The way most people set their thermostat is actually making them more tired

I work night shifts at the hospital and I've noticed something weird about how people talk about sleep. Everyone blames their phones or stress for not sleeping well, but almost nobody talks about room temperature. For years I thought I just had bad sleep genes or something. Then I read a study from a university in Tokyo that found your body needs to drop about 2 degrees Fahrenheit to fall into deep sleep. I started keeping my bedroom at 66 degrees at night and the difference was huge after just 3 days. Now I hear coworkers complaining about being exhausted and they keep their houses at 72 or 74 all night. Has anyone else tried turning the heat way down and noticed a real difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_thomas1mo agoTop Commenter

Man, I used to be one of those people who kept the house at like 73 all night and thought I just had bad luck with sleep. Read something similar a few months back and figured I'd give it a shot, dropped my thermostat to 65. Honestly felt like a different person within a week, way less groggy in the morning. Now I'm that guy who tells everyone to just turn the heat down and see what happens.

paulschmidt1mo ago

Yeah it's wild how much difference a few degrees makes. I did the same thing last winter and my sleep went from restless to actually decent in like three nights. Now I swear by it, 65 is perfect for me.