There’s nothing worse than trying to fall asleep in a bedroom that’s way too hot. That being said, here are five tips to help you keep your bedroom cooler so you can catch some Z’s.
5 Ways to Keep Your Bedroom Cooler
1. Keep the Blinds and Curtains Closed
Keep out the sunlight, and the scorching heat that comes along with it by keeping your blinds and curtains closed all day. If not, you’ll have to deal with unbearable heat that will linger through the night.
TIPS:
-Open the curtains during the evening hours to allow any heat that’s built up during the daytime to dissipate.
-Invest in insulated blackout curtains. They’ll keep your room dark and cool during the summer months (plus nice and warm during the winter).
-Make sure you use curtains or shades with a white backing.
2. Cool Down Your Pillow
Most of us just flip our pillow over when the side we’re sleeping on gets hot. But, instead of doing all that flipping the entire night, invest in a gel-filled cooling mat instead. The mat goes over the top of your pillow and uses the same cooling agent found in reusable ice packs. You can put the mat in the refrigerator or freezer just before bedtime to add a bit of extra coolness. Another option is to put a small pillow in a plastic bag in the freezer an hour before you go to bed. Or, if all of this seems like too much work, you could always invest in a cooling pillow like the Chillow Pillow.
3. Use a Damp Sheet
There are two things you can do with a damp sheet to make your bedroom cooler:
1) Hang it in front of an open window. As the breeze passes through the wet sheet, the evaporating moisture will cool down the temperature in your bedroom.
2) Sleep on it. This is known as the “Egyptian Method.” Here’s how it works: You wet a sheet with cold water, squeeze it dry (or put it in the washer and turn on the spin cycle if squeezing it is too much work), and use it as a blanket. The evaporation of the water on the sheet will keep you cool.
TIPS:
– We suggest aiming a fan at you or right above you while you sleep under the damp blanket for added cooling.
– The “Egyptian Method” also works with t-shirts. Wet it, run it through the spin cycle, and wear it to bed. DON’T sleep without a blanket on top of you, though, or the technique may not work properly.
4. Sleep on the Floor
It’s no secret that heat rises. And, the further away you are from it, the cooler you’ll be. Which is why sleeping on the floor would be much cooler than sleeping on your bed. Plus, a study published a few years ago in the journal BioMedical Engineering OnLine showed that sleeping on the floor helps realign your posture and improve your quality of sleep. Unfortunately, sleeping on the floor is not an option for everyone due to disabilities and other debilitating conditions. If this is the case, then you can always try sleeping in a downstairs bedroom — or even the basement for that matter — if you live in a two-story home.
5. Install an Attic Ventilator Fan
The amount of heat transferred into your attic — and eventually into the rest of your home — during the summertime can be brutal. At their balmiest, attics can reach upwards of 150 degrees in the summer. For this reason, we recommend installing an attic ventilator fan because it evacuates the hot air that accumulates and draws air in from the outside.
TIP: Something else you can invest in to keep your bedroom cool is a metal roof. That’s because metal roofs reflect the sun’s UV rays, thereby decreasing the amount of heat transferred into your attic.
