What Is the Ideal Sleeping Temperature and How to Achieve It?

A comfortable temperature is essential, period! Whether you are simply lounging around, watching TV, busy in the kitchen, or doing laundry, the temperature needs to be just perfect. Having an ideal sleeping temperature ensures sound and comfortable sleep. Numerous things, including your mood, activity levels, and even appetite, are highly influenced by the temperature of your living space.

There is nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night. Even if you go to bed with the perfect room temperature, it can change during the night, causing discomfort. Moreover, during sleep, the body temperature falls and is not the same as when you are awake. You can ensure the ideal sleep temperature throughout the night by automating your climate control with a smart thermostat or smart AC controller if you have a mini-split, window, or portable air conditioner.

Throughout the day, your body temperature regulates itself, rising and falling according to the time of day. This cyclical behavior is linked to the sleep cycle. During times of drowsiness, the body temperature falls and is at its lowest early morning, right around sunrise. From here on, it begins to rise. Due to this, the temperature has a significant effect on your sleep. A cooler room temperature coupled with a decreased body temperature late at night is quite uncomfortable, especially when sleep is at its deepest.

So, it is imperative to have complete control over the temperature to ensure a night of sound sleep.

What Is the Science Behind Sleep Temperatures?

Generally speaking, the best temperature for sleep is accepted to be around 65^oF. But with different ages, genetics, geographical regions, physical health, underlying conditions, etc., it is difficult to suggest a singular perfect temperature. A range of 60^oF to 67^oF is the commonly accepted optimal sleeping temperature range as the temperature most accurately matches the internal temperature regulation of the body. Usually, a smart thermostat or a smart AC controller such as Cielo Breez Plus can help you maintain the desired temperature range through smart triggers and automation.

As discussed before, for 24 hours, the internal temperature of the body varies constantly. This phenomenon is referred to as the circadian rhythm. As soon as bedtime approaches, the body begins to cool down and is at its lowest just before sunrise.

The mechanism through which your body cools during the night is a bit tangled. In simple terms, the body expands the blood vessels just under the skin. This process allows more heat to escape from the body, and this is why your hands and feet can feel a bit warmer at times.

If there is a greater temperature difference between the room temperature and your internal temperature, then it can make you feel uncomfortable and result in waking you up from deep slumber.

Does Age Affect the Ideal Temperature?

On the whole, for adults, the preferred temperature does not change as you age. But for babies, this temperature can change, but only minutely. A slightly warmer temperature will be more suited for babies, but a temperature range between 60^oF to 68^oF is good enough for them.

What Happens If It’s Too Hot? Or Too Cold?

Temperature variations on either side of the scale can greatly affect your quality of sleep.

When the temperature is above the ideal temperature range, you may feel a certain restlessness while in bed. This restlessness can be due to your slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep (REM) phases being disturbed. Moreover, with a higher temperature, a rise in humidity is also observed, making it even more uncomfortable. A higher temperature signals to the body that it is time to wake up, while it is not. This, unfortunately, can result in elevated stress levels upon waking up.

How to Achieve an Ideal Sleeping Temperature?

There are a few methods to keep the optimal sleeping temperature maintained throughout the night, but the most efficient way is to use a smart AC thermostat, like the Cielo Breez Plus, or a smart thermostat if you have ducted air conditioning.

Smart AC thermostats can work intelligently to maintain the ideal sleeping temperature throughout the night by operating the AC according to the conditions of your room. You can input your ideal sleep temperature settings, and your climate will be automated accordingly.

If it gets too hot, the controller will command the AC to reduce the temperature; if it gets too cold, the controller then commands the AC to increase the temperature. Here’s how smart home functionality is achieved.

Intelligent Triggers for Ideal Sleep Temperature Automation

Smart AC controllers and thermostats offer unmatched intelligent temperature and humidity triggers. They work to maintain a specified temperature or humidity, either a single point or a range. The sensors within the smart AC controller or thermostats detect the current temperature and humidity of the room and then match them to the specified parameter.

For example, you can set the temperature to be maintained at around 65^oF for the night and turn on Comfy Mode. The controller then actively works to keep the temperature regulated. You can set up custom functions so that if the temperature falls below a certain threshold, the controller can command the air conditioner to either turn the cool mode off and run only on fan mode or increase the temperature of the cool mode by a few degrees. The same is the case if the temperature goes above the set point.

This ensures that you do not have to wake up at night to alter the air conditioner settings constantly.

Weekly Schedules for Comfortable Sleep

Another way to keep the best temperature for sleep during the night is to use the schedule function of smart thermostats. With Cielo Breez devices, schedules of up to 7 days can be set up.  For example, you can set the controller to maintain a temperature of 68^oF at 11 PM by the time you go into bed. Then as the hours’ progress, you can have the temperature gradually fall down to 65^oF by around 4 AM and maintain it until a while after sunrise. From then on, the temperature can be increased back to the late 60s^o F or even 70^o F for the time you wake up for work.

Having the whole night planned saves you the hassle of getting up at night after a while and changing the temperatures and AC modes. This ensures a good night’s sleep.

Energy Savings With Comfort!

With smart air conditioning, not only do you get peace of mind at night, but also remarkable energy savings. But how does a smart AC controller do this? The answer is simple. Instead of using your air conditioner at maximum operating settings for short intervals during the night, it is much more energy-efficient to have the air conditioner run at a constant temperature, which is neither too cold nor too hot. This moderate operating setting will keep the room climate at the optimal sleeping temperature but also use up less power from the air conditioner.

Furthermore, using the comfy mode with your Cielo Breez smart controllers lowers your energy expenses by up to 25% when you use it throughout the day. The principle behind these energy savings is the same, using your air conditioner at a constant, low power-intensive mode rather than at high power consumption for shorter durations.

Another added benefit of such a usage cycle is the reduced wear and tear on your air conditioner. Mechanical parts and associated accessories of the air conditioner deteriorate at a faster rate when used in a constant on/off cycle instead of a smooth continuous usage profile.

Other Useful Tips for a Good Sleep

Let us look briefly at some other helpful practices to get a peaceful sleep:

• Keep bedsheets appropriate for the season. Thick, quilted sheets in the summer season are not going to help. Likewise, use a lightweight blanket during the summer months, as a thicker covering will result in overheating.
• Do not drink caffeine, beverages, tea, or sodas late in the evening. These drinks can make you more active and prevent you from falling asleep quickly.
• Keep your room dark. Switch off any electronic devices that emit light, keep the blinds down, and do not use your phone in the dark.
• Keep a quiet environment while sleeping. The room should be free from noise and disturbances. Again, switch off any electronic devices that emit noise.

Enjoy a Peaceful Sleep!

Keeping the best temperature for sleep is critical to attaining sound sleep every night. Without a good night’s rest, a person often feels tired and uncomfortable throughout the day, which is why it is important to be careful of your room temperature during sleep.

As a rule of thumb, it is accepted that the colder a room is, the better the sleep. But the exact temperature varies from person to person, and you have to do a bit of experimentation to find just the right one for yourself. Using a smart AC controller makes the job much easier of regulating the temperature throughout the night and paves the way to having a good night’s sleep. Now that you know why it’s time to make your AC smart, here’s how to DIY!