​Keeping Cool At Night: 7 Tricks to Try to Keep You Cool Under the Sheets this Summer

As the temperature rises, there are many of us that are seeking  advice to help us stay cool while we sleep. So, we’ve done a little investigating and found some of the weirdest and most wonderful cool sleep solutions you could try and home. And the best bit? They might actually work!

Scroll on to explore our exciting suggestions to help you sleep easy through the summer. Be warned though, some of these aren’t for the faint-hearted.

7 bizarre and brilliant tricks for keeping cool at night

1. Use a hot water bottle to cool you down

Eh? Well, yes – that was our reaction at first too. But this is one hack that actually works at keeping you cool at night. And, rather than filling your hot water bottle with hot water (as we all do in the winter to keep warm), you can fill it with cold water and achieve the reverse effect (ergo a blissfully cool night companion).

But don’t do what so many others suggest and half-fill it and pop the entire thing in the freezer until bedtime. This can damage the rubber seal and cause it too leak when used in future. Instead, fill your hot water bottle with ice cubes from your freezer (1).

Your hot water bottle will behave similarly to as it would if you filled it with hot water. However, rather than releasing heat it will offer you a cool relief during those summers’ nights. And, unlike hot water which gradually cools, the ice-cold water gradually warms up.

A cold (hot) water bottle is ideal for keeping you cool while you drift off to sleep. Although, you might want to wrap it in a towel if it doesn’t already have a cover to prevent overexposure to the cold. And, remember to keep your supply of ice cubes well-stocked by refilling your empty ice cube trays each time you refill your water bottle too. This will ensure you’re able to keep on keeping cool at night whenever the weather demands it!

2. Try popping your bedsheets in the freezer

Although this may seem a ridiculous notion, people have reported that it actually works quite well (2). So, as long as you don’t mind making your bed each and every night during prolonged periods of heat, this will actually help to keep you cool.

You can put all your bed sheets in the freezer, or just decide between whether to put your fitted sheet or duvet cover in there instead. Remember to place the sheet (or sheets) into a resealable plastic bag before you put them into the freezer too! This will stop them getting drenched and prevent contact with any food you have in there. Plus, you only need to leave the sheets in there for a couple of minutes to elicit that cool sheet feeling you’re striving for (3).

Put them on your bed right before climbing under the covers and you’ll be able to drift off while keeping cool that night.

The daily bedding changes may seem a little too much effort. But, if it’s been a particularly hot day and you’d like to keep cool that night, this will actually offer some sweet relief from the heat.

3. Keep your bedroom curtains or blinds closed throughout the day

This may seem like an obvious one but, blocking out the sunlight in your bedroom can help to stop it from overheating.

Be sure to close the curtains and blinds during the times of day when the sun reaches your window as this prevents the direct sunlight from heating up your sleep space. You can then, open your bedroom curtains and windows in the evening. Doing this after the sun has set will air out your bedroom and invite in the cooler temperatures offered by the night time (4).

4. Try opening your loft hatch

Given that heat rises, there is some sense to this keeping cool at night hack. Opening the loft hatch during periods of high temperatures allows cooler air to circulate around your house. This can help to cool down your bedroom and in turn help you drift off (5).

That said, there are a few downsides to opening up your loft hatch in the heights of summer. It could actually have the reverse effect and instead of allowing cooler air to circulate, you end up with warmer air freely circulating your space. This will in turn increase the costs of cooling your bedroom to sleep. And then there’s the spiders. By this point you’re probably thinking ‘No thank you!’ – Well, we’re right there with you!

Whether your opening your loft hatch will circulate cool or warm air depends entirely on the temperature in your loft space. If, upon opening it, you’re met with a wall of heat, simply shut it back up sharpish!

5. Place a bowl of ice in front of a fan

The theory behind this keeping cool at night suggestion is relatively simple. The ice absorbs excess heat as it melts. And so, blowing warm air across the bowl of ice with your fan allows the air being circulated to cool as the ice melts (ergo, warm air goes in and cool air comes out).

And in principle, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t work. That said, there are limitations to how effective this keeping cool at night method will be. The warmer the bedroom you are trying to cool is, the faster the ice will melt. And thus the less effective this solution will prove.

Another factor that will affect its effectiveness is the size of the room. The bigger the room, the less effective the cooling of the fan and ice method will be (6).

Will it work in keeping you cool at night? Well, we can’t say for sure. But, there’s no harm in trying it!

6. Try experimenting with wet towels

This is apparently a great way to cool your home down both at night and during the day. Start by soaking your towels in cold water. Then, ring them out (be sure to ring them out really, really well to avoid drippage) and hang them over your curtain rails and the temperature indoors will soon drop by at least a degree or two. This keeping cool at night hack helps to cool the air as it enters in through windows. Admittedly it does work better during the day and breezy bedrooms will benefit more. This is because the sunshine makes the water evaporate faster and the breeze helps to distribute the cold water about the room (7).

It’s also worth mentioning that lighter towels work better than darker coloured ones. Lighter absorb less heat and thus will stay cool for longer.

Another interesting way a cold damp towel can be used to cool you down is by placing it on your physical person. Soak a tea towel in cold water, ring it out properly and then place it on either your forehead, your feet, over your shoulders or on your torso or back. The cold water will evaporate gradually and help to keep you cool at night (8).

7. Banish your partner to another bedroom

People naturally give off heat as they sleep (well, all the time actually). And sharing a bed means sharing additional body heat. With that in mind, sleeping in separate beds in separate rooms will help to keep you cool at night. Not everyone has the luxury of a spare bedroom but if you do, we’d recommend trying this one out (9).

Sources:

1. https://www.hotwaterbottleshop.co.uk/blogs/news/5-great-summer-uses-for-your-hot-water-bottle
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/smarter-living/7-ways-to-keep-your-bedroom-comfortably-cool-this-summer.html
3. https://www.tyla.com/life/life-news-home-how-to-freeze-bed-sheets-sleep-hack-hot-weather-expert-guide-20200521
4. https://www.expressblindsandcurtains.co.uk/blog/how-curtains-and-blinds-can-keep-your-house-cool-this-summer/
5. https://loftera.co.uk/blog/opening-loft-hatch-to-cool-house/
6. https://www.bettersleepsimplified.com/how-to-go-to-sleep/does-putting-ice-in-front-of-a-fan-work/
7. Expert shares clever towel tip to keep your home cool during a heatwave - Chronicle Live
8. https://vgcgroup.co.uk/sleeping-cool-tips/
9. How to sleep in hot weather if you share a bed with someone | Metro News