Keeping Your Bedroom Comfortably Cool
When the summer heat really sets in, it’s tough to get a good night’s sleep. Here are a few tips to help you find some relief.
The Obvious: Buy a Fan
Here at The Beautiful Wardrobe Company, we are a massive fan of the Dyson fans.
Dyson Cool™ fans project a stream of smooth, high-velocity air, for personal cooling. And because they have no fast-spinning blades they're safe, and easy to clean.
To purify a whole family room properly, the Dyson Pure Cool™ purifying fan goes beyond standard test conditions, by also automatically sensing particles and gases, capturing 99.95% of ultrafine particles, and projecting and circulating purified air using Air Multiplier™ technology.² Only the Dyson purifying fan is designed and tested to do all of this.
Design Your Bed for Cool Comfort
Consider swapping out your cotton or jersey-style sheets for linen or percale. Percale sheets are made of cotton, but they’re known for that crisp, cool feeling when you slide into them. Linen sheets are porous and breathe, so warm air won’t get trapped next to your body while you sleep.
We love these sheets from Rise and Fall.
You could also try a chilling pillow, like this one from Tempur-Pedic, which incorporates water or gel that’s cool when you put your head down. It can work well as you fall asleep, before it heats up to match your body temperature.
Block Out the Light and Heat
Another way to control the temperature of your bedroom — or any room — in warm weather is to keep the light out during the brightest hours of the day, and then open the curtains to allow built-up heat to dissipate during the cool evening hours. Insulated blackout curtains can keep your room dark and cool in the summer, but also prevent warm air from escaping through windows in the winter.
Try Some Unorthodox Methods
Finally, if you can’t (or won’t) buy a bunch of stuff to keep your bedroom cool — or if you find yourself picking and choosing which method will work best for you — there are things you can do without spending money at all.
Build a homemade air cooler. Fill a bowl with ice and place it in front of a room fan. The breeze over the slowly melting ice will send chilled water vapor into the air in front of the fan. Combined with the fast-moving air, you’ll get a nice, chilly breeze. Until the ice melts.
Put your sheets in the freezer. This one’s low-tech, but it works surprisingly well if you’re willing to make your bed before you settle in for the night. Pop your sheets — or even just your fitted sheet or top sheet — into a resealable plastic bag and into the freezer. Put them on your bed right before bedtime, and you’ll enjoy a cool start to the night.
Sleep Egyptian style. There isn’t too much evidence that the so-called Egyptian style of sleeping actually dates to the ancient Egyptians, but it is an internet-popular method to stay cool at night. Ditch your blanket or comforter for a top sheet alone, and then wet that top sheet before bed. Wring out the sheet until it’s just slightly damp, but still cool. Then curl up under it and enjoy the cool sheet against your skin while you fall asleep. If waking up to clammy sheets bothers you, this may not be for you.
Fill a water bottle with ice water and take it to bed. Sometimes the oldest methods are the best. Grab a hot water bottle (the silicone kind that you’d normally fill with hot water) and fill it with cold water and ice. Wrap it in a towel or other absorbent cloth, and keep it near your feet while you sleep.