If your bedroom temperature is above 70 degrees, experts say it's too hot. On the flip side, sleeping too cold also has its issues. It does not affect your sleep cycles as drastically as being too hot, but it could potentially lead to other health issues.
It's advisable to keep your home below 80 degrees throughout the summer. A house that's too warm can be dangerous to people, pets, and the soft surfaces in your home. Set the winter temperature to 68 degrees when you're awake and 62 degrees when you're sleeping.
Tips for Keeping Cool During Sleep
A cool or lukewarm bath or shower can help with that, suggests Raymann. For most people, the temperature in the bedroom at night should not exceed 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and it should be even lower for people that sleep best in a cool bedroom.
Safe range means a set variation where there's minimal risk. If the room temperature is below 68 degrees Fahrenheit or above 74 degrees Fahrenheit, their health is at risk because the temperatures will be outside the safe range.
They found a 5-to-10 percent drop in sleep efficiency when indoor temperatures rose from 77 to 86 degrees, he said. “The consensus among most scientists is that anything higher than 75 or 80 is bad for sleep and potentially detrimental to health,” Baniassadi said.
Sleeping too hot
“Heat is a huge disruptor for REM sleep,” Dr. Drerup says. With the heat of the room, your body temperature will also rise, thus undoing the sleep initiation process entirely. If your bedroom temperature is above 70° F, it's too hot.
An influential limit
After an influential study in 2010, climate researchers often use a wet bulb temperature of 35 degrees C — roughly equivalent to 95 degrees F at 100% humidity — as an upper limit for human survival and adaptability without cooling.
In general, 80 degrees is too hot for a house if people are inside.
It's important to note that an indoor temperature of less than 16°C increases the risk of asthma and other respiratory conditions while going below 12°C puts the cardiovascular system under stress. A cold home can also increase your risk of depression and confusion.
How hot is too hot? “If someone told me that they slept in a temperature between 70 to 75, I'd say that's a range that promotes insomnia,” Avidan says. “That's toasty.” If you're used to keeping your bedroom so warm, “Lower the temperature 2 to 3 degrees at a time,” Ramos says.
Some research suggests that sleeping naked can promote better sleep, leading to various mental and physical health benefits. By encouraging core body temperature regulation, naked sleeping may help support reproductive function, skin health, cortisol levels, metabolic control, and more.
“An uncomfortably warm room has the opposite effect,” says Wells, because rising body temperature is associated with arousals and awakenings, which can lead to restless nights.
Merriam-Webster gives as a medical definition a range of 15 to 25 °C (59 to 77 °F) as being suitable for human occupancy, and at which laboratory experiments are usually performed.
Create cross ventilation by opening windows on opposite sides of the house to promote air circulation. Close curtains, blinds, or shades during the hottest parts of the day to block out direct sunlight and heat. Utilize exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens to remove hot air and humidity from these spaces.
For short periods of time away, like going to work, we'd recommend a temperature of around 55 – 60 degrees (F). While away on long periods of time, such as vacation, we don't recommend setting the temperature any lower than 50 degrees (F).
People who live with long-term health conditions are more vulnerable to the effects of heat, including cardiovascular conditions and diabetes – with the temperature in their homes making it much harder to manage their health.
Research shows sleep can be disrupted by temperatures anywhere below 65 degrees Fahrenheit or above 75 degrees Fahrenheit. But for most people, heat interferes with sleep more than cold does. Sleep experts believe the best temperature for great sleep is between 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Really anything over 70 (degrees) is too toasty and hot.” Sleeping too hot or too cold can affect a good night's rest, but Dr. Drerup said people tend to have more difficulties with the heat.
A core body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) or higher is the main sign of heatstroke. Change in mental state or behavior. Confusion, agitation, slurred speech, irritability, delirium, seizures and coma can all result from heatstroke. Change in sweating pattern.
That's in the “Caution” range for heat disorders caused by prolonged exposure. In other words, just being in your house for several hours with the thermostat set at 82F as the federal government recommends could lead to you developing heat-related illness, like heat exhaustion.
Hot, cold and draughty rooms can seriously impact your sleep, in particular REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Bedroom temperatures over 24°C (71°F) are likely to cause restlessness, while a cold room of about 12°C (53°F) will make it difficult to drop off.
The best room temperature for sleep is approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius). This may vary by a few degrees from person to person, but most doctors recommend keeping the thermostat set between 65 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 20 degrees Celsius) for the most comfortable sleep.
Wearing socks to bed may help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, so it could become an important part of your sleep hygiene routine. Sleep hygiene refers to the habits, behaviors, and environmental factors present during our bedtime routine.