
- Take a cold bath just before getting in bed.
- Keep sunlight out during the day.
- Ensure proper ventilation in the evening.
- Buy an air conditioner.
- Buy a bedroom fan.
- Use cotton bedding.
- Buy cotton nightwear.
- Cool your bedding or buy cooling options.
- Cool your pulse regions.
The article will cover all the strategies listed above in greater detail, and will also cover 20 more useful tips. Read on to learn how to keep cool while you sleep!
1. Take a cold bath before getting in bed.
This is one of the easiest ways to stay cool at night. A cold bath just before bedtime will lower your body temperature and also clear your skin of the sweat and oil that can combine to make your bed feel hotter than it really is.
If a cold shower is not practical for you, consider a warm bath. If the water is too hot, you’ll feel clean, but it will take a long time for your body temperature to get back down. However, if the weather is generally hot, you will only break into sweats a few minutes later instead of cooling down.
2. Keep sunlight out during the day.
The radiation from the sun is transformed into heat when it reaches a surface. If your bed, cushion, or blankets have been baking under the sunlight all day, the heat retained can leave you feeling very hot and uncomfortable when it is time to sleep. This is why you should ensure your bedroom windows and doors are shut during the peak of the day.
If the windows in your home are made of glass, like in most houses, you should ensure your curtains and blinds are drawn during daylight. This way, you can limit the amount of radiation coming into the room.
Is your bedroom your home office? If so, you’ll probably need to let in some natural lighting, and thus, can’t afford to keep your curtains drawn all day. In this case, you should ensure your bed, pillows, and blankets are not under the light from the sun.
3. Ensure you have proper ventilation in the evening.
Once the sun has gone down, open up your windows and doors to release the heat trapped in your room, and ensure proper ventilation.
The proper circulation of fresh air can help keep you cool when you are asleep.
4. Buy a bedroom fan.
A bedroom fan is an excellent gadget that can help you stay cool at night. If you can’t install a ceiling fan in your bedroom, you should weigh your options and buy one of these.
There are lots of excellent options in the market today. Some of the best include the Honeywell HT-900 and the Lasko 1827. Don’t want any humming noise while sleeping? You should consider getting a Tower Fan.
Remember, fans don’t actually cool the room. The air they move over your skin cools your body temperature by causing your sweat to evaporate faster.
If you want the room to get cooler, you can use the trusted ice-bucket trick. Fill a sizable bucket with water and freeze it. At bedtime, put the ice in front of the fan. This will help the air get cooler. If you want a full step-by-step guide on how to do this, read my article on How to Cool a Room With Ice.
Another neat trick is to initiate an artificial cross breeze with the fan by placing it directly opposite an open window. This will help ensure better airflow into the room.
5. Buy an air conditioner.
If a bedroom fan doesn’t feel practical for you, you should consider investing in an air conditioner.
Just like fans, there are lots of options here as well. You can choose to go with the conventional split and window units or invest in a portable option that you can drag to any part of the house you’d like to sleep in.
Some of the best portable air conditioners you should consider include the Shinco 8,000 BTU, Honeywell MN14CCS, and SereneLife 10,000 BTU.
Shinco 8,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioners with Built-in Dehumidifier Function, Fan Mode, Quiet AC Unit Cools Rooms to 200 sq.ft, LED Display, Remote Control, Complete Window Mount Exhaust Kit
If you already have air conditioning installed elsewhere in the home, like your living room, it may be cheaper for you to get an extra mattress and sleep there at night—at least during the hottest times of the year.
6. Use cotton bedding.
Cotton is the perfect material if you are looking for bedding that can help you stay cool at night. It is light and has sweat-wicking properties, both of which are great reasons to ensure your bedding is made of cotton.
Apart from the fact that they are generally more comfortable, quality cotton bedding can save you money in the long run as it lasts longer.
If you still feel too hot with your cotton beddings, you should consider sleeping without any covers. Whatever you do, don’t sleep under a duvet or blanket.
7. Buy cotton night wear.
Continuing on the cotton topic, you should consider ditching your velvet or silk nightwear for light cotton. You’ll feel more comfortable and less clammy even when you sweat.
The fabric will keep your body temperature from rising too high, and it is light enough to ensure you can feel the natural air from the windows or artificial air from your fan or AC unit.
8. Sleep naked.
It sounds drastic, but it isn’t. According to this 2018 survey, you’ll be joining 58% of Americans if you do it. That figure is closer to 70% for millennials. The respondents in the survey said it helps stay cool at night and get better sleep, and there is a scientific explanation for it.
Sleeping naked can lower your body temperature as it ensures the air is directly hitting your skin. Even if you use a sheet to cover your body, sleeping without clothes is one less material getting in the way of air trying to reach your skin.
If you must sleep with clothes on, avoid tight clothing. The material will not only ramp up your body temperature, but it will also make you feel like you’re trapped hence making it harder to stay asleep.
9. Cool your bedding or buy cooling options.
This is one trick used by people living in areas that get really hot during the summer or those living in the tropics. It involves wrapping your sheets and pillows in a plastic bag and leaving them in the freezer for a while, ideally taking them out just before bedtime.
It sounds unusual, but it works. The bedding will get warm later on, but you will stay cool long enough to sleep. If this option is not practical for you, you should consider buying cooling pads, pillows, or mattresses.
For cooling pillows, you can consider Comfort Revolution, Serta Stay Cool, and Comfort Hydraluxe. For mattresses, the ViscoSoft 3 Inch is a good option.
