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Cooler bedroom temperatures help the heart recover during sleep:
Maintaining a bedroom temperature of 24°C [75°F] at night while sleeping reduces stress responses in older adults, according to new Griffith University research.
Dr Fergus O'Connor from Griffith's School of Allied Health, Sport and Social Work assessed the effect of increasing nighttime bedroom temperatures on heart rate and stress responses in older adults.
"For individuals aged 65 years and over, maintaining overnight bedroom temperatures at 24°C reduced the likelihood of experiencing heightened stress responses during sleep," Dr O'Connor said.
"When the human body is exposed to heat, its normal physiological response is to increase the heart rate.
"The heart is working harder to try and circulate blood to the skin surface for cooling.
"However, when the heart works harder and for longer, it creates stress and limits our capacity to recover from the previous day's heat exposure."
Study participants wore fitness activity trackers on their non-dominant wrist, and the bedroom temperature was monitored via installed temperature sensors throughout the Australian summer-long data collection period.
The data from the study provided the first real-world evidence of the effect of increasing bedroom temperature had on heart rate and stress responses.
"Climate change is increasing the frequency of hot nights, which may independently contribute to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality by impairing sleep and autonomic recovery," Dr O'Connor said.
"While there are guidelines for maximum daytime indoor temperature, 26°C, there are no equivalent recommendations for nighttime conditions."
Journal Reference: O'Connor, F.K., Bach, A.J.E., Forbes, C. et al. Effect of nighttime bedroom temperature on heart rate variability in older adults: an observational study. BMC Med 23, 703 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04513-0
(Score: 5, Insightful) by pTamok on Wednesday February 04, @08:45PM (3 children)
For me 24°C is way too high. 16°C to 18°C seems about right, and I like chillier so long as it is not damp.
As a student, one of the bedrooms I used for a year, in winter, had a reasonably thick layer of ice on the inside of the windows in the morning from my exhaled breath. (Single pane windows) I'll admit to wearing a thick cotton nightshirt, which did have an accompanying hat, which I never needed.
To be fair, the room temperature is pretty much irrelevant so long as you have adequate bed coverings and mattresses. Cotton-covered quilts filled with Eider-duck down feathers [wikipedia.org] work well for the cover. A well-ventilated mattress is also a must, as it needs to be able to remove the water in your perspiration. A cover with the correct insulating factor for the room temperature allows you to keep warm from your body heat alone. I hate being cold in bed, and regard sheets and blankets as entirely inadequate. If you get too hot under a quilt, just stick an arm or a leg out.
I have been required to use hotel rooms where the AC was entirely unable to get the temperature down to something I regarded as comfortable for sleeping. In a couple of places I have had to use a dampened towel as a blanket operating as a 'swamp cooler' where the evaporation cooled me down. It may well be that my body naturally 'runs hot' while I am asleep.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Reziac on Thursday February 05, @04:27AM (2 children)
I don't use sheets at all, because in a cold room (since I seem to think heat at night is optional) sheets are chilly. Instead I use a furry throw, which always feels warm. And over that, a down comforter as needed. It is really astonishing how cold the room can be if the bed is warm -- I lived for years with limited heat in a cold climate, and being cold at night was never a problem. Also, bedsocks work wonders.
Some years back I found a weird blanket that has fairly stiff "fur" and traps heat like nothing else I've seen. It's like an instant space heater. It's more than sufficient at 30F and probably would do the job well below that. (It also weighs about ten pounds, so is perhaps best used as a tent.)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Thursday February 05, @11:28AM (1 child)
So do I, although he's not really a throw but more a self-propelled leap. Also serves as a weighted blanket if he's curled up on your feet.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday February 05, @11:39AM
LOL, I used to have several of those. The bed could get downright crowded. :)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.