Best Bedroom Temperature for Sleep

What is the best bedroom temperature for sleep? Whether you are having hot sweats or cold chills at night, here’s the best ways to get the perfect temperature for a great night’s sleep.

A bedroom could be the ideal temperature at night. Yet one person will be hot, and the other person will be cold.

It’s just human nature. And genetics.

So how do you find that perfect temperature for sleeping when you’ve got to share the space with someone else?

It can be difficult. But these tips and products will definitely help you both find that perfect compromise so that everyone sleeps soundly.

What is the right temperature to fall asleep?

Studies suggest that the perfect temperature in your bedroom for sleep is between 60-67 degrees Farenheit. Some experts say the room can be as warm as 72 degrees.

There is no perfect suggestion because everyone is different.

Yet most medical professionals suggest 65 degrees, a temperature which has also been confirmed as the perfect temperature for sleeping by a National Sleep Foundation study.

You’ve got to take that with a grain of salt, though.

I’ve tried sleeping in bedrooms 70 degrees or below and I absolutely freeze all night long. I am miserable, even under comforters and blankets. That is my unique body temperature. Yours will be different.

So it is very difficult to say for sure what the best temperature is for YOU.

What is important to note is that your body temperature naturally dips when it is time to go to sleep. It is part of your body’s natural circadian rhythms. As the afternoon wears on and goes towards evening, your internal body temperature dips even if you are not aware of it dipping.

In the morning, your body temperature is naturally higher.

So if you try to go to sleep in a warm bedroom that keeps your body temperature higher than it should be, your sleep can definitely be affected.

Are You Too Hot at Night to Sleep?

There are a lot of reasons why you might not be sleeping well at night because you are too hot. Among the culprits are:

Thermostat set too high
Too many layers of bedding
Partner gives off a lot of body heat
Taking a hot shower less than 2-3 hours before bed
Pajamas that trap in heat
Medical conditions, including menopause and perimenopause

Some of these reasons for being too hot to sleep can be easily fixed.

Others, such as medical conditions and sleeping partners, require a more delicate balancing act of trying to fix the cause of your overheating.

Are You Too Cold at Night to Sleep?

Being cold at night generally is because of the following problems:

House is too cold because partner wants to keep it cold
Heating or cooling system that is not working with environmental conditions
Not using enough bedding
Poor circulation

Again, many of these problems can be easily fixed. So there’s no excuse to keep putting it off!

Easy Ways to Get the Perfect Sleep Temperature

Most of the solutions for finally finding that perfect temperature to sleep involve adding one or two items to your bedtime routine or bedding.

It really can be that easy.

Here are some helpful suggestions for a great night’s sleep:

Get a Fan

Are you hot at night? The answer might not be in turning down the temperature for the entire house, but in lowering the temperature in your bedroom only.

This is especially important if you are trying to conserve energy or cut down on your cooling bill.

Fans are great because they can drop the “feels like” temperature in a room up to 10 degrees. Notice that I didn’t say the actual temperature of the room. That is because fans work with evaporative cooling. The breeze makes you feel like you are cooler, without actually changing the temperature of the room.

This is what I had to do in my bedroom. The bedroom is situated over the garage, kind of separate from the rest of the house. And this room is always hot. Always. I can open the door of the room and feel a five degree temperature difference the moment that I walk into the hallway. I was waking up every night because of being so hot. Yet the rest of the house was freezing.

So I added a few fans to the bedroom. We live in a rental home, so a ceiling fan was not an option. I got a tabletop oscillating fan, as well as a box fan for the floor. Both fans at night allow me to sleep cool while not dropping the thermostat down to sub-zero temperatures for the rest of the house.

By the way, you don’t need an expensive fan or one with a remote and all kinds of bells and whistles. I got a simple white fan that you turn on with a switch. Our box fan was bought in the summer section at Walmart on clearance (though you can find it for about the same price on Amazon as the clearance price I paid). Don’t think you have to spend a fortune on a fan to get the best results.

Whether it’s a ceiling fan, a desktop fan or a box fan, all of these fans can lower your perceived temperature and help you get to sleep in a cooler climate.

Use Extra Blankets

It sounds so simple, but adding an extra blanket when you’re cold is the easiest way to get a good night’s sleep. Keep in mind, if you are sharing a bed with a partner, they don’t have to have the blanket on them, too. One of the best ways to share the same bed when you both enjoy different sleeping temperatures is to add a twin size blanket to one side of the bed.

If you don’t want the extra layer of warmth visible, hide it on one side under the duvet or comforter. It doesn’t have to be on top. Or fold it up during the day and store it in a pretty basket if you make your bed. Then take it out at night and use it for warmth.

Hot Water Bottle

This trick is VERY old school, but it definitely works! If your main problem with being cold is falling asleep at night, use a hot water bottle near your feet.

Why heat by your feet to keep you warm? When your feet are cold, you are cold. When your feet are warm, you are warm. It works that way whether you’re dressing for the elements outside, snuggling up watching a movie, or preparing to go to sleep at night.

However, do not use an electric heating pad as your foot warmer. Having electric currents running on your bed all night long is not thought to be a good thing, especially with EMF emissions.

Wear socks

It’s a simple trick and doesn’t cost an extra penny.

Simply wear socks to bed if you are always cold at night to keep your feet warm.

Bonus points for applying moisturizer to your feet at night and then wearing socks. You’ll get deep moisturization for your skin, which is among one of the driest areas on your body and easily cracks without proper moisturizing.

Or apply our DIY magnesium topical spray to the bottoms of your feet. It can help relieve anxiety, muscle cramps and improve your sleep.

Get an Adjustable Thermostat

There is a phenomenon in your home called heat lag. You’ve probably felt it, but not realized what it was.

While you have your thermostat set to a perfect temperature, it doesn’t mean that the temperature will always remain the same in your home all day and all night.

Strange, but true.

A lot of different factors affect whether your air conditioning or heating comes on inside your home. These include relative humidity, sun beating on the windows, heat escaping from a roof or garage into rooms built above. So while your temperature might be set at 70 degrees all day, it might not feel like the same 70 degrees all day.

We have noticed this phenomenon a lot living in Florida. While we set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature before going to bed, we always wake up hot at night, usually around 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. It’s because of the heat lag and radiant heating in and around our house.

What is the answer? It’s certainly not getting up in the middle of the night when you are hot to change the thermostat. Or going to be freezing so that you are warm in the early morning.

The answer to the problem is to buy an adjustable and programmable thermostat. For us, we had the temperature set to 72 degrees from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. at night. Then we programmed the thermostat to 70 degrees from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. to combat the heat lag. We had it programmed to go back to 72 degrees about the time we would wake up every morning.

Sure, you can buy a Nest for a hundreds of dollars. But we bought a simple one that cost $30-50. I think we had a Honeywell in our old house, but this easy programmable thermostat looks great, too.

We took a couple minutes to program the thermostat and it automatically changed temperatures on the days we chose and the times we chose. For just a few minutes work, it made a HUGE difference in the way that we slept.

The Perfect Bedding For A Comfortable Night’s Sleep

Your bedding has a lot to do with whether or not you are hot or cold during the night.

And your mattress does, too.

Choosing the right materials to sleep on can be a major factor in whether or not you sleep at the perfect temperature at night.

Generally, you want natural materials rather than synthetic materials.

That means you don’t want polyester sheets or synthetic memory foam mattresses.

Instead, you want organic cotton sheets, bamboo sheets, and wool blankets.

Mattresses should me made from natural materials such as natural latex, or organic cotton and wool.

In my quest for a better night’s sleep using natural sheets, natural mattress and natural pillows, I have a lot of real-life reviews:

Best Pajamas for Sleeping

What clothes you sleep in can be just as important as the type of bed you are sleeping in or what your thermostat says.

Sure, you’re probably thinking to yourself that if you’re too hot, then you should just sleep naked. Yep, that’s a solution that works!

But a lot of people just don’t enjoy sleeping naked. Or maybe you’re too cold and want to stay warm.

Choices for the best pajamas for sleeping are just like bedding and mattresses. They can be highly subjective based on everyone’s individual needs.

Here are some suggestions:

Avoid polyester and unnatural fibers for pajamas. Polyester can hold in heat and not allow moisture to evaporate, which makes you feel even more hot.
Natural fibers, such as cotton, wool and bamboo, are the best for breathability. Which means they allow the moisture of your perspiration at night to escape, cooling you off in the process.
Layering clothes can be an answer to keeping warm at night. Consider long johns or a thin shirt and leggings as your base layer for sleeping. Add another shirt or long sleeve shirt on top to stay warm, if needed. The layers will trap heat and allow you to be toasty warm when the temperatures dip.

Technology for Better Sleep Temperatures

If you have tried everything else and still can’t get relief, it might be time to invest in some better sleep products.

I personally am not a big fan of having anything with an electric current (a product that has to be plugged in) in bed with you. With electricity comes EMF currents. And EMFs are something that are just now being studied as to how they impact your health and well being.

But sometimes you just got to do what you got to do. Getting better sleep is the main goal. So if you have tried everything else (yes, everything else) and still can’t get a decent night’s sleep, then consider these investments:

BedJet

This heating and cooling system for the bed uses fans to keep you cool under the sheets. BedJet allows you to sleep with your partner and yet still enjoy separate temperature zones. The fan system works with your own bed and bedding. You really do have to see it to understand how the BedJet works!

ChiliPad

This mat will both heat and cool your mattress. ChiliPad works like a large heating pad (but can cool, too) using circulating water in a pad. You will lay on the pad and adjust the temperature to what you need. The ChiliPad can also work from underneath your mattress, too, if you don’t want to lay on the pad.

More Ways to Get Great Sleep

You CAN get a great night’s sleep! It’s so important to your health, so I want you to give you the tools to make your bedroom a place for better sleep!

Download my Better Sleep Guide Ebook for diffuser essential oil blends, yoga poses for sleep, affirmations to say before bed, and a printable sleep tracker.

Here are some more suggestions, in addition to these ideas for a perfect bedroom temperature: