![]() ![]() ![]() Read: I found the key to the kingdom of sleep So I will say this: 60 degrees is the correct temperature for winter sleep. It’s less satisfying than a single number, and it doesn’t solve the bed-partner argument. At the same time, a range like “60 to 67 degrees” can feel nebulously broad. Different temperatures will suit different people differently. The burning of fossil fuels contributes to the air pollution that kills millions of people every year, and the health effects of climate change are far-reaching.Īs for individual health guidelines, human variation makes giving any specific number almost impossible-and borderline irresponsible. But it should be done with the knowledge that thermostat decisions affect far more than one’s own personal sleep. If you want to work and sleep in a sauna-like sweat box, that is your God-given right as a red-blooded American. The change was estimated to have saved around 300,000 gallons of oil daily.Įven though no one was fined under the thermostat rule, Ronald Reagan promptly undid it in 1981, citing “unnecessary regulatory burden.” No such executive thermoregulatory fiats have since been attempted. He ordered that the White House thermostat be lowered accordingly, and subsequently extended the rule to all public buildings. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter went further, suggesting 65 degrees in daytime and 55 at night. Department of Energy recommends keeping your home at 68 degrees during the day and “lower while you’re asleep.” That guideline is based on money, not health: It was originally suggested by President Richard Nixon as a way of conserving oil during an embargo. Others have advised an upper limit of 64. A neurologist in Virginia told that the magic number is 65. The most common recommendation, cited by places like the Cleveland Clinic and the National Sleep Foundation, is 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no universally accepted temperature that is the correct one, but various medical entities have suggested ideal temperature ranges. In light of this physiology, sleep experts unanimously suggest keeping your bedroom cooler than the standard daytime temperature of your home. Insomnia has even been linked to a basic malfunctioning of the body’s heat-regulation cycles-meaning some cases could be a disorder of body temperature. Keeping a bedroom hot essentially fights against this process. The basic physiology is that your body undergoes several changes at night to ease you into sleep: Your core and brain temperatures decrease, and both blood sugar and heart rate drop. ![]() The cold-sleepers were also more alert the next morning. A study of people with a sleep disorder found that they slept longer in temperatures of 61 degrees Fahrenheit versus 75 degrees. Those who sleep in cold environments, meanwhile, tend to fare better. Researchers also recently posited that patients sleep so poorly in hospital ICUs in part because the rooms are too warm. Anyone complaining about it being too hot in the bedroom is not just being “a whining loser.” People who sleep in hot environments have been found to have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol the next morning. Sharon is wrong, and I found studies to prove that her whims affect other people in very real ways. Many of us could probably improve the quality of our sleep by being more attentive to temperature. Extreme temperatures obviously disrupt sleep-recall a summer night spent sweating through sheets, or a winter night spent curled into a tight ball to preserve heat, and being noticeably bleary the next morning. Sleep quality affects our health, cognitive functioning, and financial well-being. This question turns out to matter even beyond the simple issue of relationship-destroying tension. What is the ideal temperature for a bedroom? Moments like this are the reason science exists: to prove other people wrong. You try to talk to Greg about it at the YMCA, but he just shrugs, like, What am I supposed to do? Then he says you should listen to Sharon about turning up the bedroom temperature. One person-let’s call her Sharon-starts spending a little too much time with your best friend, Greg. There is a bitter battle for control of the thermostat. Have one? Email him at a classic situation among couples: One person says the bedroom is too cold. Editor’s Note : Every Wednesday, James Hamblin takes questions from readers about health-related curiosities, concerns, and obsessions. ![]()
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