Sleeping in a hot and stuffy room may feel uncomfortable, and you may fail to get enough sleep. The night will feel so long because you may sleep just a few minutes or an hour and keep on turning yourself. These hot conditions in the bedroom can cause lack of sleep which can eventually worsen and lead to insomnia.
Sometimes your bedroom may feel so hot and uncomfortable to sleep. The bedroom should never be too hot or too cold to sleep. Moreover, ensure you balance the room temperature by using a thermostat to improve your comfortability. Sometimes you may find that some other rooms are hotter than others. There are several reasons why your bedroom feels stuffy and too hot, as discussed below.
Seven reasons why your bedroom is too hot and stuffy
i. The bedroom might be upstairs or in a high place
This kind of room heating mostly happens during the summer. During the day, the temperatures are high outside, and also heat is trapped inside your house. After sunset, the temperatures outside your apartment start to cool down, but the one inside your lower apartment remains heated. As a result of this pressure difference, the heat in the lower rooms of the apartment rises upwards to the upper rooms, which causes hotness and stuffiness in the room.
ii. Poor cooling system
Your bedroom may have a poor cooling system which may be keeping the room too hot. For instance, poor installation of the window ventilation, failure of the room fan to function normally.
iii. Eating large and heavy meals before bed
Eating during late hours when you are about to go to sleep can cause a lot of discomfort because of the heat produced by the body. The body needs a lot of energy to digest the heavy meals we take. During digestion, a lot of energy is also produced in the form of heat.
iv. Poor HVAC
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system might be bad. The filter may be dirty and therefore not able to regulate the air in the room.
v. Activities before sleep
Some activities are done before sleep increases body temperature, which makes you feel that the room is hot, which may cause discomfort. Some of these activities may include exercise, taking hot tea or coffee, stress, sex etc.
vi. Many people in the bedroom
The more people sleep in one room, the more the temperatures will rise due to the combined body temperatures produced. The bodies produce heat during metabolism. The smaller the room, the faster it will heat up.
vii. Transfer of heat
The bedroom might be in the direction of the sunlight towards the sunset. The sun heats walls or even the roof. The walls will take some time to absorb heat from the sun and also retain it for a longer time. It means that the walls will still be hot during the night and will be transferring heat to the room through conduction, which will make the room feel stuffy and hot.
viii. Insulation levels
When the levels of insulations are high, the heat in the room finds it difficult to escape creating a warming effect in the room. The heat caused by all the other causes of a stuffy room worsens the condition in this scenario.
Solutions for a hot and stuffy bedroom
- Reduce the sources that produce heat- make sure that you switch off all the electrical sources of heat before you go to sleep. For example, switch off the lights.
Ensure that you don’t do exercises and much more activities that lead to high heat production.
- Use ventilation- make sure that the windows and the ventilation walls are properly installed. Also, open the windows and the doors during the day for air circulation and close during the night. You can also use a fan to cool your room.
- Try to have a cold shower before going to bed- showering before going to bed is crucial in regulating the room’s body temperature and temperature. A cold shower brings a cooling effect to the body and great comfort during sleep. Due to this, many people always sleep soundly without discomfort.
- Avoid hot coffee or tea before bedtime- Hot coffee results in increased body temperature which can cause discomforts and stuffiness.
- Avoid sleeping with other people- if you have to be in one bedroom, make sure that everyone uses their separate sheet or blanket to cover themselves.
- Try to use lighter beddings- if the temperatures are high, it is advisable to use beddings that are not too heavy and do not produce a lot of heat. Consider using sheets instead of duvets.
- Try to use a cold water bottle to keep yourself cool. Freeze bottled hot water in a freezer and use it to cool yourself.
- Make sure that during the day, you keep your room cool. Open the windows and make sure that you use the room less frequently. If the window is in direct sunlight, ensure that you close the curtains to prevent it from warming the room.
FAQs About Your Bedroom Is Too Hot and Stuffy :
- What is the best and the right temperature for our health to keep in the room?
The recommended house temperature is between 67 to 78 degrees. 67 is recommended during the winter while 78 during the summer season.
- Is it healthy to sleep while the fan is switched on?
Many people like to sleep when the fans are on during the summer. They claim that the breeze of the fan helps them to fall asleep faster than usual. Some people may be affected by the fan due to allergies such as irritation.
Sleeping with the fan on may cause dry eyes and skin due to the air that comes out of it. To prevent this, apply skin moisturizers and use soothing eye drops. When the fan blows directly to you the whole night, you may wake up with muscle pain. The muscle aches are caused by circulated fan air that brings about the cramp.
Benefits of sleeping with a fan on
- It brings a cooling effect in the room and therefore helps in faster and cool sleep. It prevents too much heat that can cause discomfort and lack of sleep.
- Soothing sound. The noise that is produced by the fan can help you get to sleep because it is referred to as a soothing sound.
- A fan can also be a good air freshener. The fan circulates the air and freshens the room to leave it less stuffy with no bad smells.
- According to research leaving the fan while sleeping reduces the chances of infant death syndrome in small babies.
Conclusion
Your room temperature might be perfect but still, feel too hot or warm during the night. High room temperatures may not only be caused by environmental changes such as summer but can also be caused by the activities that you do in the room.
The most stressful nights are when you want to sleep but get enough sleep due to stuffiness and hot temperatures in the room. The only thing you find yourself doing is turning and tossing throughout the night.
It is important to observe the right measures of keeping your bedroom and yourself in perfect temperatures. By reading this article, I hope you have known the causes of a stuffy bedroom and the steps involved in troubleshooting that problem.
Leave a Reply