How to Survive Sleeping in the Heat When You Don’t Have Air Conditioning

You can make your air conditioner more effective and efficient, you can make a DIY air conditioner, and you can cool your home without an air conditioner at all. But what can you do when you can’t fall asleep because it’s too dang hot?

I consider myself a bit of an expert on this topic. My childhood home was bereft of air conditioning, and it’s not like I was raised in a mild climate — I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic, where evening summer temperatures routinely eclipsed 23 degrees. Unfortunately for me, it was easier to just learn how to sleep in the heat than to attempt to convince my Dutch-immigrant father to install a couple of window units.

But my suffering was not in vain, as I can put my sweat equity to work for you. Here are six tips for falling asleep in the summer heat when cranking up the AC isn’t an option.

Keep a fresh pair of socks in the fridge. Desperate times call for weird measures. While this method may sound kooky, the National Library of Medicine did a study that concluded cooling your feet is actually an effective method of alleviating heat strain. If you’re like me and can’t sleep with socks on, instead try chilling either your sheets or pillowcases.

Stay hydrated. You already know about the myths associated with dehydration, but this is not one of them. Before you retire for the evening, make sure you’re properly hydrated, as studies have shown dehydration can lead to poorer sleep, and you need to be adequately hydrated so you can sweat, which will help keep you cool at night.

Choose the right sheets. Summer is clearly not the time for a fluffy blanket or a heavy quilt, but the choices you make for your sheets can have a big impact on the quality of your sleep too. Choose a lighter, more breathable material in the summer, like cotton, linen, or bamboo. Put the wool or flannel sheets away for the summer, and you should be in better shape.

Invest in a good mattress. The onus is on you to decide whether or not now is the time to buy a new mattress (though it probably is). But you’re not doing yourself any favours when you’re powering through the heat if the mattress you’re sleeping on is trapping all your body heat. Investigate a new mattress designed with features to keep you cool.

Take a cold shower right before bed. We’ve already discussed the ideal amount of time to spend in the shower, but what about when? If you’re a morning-showerer looking to combat the summer heat, swap schedules and take a cool shower just before bed. This will bring down your body temperature — hopefully for long enough that you can fall asleep before you get uncomfortable again.

Place a frozen water bottle under your pillow. I’ll admit, this isn’t exactly rocket science — turns out putting ice in your bed will, in fact, cool you down. Just make sure you’re using an air-tight water bottle, so as to avoid waking up cocooned in damp sheets. Only fill the bottle two-thirds of the way before you throw it in the freezer; if you overfill it, it might burst as the ice expands.