Whether you want to know how to keep a room cool without AC or want to save money on your electricity bill this summer, keep reading to learn the best ways to keep a room cool and comfortable. We go over 8 useful tips that can help you keep your room cool, and cover topics such as why keeping a room cool is important and tips for warm weather. You can also use the links below to skip to the sections that interest you.
- 8 Best Ways to Keep a Room Cool
- Why Is Keeping a Room Cool Important?
- Tips for Warm Weather
- The Bottom Line: Keeping Your Room Cool
8 Best Ways to Keep a Room Cool
Lack of sleep can affect your waking life drastically, leaving you irritable, groggy, and unproductive. One of the biggest causes of lack of sleep is temperature. Sleeping hot can lead to night sweats and tossing and turning, which is why getting your room to the perfect temperature is important. If you’re trying to beat the heat, take a look at our list of the best methods to keep your room nice and cool below.
Sleep on a cooling mattress
While it’s often not the first thing that people think of when bringing the temperature of their room down, a cooling mattress can make all the difference during the night when you’re trying to sleep in the heat. This is because some mattresses are specially designed with moisture-wicking and temperature-regulating features. In fact, Layla Sleep’s® memory foam and hybrid mattresses are made with copper foam that removes heat away from your body as you sleep.
Use cooling sheets
Sheets for hot sleepers are often made with cooling properties that can prevent you from overheating as you sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, you want the thread count to be between 200 and 400—anything higher than that can trap the heat your body produces. The organization also agrees that sheets made from natural materials, including cotton, linen, and bamboo sheets, can minimize the likelihood of you waking up drenched in sweat.
Sleep with a breathable comforter
Besides a cooling mattress and sheets, a breathable comforter is also recommended. This is because a breathable comforter allows the air to circulate in and out of your bedding, preventing it from staying trapped and warming you up. There are several types of breathable comforters, including those made from cotton, silk, wool, and down or down alternative.
The Layla Sleep Down Alternative Comforter is the perfect summer bedding option since it’s made with 100% cotton—it can even be used in the winter to keep you warm, so you don’t have to switch out your bedding as the seasons change. Plus, it doesn’t use waterfowl feathers as traditional down comforters do, meaning no animals were harmed.
Install blackout shades
While you may love the natural lighting in your home, letting the sun’s rays in can warm up the space. You can block out the sun with blackout drapes to ensure your room stays comfortable and cool during the daytime. This will also help keep your energy bill down since the air conditioning doesn’t have to work as hard to keep your room chilly. An additional benefit of using blackout shades is that they can prevent light from waking you up in the mornings, allowing you to wake up naturally on your own.
Create a cross breeze
If your room has one window, you can create a cross breeze by keeping the door and window open. This allows for the air to flow through, creating a chilled breeze. If your room has two windows instead, you can point a fan toward the outside of your home while letting fresh air enter through the second window. This method also moves the air around your room for increased airflow.
Install LED or CFL light bulbs
All sources of light will emit heat, causing your room to warm up whenever they’re turned on. This is especially true for incandescent light bulbs. So, make the switch to LED or CFL light bulbs to prevent your room from getting too hot and save a bit on your electricity bill; that’s what we call a win-win.
Decorate with houseplants
According to a study by the University of Vermont Extension, houseplants can reduce the temperature of a room by up to 10 degrees. Don’t worry if you don’t have much of a green thumb. There are several plants that don’t require a lot of maintenance but will still thrive despite the occasional neglect. This includes spider plants, ZZ plants, and snake plants.
Use a ceiling fan
A ceiling fan is helpful for circulating the air around your room and keeping your room cool during hot weather conditions. To use your ceiling fan to its full potential, make sure to change the direction of your fan according to the seasons. In the summer or warm months, your fan should spin counterclockwise to push air downward and create a breeze. On the other hand, you’ll set your ceiling fan to a low-speed clockwise rotation to distribute warm air from the heater evenly.
With these 8 tips on how to keep your room cool, you’ll be able to sleep soundly without waking up in a puddle of sweat or tossing and turning because you’re too uncomfortable. To ensure these tips are working, consider using a thermometer to check if your room is at the right temperature. If you don’t have one installed in your home, there are many portable thermometers on the market that work just as well. Now, let’s take a look at why keeping your room cool is important.
Why Is Keeping a Room Cool Important?
Let’s face it; no one likes feeling warm, sticky, and wet from sweat. But besides how uncomfortable the excess heat makes us, there are other reasons why keeping a room cool is important. Below, we’ve listed a few ways a hot room can negatively affect your body.
- Heatstroke: When your body’s temperature rises over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, you can experience symptoms of heatstroke, which include nausea, headaches, confusion, agitation, and fast pulse. If left untreated, heatstroke can become life-threatening quickly.
- Dehydration: Sweating too much can hinder your ability to retain fluids, causing you to feel thirsty, have a dry mouth, and urinate less frequently. Like heatstroke, dehydration can also become deadly if not treated promptly.
- Decrease sleep quality: The best temperature for sleep is 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit. When the temperature falls below or beyond this range, it can affect the quality of your sleep and cause you to lose sleep. In fact, according to a study conducted in 2019, people received an average of 7.05 hours of sleep during the summer and 7.41 hours in the winter.
- Worsen asthma: High heat can trigger asthma since pollution and pollen production increase during warm weather conditions. Breathing hot air can also lead to narrower airways, causing people to be more susceptible to coughing fits and shortness of breath.
- Aggravate mental health: Extreme heat can significantly impact mental and anxiety disorders and substance abuse, increasing the possibility of someone visiting the emergency room for mental health issues.
Tips for Warm Weather
As mentioned in the previous section, warm weather conditions can impact your overall well-being, so it’s a good idea to do everything you can to cool off. That said, here are some tips to beat the heat:
- Drink plenty of water, especially if you’re working outside directly under the sun or exercising
- Eat light meals that are high in fiber and fruits and vegetables that can hydrate you
- Wear breathable clothing that won’t trap your body’s heat
- Avoid liquids that may dehydrate you, such as coffee, tea, soft drinks, and alcohol
- Sleep naked to cool down and fall asleep faster
The Bottom Line: Keeping Your Room Cool
Don’t let the hot weather get the best of you during warm months. While it can be a tiring and frustrating experience, there are many ways that you come out victorious in your battle against rising temperatures. From using blackout curtains to LED or CFL light bulbs, try using one or more of the tips above to find some relief from the sweltering heat.
If you’re still asking yourself “how to keep my room cool?”, Layla Sleep has a wide assortment of products that can help you achieve a good night’s rest despite the temperature in your room. Whether you’re looking for a new mattress with the latest cooling technology or breathable bamboo sheets that wick moisture, Layla Sleep has you covered. Browse our solutions for hot sleepers to learn how Layla Sleep can improve your sleep during warm weather today.
