Can't seem to fall asleep at night during a heat wave? You are not alone. No matter how many blankets you kick off or how high you blast your fan, it can feel impossible to cool down your body temperature to finally sleep comfortably and soundly. Grab a cold glass of water and read over Payless Power's 10 tips to help you stay cool at night for better summer sleep.
10 WAYS TO STAY COOL WHILE SLEEPING
1. Sleep in cotton.
Cotton is your best friend when trying to keep cool throughout the night. To keep your body temperature from rising too high, make sure that your pajamas, undergarments, and bed sheets are all cotton during the summer. This fabric offers the perfect blend of lightweight and sweat-wicking material to help you from being too hot while you try to fall asleep.
2. Avoid tight clothing.
Wearing tight clothing to sleep decreases the amount of airflow your body receives,which can increase your body temperature. Additionally, materials like spandex that make clothing tights are not great for keeping you cool. Not only can tight clothes make you hot at night, they can also make you feel trapped and restricted, adding to your discomfort while you sleep.
3. Use fans.
Remember, fans cool people, not air. Since they circulate the air in the room, they help your skin feel cooler. However, they don’t actually decrease the room’s temperature, so it’s important to turn fans off in rooms that are unoccupied. Otherwise, you’re paying for electricity in empty rooms unnecessarily. To optimize the benefits of using a fan in a hot room, position the fan near an open window (if the A/C is not running) to pull the hot air from inside the room and push it out of the home. If the A/C is on, position the fan near a vent to distribute cool air around the room. Run ceiling fans counterclockwise in the summer to push cool air down.
4. Hack your fan for extra cooling.
Although fans don’t cool the air on their own, there are some simple tricks you can try to cool the air. Here’s one of our favorite old-school options: place an ice tray or a large bowl full of ice between you and your fan. The ice will emit cooler temperatures, and the fan will blow that cool, misty air onto you as you sleep to help you stay cool on a hot summer night.
5. Create a cross-breeze.
If opening a window in search of a cool breeze on a hot night isn’t cutting it – get the air flowing yourself! A simple way to create a cross-breeze is to position a fan directly across from a window, which will help improve airflow in a room. You can also position multiple fans throughout your room to maximize the effects. If you have two windows in your room, consider opening both to create a natural, electricity-free cross-breeze.
6. Take cold showers.
The first few seconds of a cold shower can be startling, but choosing cold water over hot is a great way to keep yourself cool on hot evenings. Not only can cold showers help you beat the heat to fall asleep faster, but research also shows that they are better for your skin and hair, and can improve your immune and circulatory systems in ways hot showers can’t.
7. Try a cool compress.
If a cold shower is too extreme for you try using a cool compress instead when you are trying to drift off to sleep on a hot night. You can create one by wetting a washcloth and placing it in the freezer for a few hours. You can also fill a water bottle with ice and cold water and wrap it in a towel to ensure you and your bedding stay nice and dry. If you don’t have either of those two items, you can improvise by using frozen vegetables or a plastic bag full of ice instead. You can remove it after you’ve cooled down or when you wake up in the night to change sleep positions.
8. Keep your bedroom unplugged.
Anything that uses electricity also produces heat. Plugged-in electronics such as cell phones, tablets, and televisions can warm up a room. This is especially true for lamps and overhead lights. For the coolest possible sleeping environment, unplug or power down electronics in your bedroom long before you go to sleep.
9. Invest in cooling technology.
In recent years, different products have been developed to help keep you cool while you sleep. Items like a cooling pillow, mattress pad, or bed sheets can be a cost-effective way to cool off while you sleep. Pro tip: You can get a cooling pillow on Amazon for as low as $20.
10. Switch up your sleeping arrangements.
If you typically share a bed, consider sleeping by yourself on particularly warm nights because eliminating excess body heat is a great way to keep cool at night. You can also try changing your sleep position. Studies show that sleeping in a “spread eagle” position, where both your arms and legs are extended toward the four corners of your bed, is one of the best positions for staying cool while you sleep — though this position isn’t very accessible when you normally share a bed. Lastly, remember that heat rises, so if you can temporarily sleep on a lower level than where you currently sleep, it’s definitely worth it to take your bedding and pillow downstairs during a heat wave!
How Do You Stay Cool While Sleeping During a Heat Wave?
During hot summer nights, do you set up an air mattress with your favorite cotton bed sheets and cooling pillow downstairs in the living room? Or do you take a shower with cold water right before bed, open the windows, and blast your fans in your bedroom to stay cool? No matter what cooling methods you prefer, there are plenty of options to help you stay cool while sleeping.
If you live in Texas and want reliable, affordable electricity, check out Payless Power’s prepaid electricity plans in your zip code. We help you save money and conserve power with our no-deposit plans.
