The fundamental question becomes: is dark, lower temperatures and silence always conducive to high quality sleep? Do some people find that certain types and levels of light are welcome? Are lower temperatures always ideal? What about the naps and siestas that are commonly engaged in the heat of the day? For some people (especially those accustom to city sounds), the silence of a stay in the forests or at a remote retreat can actually be disturbing. The sound of waves crashing on the beach at a seaside hotel or of a lullaby being played on our phone or device can be highly conducive to sleep. It is worth taking a bit of time and space reviewing the results we obtained from the Pathways to Sleep survey.
Temperature
How cool do we want the bedroom? Goldilocks’ bears have preferences regarding the temperature of their porridge and human beings have distinctive preferences regarding the temperature of their bedroom. These different preferences can lead two sleeping partners to give up on finding the right temperature for their bedroom. They can sleep with a different number or thickness of blankets on their side of the bed or even buy an expensive bed that can be heated by each sleep partner to a preferred temperature for their side of the bed. This might help; however, some of us love a chilly night of sleep during the winter and/or an especially cool room during the summer (provided by an air conditioner).
Do we want to leave our bedroom window open—even a crack? There is something wonderful about fresh air wafting through our bedroom. Much as sheets and clothes that have dried on an outdoor clothes line smell more “alive” and “fresh” that those dried in a machine, so the bedroom that is freshened by air flowing in from an open window make this room come alive for many people. There are even health-based perspectives that lean heavily toward the cold, open air bedroom.
Cold, fresh air has been touted as “healthy” for growing bodies—with children in many boarding schools having being forced to sleep in cold rooms at night. These nighttime conditions were also advocated for many years as a cure for consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis:). I am reminded of Thomas Mann’s vivid (and very detailed) description in Magic Mountain of his protagonist’s preparing for a Winter-time night of sleep on an open porch in his Swiss sanitorium.
The jury is out about the impact of sleeping in a cold “bracing” environment at night. Sleeping in a fresh and very cold environment might not strengthen us nor heal our congested lungs, but this could help us sleep—providing we are securely wrapped up in blankets (as portrayed in Magic Mountain). However, this freshness comes at a cost. The temperature of the room is dictated in part by the temperature of the air flowing into the room—though the temperature is often tempered by the heating system in the room or even an air conditioner (when this conditioner is set to bring in fresh air rather than circulate air already in the room.
It should be noted that outside “raging” weather makes a difference in our bedroom even with the bedroom window closed. When the temperature outside is low then our furnace will be pumping air through our home more often than when the temperature outside is warmer. Hot outside weather will increase our reliance on the air conditioner (and air that is being “processed” through this conditioner. If our home is not equipped with an air conditioner then we will be sleeping in a warm bedroom regardless of our preference.
Even if we are protected in our “fortified” bed from the hot or cold temperature, the environment of our bedroom will change throughout the year (unless we live near the equator). This is an important point to be made when sleep partners are negotiating the best temperature for their bedroom. Blankets and a variably heated bed don’t fully compensate for the bedroom temperature. These are two separate negotiations—and may be resolved by the sleep partners spending at least part of the night in a separate room.
