Targeting the Ideal Temperature for Sleep

With warm temperatures and high humidity throughout most of the year in Tallahassee, Florida, it’s not always easy to stay comfortable in your home. When it’s too warm, it’s hard to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep and get good quality sleep at night. Follow these tips to target the ideal temperature for sleep and achieve that goal every night.

Figuring Out Your Ideal Temperature

Your bedroom should be somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees when you’re trying to fall asleep. If you tend to be on the warmer side in your daily life, the lower end of the spectrum will probably feel more comfortable. Think about your bedroom like a cave. It should be dark, quiet and cool, giving you the best opportunity to fully relax and fall asleep.

For babies and young children, the temperature range should stay around 65 to 70 degrees. Their bodies don’t regulate temperature as well, so dropping the thermostat too low can cause problems.

Why Does it Matter?

Research shows that as your body’s core temperature drops slightly, it triggers systems designed to shut down your body and brain for sleep. When you feel too warm, it’s very challenging to feel comfortable and relaxed enough to drop off.

Think about when you can’t sleep and your pillow feels too hot against your face. Turning over the pillow to expose the opposite side can give that cooling feeling needed to relax and start to doze.

However, keeping your room too cold can lead to fitful, restless sleep. It’s important to find that ideal temperature and keep the thermostat set there around bedtime every night. When you find the perfect temperature, your body can enter the REM (rapid eye movement) cycle, which is the deepest cycle of sleep for humans.

If your home’s heating or cooling system isn’t keeping up with your need to get better sleep at night, call Central Heating Consultants at 850-270-4352 to schedule a consultation or tuneup.

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