Sleep Resources
Tips to get a better night’s sleep
If you're struggling to get a good night's rest, our tips can help.
It’s finally summer, the time to bask in the sweltering heat of sunshine and to escape into the refreshing air conditioning inside. Temperature regulation, also referred to as thermoregulation, is of the utmost importance in summer, and we pay dearly for it. According to the Energy Information Administration, the average price per kilowatt-hour (kWh—the unit of measurement for electricity) for residential properties in the United States has been increasing for the past couple decades and in 2020, reached an all time high.
Thermoregulation has a lot to do with our comfort not only when we’re active and awake, but also when we’re asleep. That’s because throughout the day, and the night, our body temperature fluctuates. A bedroom that’s too hot or too cold can sabotage your sleep.
Keeping comfortable when you sleep, especially in the summertime, requires more than turning the thermostat down a few notches. It helps to better understand how temperature and humidity impact the quality of sleep.
The body is a wondrous thing. It’s equipped with an internal 24-hour clock, known as the circadian rhythm, that tells your body when to get sleepy at night and when to wake up in the morning. When it senses that bedtime is near, the circadian rhythm triggers the release of hormones like melatonin that cause your core body temperature to fall by releasing heat through the peripheral parts of the body. Hours later, when the body senses morning is near, the circadian clock signals body temperature to rise to prepare you to wake up.
When you drift off to sleep at night, your core body temperature drops about 1 to 2 degrees from your waking temperature, while your peripheral skin temperature rises. (Normal peripheral temperature is generally accepted to be 98.6 degrees though normal temperature can range from 97 degrees to 99 degrees.)
Research has shown that the temperature of the environment you’re sleeping in can also impact your body’s thermoregulation process. Doctors recommend setting your thermostat to between 60 and 67 degrees. However, that range can fluctuate based on factors such as age and gender.
Finding the right temperature setting for your sleep environment is important. If you become too hot or too cold while sleeping, it disturbs restorative slow wave sleep and results in less REM sleep. That’s because during REM sleep, the body’s temperature regulation becomes impaired, which is why the body “avoids” REM sleep when it is too hot or too cold.
But there’s more to comfort than what the thermostat reads.
Humidity is a measure of how much water vapor is in their air. If there is a lot of water vapor in the air, the humidity is high. The higher the humidity, the wetter and stickier you’ll feel. When humidity is high, the air is full of so much water vapor that it can feel impossible to dry off because the water vapor on your skin (or sweat, in hotter temperatures) isn’t able to evaporate into the air. When humidity levels rise above 70 percent, you can expect to feel uncomfortable.
If your bedroom is too humid, you are more apt to sweat during the night and wake to damp sheets. Too much humidity can also encourage dust mites and the growth of mold, which can aggravate allergies.
Conversely, low humidity is when very little water vapor is in the air. When humidity is low, you may experience dry skin, sore throat, irritated sinuses, and itchy eyes. You may also notice you get zapped by static electricity more often. That’s because with less water vapor in the air to conduct this charge away from you, your body can carry a higher charge. When humidity levels fall lower than 25 percent, you can also expect to feel uncomfortable.
If your bedroom is too dry, it could flare sinus symptoms and you can experience nosebleeds. Low humidity can also dry out your skin, which can make you itch and disrupt your sleep.
The humidity sweet spot for sleeping is between 30 to 45 percent. You can lower the humidity in your bedroom with a dehumidifier. Or, you can increase the humidity by using a humidifier.
We asked experts to offer some sleep hygiene tips for sleeping more comfortably without burning too much electricity.
Our bodies run like well-oiled machines. As bedtime approaches, our core temperature drops by releasing body heat through peripheral parts of the body. Our bodies crave cooler temperatures and less humidity at night for optimal sleep. If your sleep is suffering, chances are your bedroom may be too hot or cold, or too humid or dry.
Don’t spend another sleepless night tossing and turning. Try some of the pointers mentioned above for a dreamier summer’s night sleep.